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Author Resources

There are literally thousands of articles out there about publishing, from vendors, authors, and others. Below we’ve gathered some of the best research we’ve found to help you on your way.

Yes, some are from competitors and some are for self-publishers (even how to create your own publishing company). We want to support all authors, whether you publish with us or not.

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Note: We do not endorse any services or vendors below. Articles are included for their content, not because of the author.

Publishing OptionsBook ProposalSelf-PublishingEditingCoverTitleInteriorPhysical BookAudio Booke-BookSales & MarketingReviewsLegalDistributionPublishing CompanyFinancialsDataTrendsMiscellaneous

Publishing Options

  1. The Key Book Publishing Paths: 2023–2024
  2. Hybrid Publishing or Traditional Self-Publishing: Which is Right for You?
  3. IBPA Hybrid Publisher Criteria
  4. Self-Publishing, Hybrid Publishers & Vanity Presses: A Simple Guide

Book Proposal

    Proposal
  1. How to Write a Book Proposal (Jane Friedman)
  2. How to Write a Book Proposal (Creative Independent)
  3. The Complete Guide to Writing a Book Proposal
  4. How to Write a Book Proposal: A 19-Step Guide for Nonfiction Writers
    5. Agents
  5. How to Find a Literary Agent for Your Book
  6. The Ultimate Guide to Getting a Literary Agent [2022]
  7. How to Find a Literary Agent: The Ultimate 6-Step Strategy
  8. What To Know Before You Submit: 28 Great Tips from Literary Agents

Self Publishing

  1. How to publish a book on Amazon (and sell over 100,000 copies the SMART way)
  2. The 13 Most Common Self-Publishing Mistakes to Avoid
  3. Pre-Publication Book-Marketing Actions
  4. Best Self-Publishing Companies [2023 UPDATE]
    5. Timing
  5. Reaching Readers: Best Timing for Book Launches
  6.  When Should You Release a New Book?
    7. Costs
  7. The Ultimate Guide to Self-Publishing Costs
  8. How Much Does It Cost to Self-Publish a Book in 2023?
  9. Pricing Guidelines
  10. Book Publishing Cost Calulator

Editing

    Sourcing
  1. How to Find an Editor as a Self-Published Author
  2. The Comprehensive Guide to Finding, Hiring, and Working with an Editor
  3. An Editor’s Tips for Selecting an Editor
  4. The Author’s Guide to Finding & Hiring an Editor
  5. Master Guide to Selecting the Best Book Editor
  6. Editorial Freelancers Association - Editorial Rates
  7. Find the perfect editor for your next book
    8. Types
  8. 9 Types of Editing: Which One Do You Need Right Now?
  9. 5 Types of Editing: Which Is Best for Your Writing?
  10. The Four Types of Editing
  11. The Different Types of Editing
    12. Beta Readers
  12. What are Beta Readers — and How to Find Them

Cover

    Front Cover
  1. 5 Ways a Book Cover Could Hurt Sales — And How to Fix It
  2. The Importance of Your Book Cover: Achieving the Right Fit
  3. 5 Steps to Great Cover Art
  4. Book Cover Design Mastery
  5. The Complete Guide in Choosing Book Cover Fonts (Part 1)
  6. The Complete Guide in Choosing Book Cover Fonts (Part 2)
    7. Color
  7. Best Colors for Book Covers
  8. Why Business Books Are Blue (And Other Tricky Marketing Techniques))
    9. Back Cover
  9. Focus On Your Book’s Back Cover
  10. How to Create a Back Book Cover Blurb that Sells
  11. The Back of a Book Cover: How to Build One That Actually Works (with Template)
  12. How to nail the blurb for your business book
  13.  10 Tips to Write a Book Blurb That Sells
    14. Endorsements
  14. Getting Book Endorsements (Blurbs): What to Remember, Do, Avoid, and Expect
  15. Behind-the-Scenes: Endorsements

Title

  1. How to Title a Book: Making Titles that Sell
  2. How to Select a Subtitle That Sells
  3. How to Write a Good Title for Your Book
  4. The truth about choosing book titles
  5. How to Title a Book: Making Titles that Sell
  6. Book Title Generator (Make hundreds of book titles with one click)
  7. How to Write a Good Title for Your Book
  8. 101 Best Book Titles of All Time
  9. How To Create Intensely Catchy Book Names (Without Too Much Of A Struggle)

Interior

    Components
  1. What are the parts of a book interior
  2. The Parts of a Book for Self Published Authors
    3. Layout
  3. 10 Nonfiction Book Layout Tips That Will Glue Your Audience to the Page
  4. 6 Keys for Book Page Layout: Don’t Ignore These Design Rules If You’re Self-Publishing
  5. How to Format Your Word Document for Book Printing (on Mac or PC)
    6. Typesetting
  6. 8 mistakes people make when working with a typesetter
  7. How to Choose an Interior Font for Your Book
  8. The Best Fonts for Books
  9. 10 Brilliant Fonts for Your Book Layout
  10. 60 Brilliant Corporate Fonts
  11. The 61 best logo fonts and how to pick the right one
    12. Indexing
  12. Advice on indexing
  13. Indexing Guidelines for Authors and Editors
  14. Indexing (Harvard University Press)
  15. Indexing (Oxford University Press)
  16. American Society for Indexing (best practices and references)

Physical Book

    Printing
  1. Print-On-Demand vs Offset Printing: Which Wins?
    2. Size
  2. Picking a Popular Trim Size for Your Book
    3. Paper
  3. Choosing the Right Paper Types for Your Book Printing
  4. What Will be Suitable for Your Book; White Paper or Cream Paper?
    5. Binding
  5. What's in a Bind? 4 Types of Book Bindings - Pros and Cons

Audio

    Production
  1. How to Make an Audiobook Step-by-Step [With Video]
  2. How To Make An Audiobook [An Independent Publisher’s Definitive Guide]
  3. How To Make An Audio Book: A Do-It-Yourself Guide
  4. How To Make An Audiobook: Publishing on ACX and Audiobook Marketing
  5. Yes, You Can Record Your Own Audiobook. Here’s How.
    6. Reading
  6. Record Your Own Audiobook for Audible
  7. Narrator's Roadmap

e-Book

    Formats
  1. The Different Ebook Formats Explained: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, IBA, and More
  2. Five eBook Formats and How to Find the Best Style for You
  3. Ebook Formats Explained for Beginners
    4. Process
  4. How to work with ebook conversion services

Sales & Marketing

    Pre-orders
  1. The 13 Pre-Order Strategies That Increase Book Sales
    2. Pricing & Margins
  2. SLJ’s Average Book Prices for 2022
  3. Average price of a book by year (search results)
  4. eBook Pricing Strategies to Sell More Books and Maximize Author Earnings
  5. The Book Discount Beat Goes on at Amazon
  6. Retail Margins, Trade Discounts, and What it Means to Authors
  7. Self-Publishing Basics: Understanding Book Discounts
  8. Understanding Wholesale Discounts When Self-Publishing a Book
    9. Metadata
  9. A Self-Publisher’s Guide to Metadata for Books
    10. Best Seller Lists
  10. How Bestseller Lists Actually Work -- And How To Get On Them
  11. How to Get on the New York Times Bestseller List
  12. The convoluted world of best-seller lists, explained
  13. Why Is Every Author A #1 Bestselling Author?
    14. Amazon Description
  14. How to Write Amazon book descriptions – that sell your book
  15. How to Craft the Perfect Amazon Book Description
  16. 4 Tips For Writing A Killer Book Description That Sells On Amazon
  17. How to Improve Your Amazon Book Description & Metadata
  18. How Writers Can Optimize Their Book’s Description on Amazon
    19. Website
  19. 6 Things Your Website Should Tell Book Reviewers About You (and Your Book)
  20. How to Build an Author Website: Getting Started Guide
  21. 5 Things the Best Author Websites of 2021 Have in Common
    22. Podcasts
  22. The Ultimate Guide to Getting On Podcasts as a Guest
  23. Pitching Podcasts: An Author’s Guide to Doing it Right
  24. How To Get Podcast Interviews (+ Free Pitch Outreach Templates)
  25. Author Interviews: How to Land Appearances on Podcasts for Book Promotion
    26. Local
  26. Go Local: Marketing Books to Targeted Communities
    27. Book Launch
  27. 9 Secrets to a Successful Book Launch Party
  28. Book Launch Success Stories – Using Existing Audiences to Launch Big
  29. Book Launch: How to Launch a Book for More Sales [Printable Checklist]
  30. 3 Secret Book Launch Strategies to Increase Your Impact
  31. 18 Ideas for a Successful Book Launch
    32. Press Releases
  32. How to Write a Book Press Release in 9 Steps [+ Free Template]
  33. How To Write A Press Release For A Book
  34. 7 Myths of Using Press Releases to Promote Your Books
    35. Social Media
  35. The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for Writers 2023
  36. Why Most Authors Don’t Need Social Media in 2023
  37. How Successful Authors Use Social Media: 24 Content Ideas
    38. General
  38. How to Create a Viral Book Trailer (or Get 1,000,000 Views for Almost Anything)
  39. 50 Book Marketing Ideas Every Author Needs to Know
  40. How to Promote Your Book: 8 Sales-Boosting Steps for Authors
  41. How The Lean Startup Became A Best Seller (And Movement)
  42. Everything You Wanted to Know about Book Sales (But Were Afraid to Ask)
  43. How Authors Can Get Bookscan Numbers
  44. How This Self-Published Author Sold 800,000 Copies of Her Books
  45. How to Sell Your Self-Published Book to Bookstores
  46. A Concise List of Book Promotion Sites
    47. Selling e-Books
  47. What to Consider When Selling eBooks on Your Website: Pros, Cons and Tools
  48. How to sell your ebooks online (plus common misconceptions debunked)
  49. Where To Sell Your eBooks: 8 Online Platforms You Simply Must Try
  50. 20 Websites to Sell and Publish Your eBooks
  51. 18 Tools to Publish and Sell an Ebook
    52. Book Signing
  52. Debut Author Lessons: 10 things about signing books
  53. 5 Best Pens for Author Book Signings (Buyer’s Guide)
    54. Sales Data
  54. Best Book Sales Tracker: How to Track Book Sales Across All Platforms

Reviews

  1. 5 Steps for Crafting the Perfect Book Review Pitch
  2. Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: How to Pitch a Book Review
  3. Book Marketing: 10 Ways To Get Reviews For Your Book
  4. How to Get Reviews For Your Book (Without Begging, Bribing or Resorting to Subterfuge)
  5. 5 Steps for Crafting the Perfect Book Review Pitch

Legal

  1. Who Does Your Publishing Contract Protect?
  2. Understanding and Negotiating Book Publication Contracts (PDF download)
  3. 8 Top Deal Points In A Book Publishing Contract
  4. The Business of Writing: RX for Contracts
  5. Author's Guild Model Book Contract
  6. Author's Guild Literary Translation Model Contract
  7. How to negotiate with a publisher
    8. Copyright
  8. 11 Things Every Writer Should Know About Copyrights
  9. The Myth of Poor Man’s Copyright
    10. Liability
  10. Avoiding Trouble: A Checklist for Authors
  11. Oops, I Poisoned My Readers: Can I Be Liable for Publishing Mistaken Information?
  12. Liability for Defective Content (PDF)
    13. Contracts

Distribution

  1. Book Distributors and Book Wholesalers: What’s the Difference?
  2. How to Get Your Book Distributed: What Self-Published Authors Need to Know
  3. How Book Distribution and Fulfillment Function
  4. A wholesaler isn't necessarily a distributor, but a distributor could be a wholesaler. Questions? We have your answers below.
  5. How to Sell Books on Amazon: Tips & Secrets for 2023
  6. Sell Books on Amazon-My 2020 Guide to Amazon’s 4 Book Selling Portals
  7. Amazon KDP: Complete Guide to Kindle Direct Publishing (Step-by-Step)
  8. How to Publish a Book on Amazon: Step-by-Step Guide to SELL
  9. List of Book Distributors and Wholesalers
  10. The Balance Between Indies

Publishing Company

  1. Should I Start My Own Publishing Company?
  2. How to Start a Book Publishing Company



Financials

    Advance & Royalties
  1. What Kind of Advance Should I Expect?
  2. Ask The Agent: What Does an Average First Book Pay?
  3. What is a “Standard” Royalty?
  4. All About Royalties
  5. Amazon Self-Publishing Costs and Royalties: Here's What You Need to Know
  6. Good Agents Audit Royalty Statements
  7. Women! Read Your Royalty Statements!
  8. When do I earn out?
    9. Tax
  9. Authors, Take Advantage of the New Tax Deduction
  10. Tax Deductions for Writers

Data

  1. The 10 Awful Truths about Book Publishing
  2. When It Comes To Book Sales, What Counts As Success Might Surprise You
  3. Stop the press: half of self-published authors earn less than $500
  4. What Snoop Dogg’s Success Says About the Book Industry
  5. 7 Publishing Insights Revealed By Last Year's Top 100 Bestselling Books [2019]
  6. Print Book Sales Statistics [2023]
  7. No one buys books
  8. No, Most Books Don't Sell Only a Dozen Copies

Trends

  1. 11 Top Publishing Trends (2024-2026)
  2. The Top 10 Publishing Trends for 2024
  3. Book trends to look for in 2024 (Self-publishing)
  4. The Top Eight Publishing Trends For 2022
  5. Key Publishing Trends in 2022

Miscellaneous

  1. List of 100+ Author Tools: The Best Tools for Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Your Book
  2. Success in books: a big data approach to bestsellers
  3. What are Sensitivity Readers? (And Should Authors Use Them?)
  4. The Best Self-Publishing Services and the Worst. Rated by the Alliance of Independent Authors
  5. Author Scams and Publishing Companies to Avoid
  6. Writer Beware
  7. Online Harassment Field Manual
  8. Bookseller survey finds debut authors struggle with lack of support