How to publish a book, start to finish
The same plan every press on ZI² Books runs, in the open: what you keep, what it costs, and every step from manuscript to the twelfth month. 34 presses sell here today.
What you keep
Your rights. Your readers' addresses. Ninety percent of every sale. Full say over cover, price and text. And a plan desk that walks the launch with you week by week, so nobody needs a coach or a computer science degree to sell a book.
The money, with real numbers
On Amazon a 300-page paperback costs about $4.60 to print. At $19.99 list the author's sixty percent leaves about $7.39 a copy.
Here the same $19.99 sealed edition pays the press $17.99 a copy, the day it sells, with the buyer's address in the press's own ledger.
Both channels at once is the normal case. Run any price through the pricing engine: Open the pricing engine
Each step below is a line on the plan desk every press gets, dated from the release day.
The book
One-sentence promise of the book
70 days before release · Author
Write the sentence a reader would repeat to a friend. If it needs a second sentence, it is not the promise yet.
The reader, named in one line
70 days before release · Author
Age, situation, what they already read, what they are hoping for. Every later choice reads from this line.
Goal of the book: sales, ministry, speaking
70 days before release · Author
Pick one as the first goal. Sales wants a low launch price and ads; ministry wants groups and bulk; speaking wants the press kit and the podcast list.
Professional edit done
60 days before release · Store
Developmental, then copy, then proof. Keep the editor's summary of changes with the manuscript.
Cover chosen and its art licensed
56 days before release · Author
A licence in writing for every image and font on the cover, with the artist's name on the copyright page.
Interior formatted: print PDF, EPUB, sealed edition
49 days before release · Store
Build the print PDF at the trim size, the EPUB with the cover inside, and seal the master on the title's edition form.
ISBN assigned to every format
49 days before release · Store
One ISBN per format. The free KDP ISBN cannot travel to other stores; an owned block of ten covers the series.
Rights letters and permissions on file
49 days before release · Owner
Scripture over the gratis limit, quoted lyrics, images and any prior publisher all need a letter on file before release.
The listing
Seven keywords per format in the metadata sheet
42 days before release · Store
Fill the listing sheet for one format, save to every format, then diverge the categories. Fix every check line.
Three categories per format, the top five checked
42 days before release · Store
Open each candidate category on Amazon and read the current number five. The badge needs sales above it in the launch week.
Description in HTML, first three lines sell on a phone
42 days before release · Store
Open with the reader's question. First three lines show before Read more. One credential line. Never start with what the book is about.
Author bio under 250 words
42 days before release · Store
Third person, one credential, one human line, where to find the author. Amazon Author Central takes the same text.
Author Central profile with photo, bio and videos
35 days before release · Store
author.amazon.com: claim every format onto one page, add the photo, bio and the videos. Followers get Amazon's new-release mail.
Goodreads author profile and book record
35 days before release · Store
Claim the author profile, check the book record, and consider a giveaway for the launch week.
BookBub author profile
35 days before release · Store
A free profile; followers get the New Releases alert on release day.
Hardcover edition staged
35 days before release · Store
Same interior, a case-laminate wrap; list it so the paperback price looks right beside it.
A+ Content submitted
14 days before release · Store
KDP Bookshelf, Promote and Advertise, Manage A+ Content. Comparison, credentials, review quotes. Up to eight business days of review.
The audience
Lead magnet live: free chapter and study sheet
42 days before release · Store
Upload magnet-chapter-one.pdf to the press folder and offer it on the Free chapter desk. Put the link in the first post.
Kindle pre-order open
42 days before release · Store
Up to a year ahead. Pre-orders count toward release-day rank. Never cancel one.
Launch team page open
28 days before release · Store
Open sign-up on the Launch team desk with the ask in the author's words. The author recruits by phone and from the pulpit.
Media kit page live
28 days before release · Store
Bio, photo, five talking points, sample questions, two quotes, a contact line. Tick Show on the Press kit desk.
Ten podcast pitches sent
28 days before release · Store
Seed the pitch list, pick ten, one short mail each with the kit link. Record the status and the air date as they answer.
Three endorsements collected
21 days before release · Author
Two or three sentences each from names the reader knows. Back cover, Amazon page and Author Central editorial reviews.
Launch team at target
10 days before release · Author
The gate reads the member count. Keep recruiting until it opens.
Editorial reviews entered in Author Central
7 days before release · Store
Books, Edit book details, Your Editorial Reviews. Five slots on print, one on Kindle. They do not count against the star score.
The launch
Paperback live, unannounced: the quiet window opens
10 days before release · Store
Publish the paperback and say nothing in public. The launch team buys and reviews it; reviews show on the Kindle page too.
Launch team copies out and the day-one ask sent
10 days before release · Store
Check every member has the copy. The day-one mail goes out by itself on release day; send it by hand if the date moved.
Launch mail to the list scheduled
3 days before release · Store
One mail, the why video, both links, the launch price with its end date.
Release day: posts, live video, day-one link
Release day · Author
The author posts and goes live. Everyone else shares the same link. Nothing else that day.
Badge recorded with date and screenshot
2 days after release · Store
Screenshot the category page with the badge visible and the date, upload it as proof on the Listing sheet desk. Never the bare word bestseller.
Reviews past 10: Amazon Ads on, comparables as targets
7 days after release · Store
Product targeting on named comparable titles, ten dollars a day, judge after two weeks. Clicks without sales mean fixing the page, not the bid.
Reviews past 15: promotion sites stacked on one day
14 days after release · Store
Three or four sites on the same day at a fixed promotional price for the whole window.
Launch price steps up
14 days after release · Store
From the launch price to the standing price in one or two steps. A discount with no end date is a price change.
Day-21 review mail running
21 days after release · Store
The automation Did it help you, day 21 under Marketing. Check it is active and the template reads right.
The year after
30-day report: copies by channel, reviews, list size
30 days after release · Store
Store ledger, KDP reports, review count, list size, launch team reviewed count. One page.
Audiobook: the second launch
90 days after release · Store
Narrator or author voice; ACX for Audible, the sealed edition for the store. Launch team again.
Study edition: the third launch
180 days after release · Store
Spiral or large print with the study sheet bound in. Groups and churches buy it.
Translation decision
270 days after release · Owner
Only if the first three launches carried. The translator signs the same store agreement.
Relaunch window
365 days after release · Store
New cover or edition note, the launch team again, a fresh promotion window.
What never goes in
- Bought, traded or guaranteed reviews, or reviews from one household.
- The word bestseller without the category, the date and a screenshot.
- Kindle exclusivity for a book sold on your own store.
- Any promise of a rank. The plan controls what can be controlled and nothing else.