The practical publishing path
Choose your publishing route, prepare your files and review your book before sharing it with readers.
Six stages
Work through these in order. If your draft is ready, start with formats and specifications.
Complete structural editing, copy editing and proofreading before final layout. Freeze an approved version so every edition starts from the same text.
Decide whether you need ebook, paperback, hardcover or all three. Print editions require decisions such as trim, paper, bleed and binding.
Finalize title, subtitle, contributor names, description, categories, keywords, territories and pricing. Decide whether to use a platform-provided ISBN or your own.
Produce an EPUB for ebook distribution and separate print-ready interior and cover files for each physical format.
Run EPUB conformance checks, inspect print PDFs and review retailer previews. For print, order a physical proof before approving broad distribution.
Upload through your retailer or distributor account, confirm rights and territories, set prices and approve the final release yourself.
PocketAuthor organizes the manuscript, edition settings, metadata, validation results and files needed for a clean handoff.
Your publishing accounts remain yours. You approve rights, identifiers, prices, territories, retailer terms and the final release.
Choose the route before you spend time preparing submissions or production files.
Research publishers that work with your genre. Read their submission policy before sending a query, proposal or sample chapters.
Explore publishers →You coordinate editing, design, formats and distribution. Use the planner below to prepare an edition, then approve the release in your publishing account.
Plan your edition →Build your path
Confirm these choices before you finalize the layout.
Use your approved draft and check the exported file.
Use your chosen service’s current requirements.
Review carefully before approving publication.
Official requirements
Amazon KDP requires separate manuscript and cover files for paperbacks, with format-specific trim, margin and bleed requirements.
KDP paperback formatting ↗KDP does not require an ISBN for ebooks, while most paperback and hardcover editions require one. Metadata must match the book and cover.
KDP metadata guidance ↗EPUBCheck evaluates ebook packages against the official EPUB specifications before they reach a distributor.
W3C EPUBCheck ↗Write, review, produce and release without rebuilding the project in a different tool at every stage.