This is the second post in the series Adventures in Self-Publishing, a nine-part series about what happens after you finish writing the book—and discover that writing it may have been the straightforward part.

You thought there was one book

I finally finished my first adult fantasy book, and I was very pleased with myself. My next decision was whether to pursue traditional publishing or self-publishing (aka indie publishing). I eventually chose indie publishing as it seemed to fit the usual path authors in my genre took and I thought it would give me greater control over the process. It felt like a great idea—right up until I discovered that the indie publishing route required approximately seventeen versions of that book, six passwords, three distribution platforms, and an alarming number of acronyms.

None of these things is especially terrifying on its own. The fresh hell lies in discovering that they all exist at once—and that several depend on prior decisions you didn’t know you needed to make.

I strongly suggest creating a master publishing folder where you keep as much of this information as possible. One of the biggest mistakes I made when going through this the first time with The Chic Crone was not getting this set up at the outset.

By the end of the process, you’ll have at least the following in your master publishing folder:

· The final Word document

· The edited document

· The proofed document

· The ISBN(s)

· The eBook file

· The print interior (a PDF)

· Possibly a hardcover file

· The front cover for the e-book

· The full wrap cover for the print format (a wrap cover is the front, spine and back cover).

· The metadata spreadsheet

· The retailer description

· The short description

· The distribution platform(s) you’re using with links and passwords.

At first glance this looks overwhelming. My advice is not to look at the whole thing at once. That way madness lies. Break it down into individual pieces, work through them one at a time and celebrate ticking them off on the master document.

What follows is as logical an order of operations as I can manage. It starts with creating the production files once the editing and proofreading is complete.

1. The book is not the publishing file

A manuscript is content. A publishing file is a delivery system.

The story is the same, but for any distribution platform to get your book to a reader it needs to be formatted in specific ways. Every format has different technical needs so you will end up with multiple files.

Before you start you need to decide what size the book is going to be. This is measured in inches by width and height. Standard sizes are 5 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, and 6 x 9. Sticking with a standard size is usually the most economical to print and looks best on the shelf.

This is a basic inventory of production files.

· An EPUB for ebooks

· A Print-ready PDF for paperback

· A separate interior file for hardcover if its trim size or layout differs

· A front cover file for the ebook

· A full wrap cover for print. Covers are a large enough topic to deserve the next article.

· Separate samples and direct-sale files

There are several ways you can create your production files:

1. You can hire a book designer. This is the most expensive option, but it has value if your book requires extensive formatting or if there are specific design elements you want included that aren’t available in the DIY or free platforms.

2. DIY: Use a book formatting program like Atticus or Vellum and do it yourself. These programs allow you a number of design options and are generally straightforward to use for the average novel.

3. Some distribution platforms like KDP and Draft2Digital offer book formatting options. These are free, although the design options are generally limited.

However you create the files, don’t assume that “it looks fine on my screen” means the job is finished. Check the EPUB on more than one device or reading app. Order a physical proof of the print edition and examine the margins, page breaks, headers, chapter openings and any decorative elements. The goal is not technical perfection for its own sake. It is to make sure nothing pulls the reader out of the book.

2. ISBNs: tiny numbers with unexpectedly large opinions

Different formats usually require different ISBNs because an ISBN identifies a particular format or edition ¾such as an ebook, paperback, or hardcover—and not the title in the abstract.

ISBN decisions are not glamorous, but making them before uploading saves untangling later.

Some distribution platforms offer free ISBNs, but those may name the platform as publisher.

So, authors need to decide early on whether they want to publish under their own imprint or not.

Procedures for obtaining ISBNs vary by country, so check the relevant national agency. Canadians have the considerable advantage of obtaining ISBNs free through Library and Archives Canada, but I can’t speak for other countries.

3. Metadata: the invisible scaffolding

Metadata is how a book introduces itself when the author is not in the room. Metadata helps retailers classify the book, search engines surface it, librarians catalogue it, and readers understand what they are looking at. Metadata may look like admin, but in practice it forces clarity about genre, reader, promise, tone, and positioning.

Metadata includes:

· Title and subtitle

· Author and contributor names

· Series name and number

· Description: this is the blurb readers see on the retail sites. Some distributors may ask for both a full description and a shorter version.

· Categories

· Keywords

· Age range

· Publication date

· Language

· Pricing

· Territorial rights – decide whether you are restricting sales to certain territories or going worldwide.

Categories are promises, not decorations

Categories help readers orient themselves. And they tell retailers where to put them on the shelves (physical or virtual).

The goal is not to smuggle the book onto an easier shelf. The goal is to put it where the right reader is already browsing.

The temptation to choose the largest, easiest or most flattering category rather than the most accurate one is real, as is the temptation to choose a supposedly “less competitive” category. But being placed in front of the wrong readers is not discoverability.

A book can contain romance without being a genre romance. A fantasy novel may be political, epic, cosy, humorous, or romantic—but those signals are not interchangeable.

Keywords

Keywords are words and phrases that help retailers and search systems understand what your book is about and which searches it may belong in.

Think about the words and phrases a reader might actually type when looking for a book like yours. Specific phrases are usually more useful than broad terms such as fantasy or romance. Natural language matters more than assembling a strange pile of isolated search words.

I made metadata mistakes.

My first mistake was not trusting my own ability to write a retail description. So, I hired a metadata expert, and she produced a description that I had to edit anyhow. Then I signed up for a fairly expensive marketing program through IngramSpark and received—you guessed it—another set of metadata recommendations that differed considerably from the first. So I lost confidence in what I had and thrashed around a bit.

Since then, I’ve started by studying the retail descriptions of other books in my genre and looking at the categories they use to give me a starting point. I may use AI to create a first draft of the description, but I shape and revise it from there. Are my descriptions perfect now? Of course not. But with practice I’m getting better.

4. Distributors, retailers, and the map behind the map

The platform asking you to upload a file may not be the final place where the reader buys it.

There is a difference between a retailer, where readers buy the book, and a distributor or aggregator, which sends it to retailers and libraries. There are also different distribution methods. Writers need a simple distribution map before pressing buttons.

Depending on the platform, the company may act as a retailer, a distributor, a print-on-demand supplier—or some combination of those roles.

In direct sales, the author sells straight to the reader through a website, conference, market or other event.

The distribution map looks like this: Author → direct store → reader

In print-on-demand distribution, a supplier manufactures the book when it is ordered and sends it into the retail or library chain.

The distribution map looks like this: Author → distributor or print supplier → retailer or library → reader

5. Price is metadata, too.

Price does not merely determine revenue. It also tells the reader something about the book before they open it.

Readers tend to have expectations about what an ebook, paperback or hardcover should cost within a particular genre. That doesn’t mean you must, or should, copy everyone else, but it is worth looking at comparable books before deciding. A price far outside the expected range may create resistance—or unintentionally signal that the book is something other than it is. At worst, it undervalues the book because you assume a lower price will automatically attract more readers.

Each format also has different constraints. A print price must cover manufacturing costs before there is any royalty at all. Ebook royalties vary by retailer, territory and price band, and the amount you receive will be reduced by the retailer’s or distributor’s share. Libraries may pay a higher price because the book can be borrowed by multiple readers. Currency conversion adds another wrinkle, since a sensible US price may produce an awkward or surprisingly high price elsewhere.

This is another reason to keep a master publishing record. Write down the intended price for every format and major market, then check what actually appears on the retail sites. Prices do not always arrive everywhere exactly as you entered them.

There is no universally correct number. The aim is to choose a price that fits the format, the genre, the market and the value of the book—and to understand the effect that choice has on both readers and royalties.

Pricing caused me to do some flailing as well. I changed the price several times as I alternately overvalued and undervalued my work, which may have confused readers and cost me sales. As I’ve published more books, I’ve become more confident about where each one’s price should land.

6. Make the decisions somewhere before entering them everywhere

Once the same information has to be entered into several different systems, do not rely on memory—or assume you will be able to reconstruct your reasoning six months later.

Create one master publishing record for each book and treat it as the source of truth. Keep the final metadata, ISBNs, descriptions, categories, keywords, prices, file names, upload dates and proofing status there. Store the final EPUB and print files in the same clearly labelled folder, along with anything else you will need when the book is updated, redistributed or reissued.

I have done this for every book I’ve published over the past sixteen months. The first book taught me how to build the system; every book since has benefited from it. No hunting through old emails. No wondering which file was actually final. No recreating the same wheel.

7. The first book builds the publishing machine

The first publication feels disproportionately difficult because you’re creating the book and the process at the same time. You’re finding the formatter, learning the software, opening the retailer accounts, choosing how to handle ISBNs, building the templates and inventing the checklists while also trying to publish the actual novel. The learning curve feels more like a perpendicular line.

By the second or third book, much of that machinery already exists. You know who to hire, what to do yourself, where the files belong and which decisions need to be made before you upload anything.

The first book does not merely produce a book. It produces the beginnings of a publishing company.

Conclusion: The cauldron becomes a process

At first, the publishing apparatus looks like a cauldron full of unrelated spells: files, formats, ISBNs, metadata, categories, distributors, prices and passwords, all bubbling at once.

But publishing is not one enormous task. It is a process, and there is a logical order of operations. One decision leads to the next. The trim size informs the print file. The format determines the ISBN. The metadata tells retailers and readers what the book is. The distribution choice determines where the files need to go.

It reminds me of the old question: how do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

You don’t need to solve the entire publishing industry in one sitting. You need to just make the next decision, record it in your master document folder, complete the next piece and then move on. Eventually, the frightening cauldron becomes a familiar sequence—and the sequence becomes a reusable system.

The first book might feel like you are inventing the spells while stirring the pot. By the second or third, you’re working from a process you already understand.

And, more importantly, you’ll know where you put the passwords.

Next time: the cover—why the image you personally adore may not be the cover your book needs, and why “pretty” is only one small part of its job.

Questions or comments? Send them my way!