Notes on making books.
Practical, no-nonsense guides on layout, printing, eBooks and self-publishing — written by the team that produces them.
ARC readers vs beta readers: what they are and how to build a team
Beta readers give you private feedback before the book is final; ARC readers post public reviews just before launch. Here is exactly what each does, when to use them, how many you need, where to find them — and the Amazon review rules that quietly trip authors up.
Read articleHow to market your book for free
The complete, no-budget playbook — social media, Amazon, Goodreads, BookTok, reviews and your own website. Reach readers worldwide without spending a cent.
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AI book covers vs a human designer: which should you choose?
An honest comparison of AI-generated book covers against hiring a human designer — cost, speed, originality, typography, commercial rights and brand fit — and where each genuinely wins.
Book interior design and typesetting: front matter to back matter
What professional interior typesetting actually involves — the front-matter order, body typography that reads invisibly, back matter, and why a human typesetter beats a one-click template.
Looking for a Reedsy alternative? Marketplace vs publishing house, compared
Reedsy is a curated marketplace where you vet and hire individual professionals per project; a publishing house handles the whole book as one team on one fixed quote. Here is how the two models differ — and which suits which kind of author.
The 12-week book launch checklist (free timeline)
A practical week-by-week launch plan from twelve weeks out to launch day and after — cover reveal, ARC team, preorder, metadata, reviews, email list and launch-week tactics — with a copy-and-keep timeline table.
How to self-publish a book: a complete step-by-step guide
The whole path from finished manuscript to a book on sale — editing, design, file preparation, ISBN, distribution and launch — with what each step costs and how long it takes.
Book series and box set strategy: covers, formatting and read-through
How to build a series readers binge: consistent cover branding, clean numbering, a proper KDP series page and back matter that drives read-through — plus when to compile an ebook box set or a print omnibus, and how to price each.
How much does it cost to self-publish a book?
A realistic budget breakdown for self-publishing — editing, cover, print files, ePUB, ISBN, proofs and marketing — with lean, mid and premium budgets you can actually plan around.
How to choose KDP categories and keywords in 2026
KDP now gives you three store categories chosen in the dashboard and seven keyword fields of fifty characters each. Here is how to research and pick both, when BISAC codes matter, and why metadata belongs in a ready-to-publish file.
How long does it take to self-publish a book?
A realistic timeline from finished manuscript to on-sale — editing, design and typeset, proofing, upload and going live — with typical durations for each stage.
How to make an audiobook in 2026: ACX vs Virtual Voice vs human narration
The three routes to an audiobook — hire a narrator, do it yourself, or use Amazon’s AI Virtual Voice — compared on cost, quality, rights and distribution, with an honest look at where a human voice still wins.
Should you hire a book editor or use AI?
An honest comparison of a professional book editor versus AI proofreading and editing tools — what each is genuinely good and bad at, what they cost, and the real risks.
How to self-publish a book in Australia and Canada
A combined how-to for two markets that differ on one telling point: Australian ISBNs are paid through Thorpe-Bowker, while Canadian ISBNs are free from Library and Archives Canada. Here is the full path — ISBNs, legal deposit, distribution, printing and pricing — for each country.
KDP vs IngramSpark: which should self-publishing authors use?
An honest comparison of Amazon KDP and IngramSpark for self-publishing authors — reach, royalties, setup fees, returns, hardcover, proofs and trim specs — and why most authors quietly use both.
How to self-publish a book in the UK
The UK-specific path to self-publishing — buying an ISBN from Nielsen, publishing through Amazon KDP and IngramSpark for Waterstones and library reach, meeting your legal-deposit duty to the British Library, the VAT position, and pricing in pounds — with a step-by-step checklist.
eBook vs print: which should you launch first (or both)?
Should you launch your book as an eBook, in print, or both at once? An honest look at reader expectations by genre, cost, discoverability, royalties and the strong case for launching both from a single source.
How to self-publish a fantasy or sci-fi novel
Fantasy and sci-fi run long, signal genre hard on the cover, and often launch as series — so they need different decisions on word count, trim size, maps and formatting. Here is the genre-specific playbook, with a norms table.
Self-publishing vs traditional publishing: cost, control, royalties and timeline
A fair, thorough comparison of self-publishing and traditional publishing — advances, royalty rates, rights, creative control, speed to market, gatekeeping, upfront cost and the marketing burden. The real trade-offs, named honestly.
How to self-publish a memoir
The whole path to self-publishing a memoir — structure, word count, the truth-and-legal questions unique to true stories, editing, cover tone and photo inserts — with what each step really involves.
Hardcover vs paperback: how to choose for your book
Hardcover signals permanence and earns a higher price; paperback is cheaper to print, easier to buy and the right default for most fiction. Here’s how production cost, royalty, genre norms, durability and gifting actually shape the choice — and why releasing both is so common.
How to self-publish a nonfiction or business book
The nonfiction-specific path from idea to on-sale book — outline and structure, realistic word counts, establishing authority, references and an index, cover conventions, and turning the finished book into a platform and lead magnet for your business.
Reflowable vs fixed-layout ePUB: which does your book need?
Reflowable ePUB lets text rearrange itself to any screen, font and size — the right default for novels and most non-fiction. Fixed-layout ePUB locks the page like a PDF, which is what picture books, cookbooks and comics need. Here’s how to tell which your book requires.
How to self-publish a romance novel
A genre-specific guide to self-publishing romance: the word counts readers expect by subgenre, how covers and tropes signal what your book delivers, why series and rapid release win, and how Kindle Unlimited shapes the whole strategy.
ISBN, ISSN and ISMN explained: which number does your book need?
ISBN for books, ISSN for periodicals, ISMN for printed music — what each standard number is, whether self-published authors need an ISBN, free versus paid, one number per format, and where to buy them by country.
What KDP’s AI disclosure means for your book and your rights
Amazon KDP asks you to disclose AI-generated text, images and translations at upload — but does not ban AI-assisted work. Here is what counts as which, why purely AI-generated material sits on uncertain copyright ground, and why a fully human-made book is cleanly yours.
How to write a back-cover blurb that sells
A practical guide to the back-cover blurb: its real job (to sell, not summarise), a hook-to-button structure, length and tense, what to leave out, how fiction and non-fiction differ, a before/after example and a checklist.
KDP Select vs wide: should you go exclusive in 2026?
Should you go exclusive with KDP Select or sell your eBook everywhere? An honest 2026 comparison — Kindle Unlimited page reads, Countdown and Free promos, 90-day exclusivity, and which authors each path actually suits.
Amazon KDP royalties explained: how much do you actually earn?
How KDP pays you: the 70% versus 35% eBook options and the conditions for 70%, the 60%-minus-printing maths for paperback and hardcover, and worked examples so you know what lands in your account.
Developmental vs line vs copy editing vs proofreading
The four stages of book editing, in the order a manuscript actually needs them: developmental fixes structure, line editing shapes the prose, copy editing enforces correctness and consistency, and proofreading catches the last errors. What each does, when, roughly what it costs, and which ones your book truly needs.
How long should a book be? Word counts by genre
Typical word-count ranges for every kind of book — adult novels by genre, YA, middle-grade, picture books, novellas, memoir and non-fiction — and why those ranges matter for readers, agents and print cost.
How much does a book cover cost?
Realistic price ranges for book covers — premade, custom typographic and custom illustrated, ebook front versus full print wrap — plus what drives the cost and why AI is a false economy.
How to choose the right trim size for your book
Trim size is the finished width and height of your printed book. Here is how to pick one by genre, how it changes your page count, spine and print cost, how to match a series, and how to stay inside POD specs.
A rhino’s birthday, told in two languages: making “Nosorog i mravi”
Svjetlana Stojanović’s rhymed picture book about a worried rhino and the ants who save his birthday — produced by us as two parallel editions, Serbian and Russian, from one set of illustrations.
Scrivener: the writing app built for long, messy projects
Why so many novelists and non-fiction authors draft in Scrivener instead of Word — the binder, the templates, the corkboard and Compile, plus an honest look at the learning curve.
How to copyright your book (and whether you need to register it)
Copyright in your book exists the moment you write it — no form, no fee. Here is what that means, what to put on your copyright page, and when formal registration is worth doing.
Illustrating “Beogradski ćilim”: a flying carpet over Belgrade
How we brought Ana Pavlović’s children’s book to life — a soft watercolour world where three friends, a rabbit, a dog and a wonderfully grumpy snail ride a Pirot kilim over the rooftops of Belgrade.
How to format a book for KDP and IngramSpark (step by step)
A practical, step-by-step guide to formatting a print book for Amazon KDP and IngramSpark — trim size, margins and gutter, bleed, embedded fonts, a press-ready PDF, the cover wrap, the spec differences between the two, and the rejection reasons that catch first-timers.
How to make an ePUB for Kindle (and every other store)
Kindle now accepts ePUB and converts it for you. Here is how to build a clean, EPUBCheck-validated reflowable ePUB 3 that uploads to KDP, Kobo and Apple Books first time.
From spooky to sweet: a look across our illustration desk
Not every drawing ends up in a children’s book. A quick tour of the character work, seasonal pieces and editorial doodles that come through the Librum illustration desk.
What is a CIP record, and do you need one?
CIP — Cataloguing-in-Publication — is the small block of library data printed on a book’s copyright page. Here’s what it’s for, who issues it, why most self-publishers can’t get one and don’t need it, and what to use instead.
Translating a book to or from Serbian: what actually matters
A great translation reads like it was written, not converted. Why the translator’s native language decides everything — and what separates art from a word-swap.
Print-on-demand vs. digital offset: which should you choose?
Two ways to print a book, two different economics. How to pick the right one for your run size, budget and goals — without overpaying for either.
What makes an ePUB pass every store’s checks
Kindle, Apple Books and Kobo all validate your file before it goes live. What a clean, store-ready ePUB actually needs — and why most rejections are invisible.
Preparing your manuscript for professional typesetting
A few simple habits before you hand over your manuscript save time, money and revision rounds. A short pre-flight checklist from the team that lays out books.
Have a book to make?
Tell us what you need — print, eBook, cover or translation — and we’ll reply with a plan, a fixed quote and a timeline.