Finishing the manuscript is the part you already know how to do. What follows is a sequence of decisions about files, numbers and listings — duller than they sound, easier than they look, and best tackled in order rather than all at once.
This checklist is written for UK authors publishing for the first time, whether you want a Kindle edition, a paperback you can hold, or both. Work through it section by section and you will arrive at launch day with a book that behaves itself.
1. Get the manuscript to a professional standard
Editing happens in layers, and the order matters. A developmental edit looks at structure, pacing and whether the book does what it promised. A copyedit tidies grammar, consistency and style. A proofread catches what survived both. Doing them in reverse wastes money, because you will pay a proofreader to polish sentences you later delete.
Beta readers are useful if you choose them carefully. Ten honest readers from your genre will tell you more than fifty friends who love you. For non-fiction, check every factual claim, and get written permission for any quotation, lyric, poem line or image that is not yours. Brief quotations for review or criticism are one thing; reproducing someone's work inside a book you sell is another. If you are unsure, ask the rights holder.
2. Format for ebook and print — they are different jobs
An ebook is a reflowable file. The text must adapt to a phone, a tablet and a dedicated e-reader, which means no page numbers, no headers, no fixed line breaks and no tabs. Use Styles in Word — Heading 1 for chapter titles, Body Text for paragraphs — rather than hitting Enter twice and hoping. Include a hyperlinked table of contents, and test the finished file on at least two devices before you upload it.
Print is the opposite: fixed, physical and unforgiving. Choose a trim size before you lay anything out, because it affects margins, page count and spine width. B format (198 x 129mm) is a common choice for UK fiction, while non-fiction often suits a slightly larger page. Set mirrored margins with a wider gutter on the inside edge, keep text well clear of the trim, and order a physical proof. A proof costs a little and saves an embarrassing amount.
- Ebook file: reflowable EPUB, hyperlinked contents, clean styles, no page furniture.
- Print file: correct trim size, mirrored margins, embedded fonts, PDF/X export.
- Cover files: separate ebook cover and full print cover with spine and bleed.
- Front matter: title page, copyright page, dedication, contents.
- Back matter: author note, a clear next step for the reader, and a way to join your list.
3. Metadata and ISBNs: the details that decide who finds you
Metadata is everything a retailer knows about your book: title, subtitle, series name and number, description, categories, keywords, author biography. It is the least glamorous work in publishing and probably the highest return on effort. Keep it identical everywhere. If your series is "The Fenwick Mysteries" on Amazon, it cannot be "Fenwick Mysteries Series" on Kobo.
Write your description for a reader, not for an algorithm, and make the first two lines count — on Amazon, that is often all anyone sees before deciding. Choose categories you can plausibly rank in rather than the most crowded ones, and use all the keyword slots with phrases real people type, not single broad words. For wider distribution you will also need BISAC or BIC subject codes, which most distributors let you pick from a list.
ISBNs for UK publishers come from Nielsen. You need one per print format — paperback and hardback are separate editions — and each needs its own number. Free ISBNs from retail platforms are tempting but usually tie that edition to one retailer, which limits you later. Ebooks do not legally require an ISBN, though some distributors and libraries prefer one. Amazon's ASIN is its own internal identifier and is not an ISBN.
4. Distribution: where the book actually goes
The first decision is exclusive or wide. Amazon's KDP Select programme requires digital exclusivity for a set period in exchange for page-read income and promotional tools. Going wide through Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play and aggregators such as Draft2Digital puts you in more shops with less support. Neither is wrong; pick based on where your readers already buy.
For print, KDP is quick and simple, while IngramSpark reaches a wider network and is friendlier to the book trade. UK bookshops generally order through wholesalers like Gardners rather than direct from authors, and they expect a trade discount, a returns policy and a properly listed edition. Without those, a bookseller who likes your book still cannot easily stock it. A workable alternative is consignment with a handful of local independents: you supply copies, agree a split, and collect what does not sell.
5. Money, tax and the legal bits worth knowing
In the UK, copyright is automatic — no registration, no fee — so keep dated drafts and correspondence as evidence of authorship. If you are earning from your books, you are likely trading, which means registering with HMRC and keeping records of royalties, print costs and expenses. VAT treatment differs between printed books and digital publications and the rules have changed in recent years, so check your own position with an accountant rather than relying on forum wisdom.
Two schemes worth knowing: Public Lending Right, which pays authors when their books are borrowed from UK libraries, and legal deposit, which generally requires a copy of any printed book published in the UK to be sent to the British Library and, on request, to other legal deposit libraries. Both have straightforward registration processes — check current guidance before you assume either applies to you. For tax, contracts or anything with legal consequences, take proper professional advice.
6. Launch week and the first month
A launch is not a single day. It is a fortnight of small, consistent actions, most of them planned weeks in advance.
- Set your publication date and, if you want one, open pre-orders two to four weeks ahead.
- Assemble an advance reader team from your mailing list and give them the file early.
- Prepare your assets: cover image, description, sample chapter, author photo, one-line pitch.
- Tell people before launch day — newsletter, social posts, relevant communities, your local independent bookshop.
- Pitch the local angle to regional press and radio, since a hometown author is a story.
- On launch day, direct everyone to one clear action: buy the book, or read it free in a sample.
Ask for honest reviews, never paid or swapped ones. Retail platforms take a dim view of incentivised reviews, and readers spot them. A polite request at the end of the book, plus a reminder to your list a fortnight later, is enough.
A calm way to work through all of this
Take the list in order and give each stage its own week: edit, then format, then metadata, then distribution, then launch. Batch the boring jobs, because they feed each other — you cannot write a good description before the book is final, and you cannot choose categories before you know the description.
One last piece of practical advice: write down your decisions. ISBNs, trim size, category choices and discount terms are all things you will need to recall for the second book, the audiobook, or the reprint. A single spreadsheet saved in the same folder as your files will save you a weekend of guessing later.
Photo: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels