In this day and age, there are a ton of book publishing options. With the rise of the self-publishing industry (and subsequent dip in traditional publishing), your options to publish are wide and far.

Here at Self-Publishing School, we understand the power of self-publishing, which is why we have our Become a Bestseller program, where we teach people how to maintain control and become a bestseller.

However, there are a ton of other options, and we wanted to make sure you had all the information possible in order to make the decision that’s best for you and your needs as an author.

Here are your book publishing options:

1. Self-Publishing
2. Traditional Publishing
3. Hybrid Publisher
4. Vanity Publisher

Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing

When thinking about your publishing options, there are two main avenues to take into consideration: self-publishing and traditional publishing.

We’ll go into more detail in each individual section below, but just know this is one of the biggest decisions you’ll have to decide on if you want to be an author.

The short overview is this:

• Self-publishing gives you all creative control, is faster to publish, gives you full royalties, with more upfront investments
• Traditional publishing takes a lot longer, no upfront investments, but you make a small fraction of royalties per book

We actually compiled a ton of data on self-publishing versus traditional publishing you can find in this free download here:

Publishing Options: Choosing the Best Type for YOU

Not everyone will be a good fit for all of these publishing options. You have to think about your goals as an author, what you want to make financially, and where you see yourself in the long-term—as well as how many books you want to publish and how frequently.

All of these are important to consider when making your decision, but we want to give you all the information so that decision is easier.

#1 – Self-Publishing

If self-publishing isn’t on your radar, you’re severely missing out on a huge opportunity. We truly believe this is the best publishing avenue for the large majority of people.

This is why Self-Publishing School started in the first place. Chandler Bolt (the founder and CEO) started this company because he had such a massive success with his first bestselling book.

Since, he’s published 5 other bestsellers, and he gave all his secrets for doing that away in our Become a Bestseller program.

Now, that being said, there are things to think about when it comes to self-publishing.

So what is self-publishing?

Self-publishing is when you have complete ownership and control of your book and its rights, and you can publish on any medium that allows for it (including Amazon publishing, Barnes & Noble, Nook, and more).

Difficulty to publish:

It’s very easy to self-publish a book. In fact, pretty much anyone with access to Amazon’s publishing platform can do it.

But that doesn’t mean everyone should, nor should you publish a book that’s not ready (or not of high quality), which is why we have our programs in the first place.

Timeframe to publish:

Our students publish in as little as 90 days with our process for going from blank page (yes, nothing written!) to a fully published book. You can take longer to publish, and many students in our Fundamentals of Fiction program often do take longer since fiction can be more extensive.

Creative control:

This is the best part! You have 100% of the creative control over everything from your book’s content to its title, cover, everything. Especially the rights to your book!

Marketing responsibility:

This is all on you—just like it is with traditional publishing, which you’ll learn more about down below. Thankfully, there are a ton of resources online to learn how to market a book, as well as our Sell More Books program to increase your book sales.

Royalty rate:

When publishing through Amazon, your royalty rate will be anywhere from 35% – 70% depending on your book’s retail price. SelfPublishing.com has a fantastic book royalties calculator right here that you can check out for a comparison as well.

Cost to publish:

Self-publishing has a higher upfront investment and cost to publish. These can range anywhere from $300 – $1200+ for high-quality editing, book cover design, and more.

But do keep in mind, you make a lot more in royalties back straight away.

Book production (cover design, editing, etc.):

This is all on you. From the cover design to the book editing (yes you have to get it edited if you want it to do well) all the way to the inside formatting is up to you.

Thankfully, there are resources to help you do all of this right, and we cover this entire process in our programs for our students, as we’ve seen this is one of the most difficult parts of self-publishing.

Questions to ask if you think self-publishing is right for you:

• Do you need 100% creative control?
• Do you have the ability to invest upfront for a higher royalty rate later?
• Can you effectively market your book (even with help)?
• Do you want to write and publish multiple books quickly?

If you answered yes to the above, self-publishing is likely your best option, and you can learn more about how to do that with our free training. Just click the image below!

#2 – Traditional Publishing

Traditional publishing is what we grew up learning was “publishing”: You get an agent through querying your book, that agent pitches your story to publishers, they choose to buy your book from you, and it gets published a while later!

Let’s look at some details about this traditional publishing option.

Difficulty to publish:

Very high. The traditional publishing industry is really hard to get into. It’s not impossible, but it often takes writers years just to land an agent. And then they have to wait until their manuscript is bought, which isn’t guaranteed.

Many will say traditional produces “better” books or you’re a “better” writer if you publish traditionally, but that’s not true. All this proves is that you have a book idea that’s “hot” and “trending” in the market: remember, publishing houses are after one thing and that’s book sales. If it’ll sell, they’ll purchase it, which means unless it’s a trending topic or book idea, you likely won’t get a book deal.

Timeframe to publish:

If we start the timeline to publish after your agent sells your manuscript, meaning a publishing house has purchased your book rights, it can still take up to 2 years for your book to actually publish.

And this doesn’t take into consideration the time spent trying to get an agent and the time it takes your agent to sell your book. You’re looking at a 2-4 year time period unless you get very lucky or have traditional publishing connections.

Creative control:

You don’t really have much creative control with this publishing option.

Ultimately, the publisher buys your book rights for the idea, but this is subject to change based on what your editor sees as selling the most.

Unfortunately, this can be everything from the main characters, the title, the ending, and even major plot points. The upside is that publishers do know what sells, so this could give your book a better chance of “taking off.”

Just know that you’ll have to make sacrifices with creative control through traditional publishing.

Marketing responsibility:

This is on you! Unless you’re a “big name,” (and even then) you do the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing your book.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about the traditinoal publishing industry. Many want to go with this publishing option because they think the publishing house will market their book, and they do, but only to a certain extent.

The bulk of the marketing is up to you, and this is increasingly more evident as book agents continue to ask about your author platform size as a decision criterion for representing you or not.

Royalty rate:

Many traditionally published authors can expect to make 10% – 12% and (very rarely) up to 15% royalties on their books. As you can see, this is significantly lower than self-publishing due to the publisher taking a big cut to pay for the editing, cover design, and everything that goes into it, as well as your agent taking a cut.

You do get an “advance” if you sign a book deal. This is a large sum of money, usually under $15,000 for new authors, that you have to make back in book sales before you actually get a royalty check.

Many traditionally published authors never see a royalty check because their books never sell more than their advance’s worth after publication.

Cost to publish:

Time. This is the real true cost of the traditional publishing option. If anyone tries to get you to pay them, this is not traditional publishing and is likely a hybrid or a vanity publisher (for the latter, RUN!).

Book production (cover design, editing, etc.):

This is all done in-house at the publisher. They have a cover made, editing completed, formatting finished, as well as book distribution—meaning getting your book in bookstores across the nation.

You can learn more about the main differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing by watching the video below:

Here are some questions to ask if you want to go with this publishing option:

• Will you be okay with altering your story, characters, and plot?
• Do you want to publish less frequently, at a book every one or two years?
• Do you want to relinquish ownership over the cover design and more?
• Will you be okay with a smaller royalty rate for your book?
• Are you willing to spend a year or more querying just to find an agent?

If you answered yes to all of those, this avenue might be for you!

#3 – Hybrid Publisher

If you’re not sold on either self-publishing or traditional publishing, there is another option called hybrid publishing.

Hybrid publishing is just as it sounds: a combination of both self-publishing and traditional publishing. Most often a hybrid publisher will have specific criteria for authors they work with and will have the distribution opportunities self-publishing doesn’t (like nation-wide bookstores).

One distinguishing factor here: the author usually has to make some sort of investment in order to publish through them.

Difficulty to publish:

This depends entirely on the publisher’s rules and regulations for new authors. Most don’t just take anyone in off the street, which means it is more difficult than self-publishing, though usually not as much so as traditional.

Timeframe to publish:

This is another differentiating factor. Hybrid publishers vary so greatly that most of these will depend on the specific publishing house. However, you can expect an elongated path to publishing here as well.

Creative control:

Since the publisher in this case usually deals with the book cover, title, and such, your creative control is at more risk here. However, most of these publishing houses are more likely to work with you to come to an agreement whereas traditional publishing houses don’t give you much of a choice.

Marketing responsibility:

Again, as with any publishing option, marketing responsibilities fall to you, the author. Though because this is a hybrid publisher, you’ll have more exposure due to their distribution capabilities (which is a note to make sure this is included if you choose this option).

Royalty rate:

Since this also varies, all we have is an approximation range: you can expect roughly 40% – 60% in royalty rates depending on the deal you make. This is definitely higher than traditionally published authors make, but you’ll make less than self-publishing simply because the publisher will still get a cut.

Cost to publish:

Guess what, this one depends as well! Different hybrid publishers work on different models, which means their revenue will be earned differently. That said, some authors pay a large sum to work with hybrid publishers, as well as give up a chunk of their royalties.

Book production (cover design, editing, etc.):

This usually goes through the hybrid publisher, and the process is much like that of traditional publishing. This means you don’t have to worry about any of this and that you also don’t get to change or alter any of this.

#4 – Vanity Publisher

CAUTION!!

We wanted to include this in the options because it is an option you’ll see out there. However, it is not an option to consider.

It’s here so you can know what to look for when a vanity publisher is involved in order to AVOID one. We do not recommend this option.

We wrote a blog post all about vanity press scams here, what they are, and why you should avoid them at all costs.

In other words: you may see people who look like hybrid publishers but are not. Do not work with them!

So what type of publisher is Self-Publishing School?

None! We’re not a publishing option, we’re an online education school that teaches you how to successfully self-publish a book so you can save time, money, (and tears), while earning a steady income from your books.

When you make the decision to write and publish a book, for whatever your unique reason is, like growing your business, establishing authority, or just wanting to make an impact, having the right program to assist you makes all the difference.

You can do it all by yourself. But the level of success you have will mostly depend on the strategies you implement.

And if you’ve never done this before, you’d want to work with someone who has to get it right.

That means you’re likely searching for the best publishing course or program to get you there.

We’ll cover some of the best publishing educational programs over a few different fields and certain publishing software programs, along with what you should look for in one to make it worth your time, investment, and effort.

Here are book publishing programs to consider:

1. Education – Self-Publishing School
2. Education – Balboa Press
3. Education – LuLu
4. Education – Book Baby
5. Education – Outskirts Press
6. Software – Scrivener
7. Software – Blurb
8. Software – KDP Wizard
9. Software – Press Books

What’s the difference between a book publishing program and a publisher?

A book publisher will basically do everything but write the book for you…including taking the majority of your royalty earnings.

On the other hand, a book publishing program that’s education-based, meant to teach you how to do it, shows you the process and allows you to keep all of your royalties.

If you’re looking for a publishing program like a software that helps you take your book from a document to a published piece of work, that’s a whole other set of needs you can learn about below.

What’s the difference between a publishing course and a publishing program?

Some people use the term “course” and “program” interchangeably but they’re actually very different.

A book publishing course is often pre-made or pre-recorded that you can go through in your own time without the assistance of its creators or support.

A book publishing program, on the other hand, often has the course plus other materials or assistance, like our Become a Bestseller program that has 1-on-1 coaching along with group coaching calls, a community, and more.

So the main difference is the level of content and assistance you get with each. A book publishing program will likely be more interactive with support and interaction whereas a course will likely only be online content with nothing else, unless it’s an in-person course like at a college.

Book publishing program for education or a book publishing software program?

You may be in both camps or you may just be in one. Are you looking for a computer software to help you publish? We’ll cover that here!

But we’ll also go into some book publishing programs that are actually education-based where you’ll learn the entire process, start to finish.

Click here to look over book publishing software.

Click here to learn more about book publishing programs that are educational.

What to Look for in a Book Publishing Program

Obviously you want to make sure you get what you need in order to publish a book successfully. But what we’ve learned through working with thousands of students is that most don’t exactly know what they should be looking for.

It’s one of those “you don’t know what you don’t know” situations, and we want to clear up a few things.

Here’s what you should look for in a book publishing program for education:

• Ample support
• A community of some sort
• Thorough, up-to-date content
• Lifetime access to the information
• NO royalties taken (if you self-publish, you should never sign over royalties to a company with a publishing program–those are YOURS)

Here’s what to look for in a book publishing program software:

• Ease of use
• Editing capabilities
• Outlining capabilities (for the writing–a “nice to have”)
• Formatting capabilities
• Access-anywhere features (like Google Docs)
• Multiple document formats (.pdf, .png, .txt, .mobi, .azw,)
• Low cost
• Multi-device functionality (phone, tablet, laptop, desktop)
• Great customer support
• Auto-save feature (probably the most important!!!)

Book Writing & Publishing Programs

Are you looking for something that encompasses both writing and publishing all in one?

Since these two are so closely related, and you should often write the book to go along with your publishing plan, having a program with both can be even more beneficial.

Here are some book publishing programs that also cover the book writing process and how to write a great book (especially for self-published authors!).

Online Book Publishing Programs

Want to work on your book without having to go anywhere? There are a ton of book publishing programs online.

These mostly allow you to log in from home, work on it in your own time, and give you the flexibility most of us need to get something like writing a book done.

#1 – Self-Publishing School

That’s us! We’re actually a self-publishing education company, dedicated to teaching you how to write, market, and self-publish your book successfully.

Here are some program details:

• Several self-publishing paths to take: including Nonfiction, Fiction, Specific Marketing, PR & Speaking for Authors, Course Building for Authors
• 1-on-1 coaching with each program
• Lifetime access to materials
• Exclusive Mastermind Community Facebook group
• Up to 4 additional free coaching calls within the community weekly–including 1 per week with Chandler himself
• Expert interviews by industry experts in the Mastermind Community
• From blank page to published author, and everything in between
• Over $1000 in exclusive Self-Publishing School author discounts for services like editing, cover design, and more!

While we may be biased since this is our program, we truly believe it’s the best, and we continuously upgrade and improve our programs in order to ensure this by keeping track of industry trends, Amazon’s updates, and listening to the needs of our authors.

Check out the image below for a sneak peek of a portion of our program (we don’t share these often!):

Our specialty here is 1-on-1 coaching as well as a Bestseller status guarantee on Amazon (in as little as 90 days if you follow the program!), which increases exposure, boosts your book in Amazon’s rankings, and helps you sell more!

You can check out more about our baseline Become a Bestseller publishing program here.

Check out some of our student success stories to hear it from them!

#2 – Balboa Press

If you’re searching for publishing options and programs, you’ll likely come across Balboa Press at some point.

This publishing program has several options, including “done for you” services that allow you to sit back and let someone else take care of the majority of the work, aside from the actual book topic and contents.

Below is a chart for their services along with price points.

This publishing program has services from hardcover publishing to copyright information, social media setup guides, and more depending on the package you choose to go with.

Full Balboa Press Review

More Balboa Press Frist-Hand Experiences

#3 – LuLu

LuLu Press has been around for a while now, since 2002! While it’s not exclusive to just books, it’s a good option for those looking for a book publishing program that has several features.

In the image below, you can see the different options they have available to you, including printing, distribution, selling, and more.

While this is less of an educational platform and certainly not a course-like program, it does offer plenty of helpful blog posts to get you going.

However, it does lack the expertise of a more robust educational publishing program that can help you rank and sell more books.

Full LuLu Publishing Review

More LuLu First-Hand Experiences

#4 – Book Baby

BookBaby has a lot of options on their site. It may even be a little confusing as to what they do and how you can benefit from it, but we’ll break it down for you.

This book publishing program does a few main things for you:

1. Prints books
2. eBook services, including formatting and more
3. Book design
4. Editing
5. Bookselling services

As you can see, this is a wide range of different options for the self-publishers out there. They have a lot of great reviews and also some complaints, as is the case with something this big.

Among the biggest complaints, however, is that if you want to make changes to your manuscript, you do have to pay a fee.

Pricing for BookBaby can be hard to find. We grabbed this information from SelfPublishing.com for you:

• Express Package: $890
• Complete Package: $1,790
• Deluxe Package: $2,290

Full Book Baby Review

More BookBaby First-Hand Experiences

#5 – Outskirts Press

Outskirts Press has been around for a long time, another publishing company taking advantage of the self-publishing boom since 2002.

They offer a variety of services, including publishing, marketing, and book production assistance.

I had a hard time finding any prices for Outskirts Press and their website was a little hard to navigate, making me think I’d likely have to go through channels to get prices for what they offer, and even find everything they offer.

Below you’ll see a screenshot from their “All Publishing Packages” menu item in the “Publishing” dropdown menu item.

If you do some digging, you’ll be able to find the pricing for specific packages, ranging from marketing information to genre-specific “done for you” services, as you can see in the images below.

As you can see, it looks like pricing for their services ranges widely, from a few hundred dollars to thousands, depending on what you’re looking for.

First-Hand Outskirts Press Experiences

Book Publishing Software Programs

On the other side of book publishing programs that are full of educational materials and “how-tos” are the software programs you can use to write, edit, format, and even upload to Amazon.

Let’s take a look at some of the best publishing programs out there.

#1 – Scrivener

If you’re starting to write a book but haven’t heard of Scrivener, I’d be surprised! This is one of the most popular writing softwares out there right now.

If you want to keep your writing highly organized, outline it effectively, and write directly inside the software, this is a great one for you.

We’ve got a video detailing a few of their features below:

#2 – Blurb

If you’re looking for more of a book formatting software, and not necessarily a writing one, BookWright by Blurb.

This publishing program boasts features like customizable templates, really high quality, and that it’s free! You can upload the content you need, add images, and formulate a layout that works for what you want.

If you head to their “Sell & Self-Publish” menu item, it’ll show you the various things you can do with this platform.

Check out the image below for a few ideas:

From what I could conjure, this service really does look free. Blurb doesn’t charge fees for using its platform for distribution. However, if you sell through the Blurb Bookstore, they’ll obviously take a cut of your royalties there, similarly to Amazon and other retailers.

Here’s another handy comparison chart on Blurb’s website that compares its services to other book publishing programs.

#3 – KDP Wizard

KDP Wizard is a publishing program that keeps all your KDP data, books, and information in a single place for you to keep track of it.

It saves data ranging from descriptions to reviews to categories, and more, all in one place.

You can see the pricing and plan options below:

While these are monthly subscriptions, you can actually get the entire thing for a lifetime for $699. So if you’re looking to be a career author, this might be an option worth considering.

#4 – Press Books

If you’re looking for a quick publishing program that allows you to upload, “click a few buttons,” and have a great looking book, Press Books allows for just that.

Here’s an image of their prices if you want the paid options:

As you can see, they’re pretty affordable and according to them, super easy to work with.

College Book Publishing Programs

There are more and more courses being developed at colleges for learning how to publish a book successfully. While you’re probably already aware of creative writing or journalism majors, book publishing programs are newer in terms of their content.

More and more, universities are including content surrounding self-publishing and the know-how surrounding this.

If you’re going to college or you want to and publishing is your focus, know that you can get the information you need with online programs, unless you want to end up at a traditional publishing house. In which case, it helps to have a degree in publishing.

Ultimately, the publishing program that’s best for you will meet your unique needs as an author or author-to-be.

Your author bio matters. As much as we wish we could write up a few words about our lives and just stick it up for the world to see, there’s a lot more to it than that.

How you write our author bio can change the way potential readers and those who’ve already purchased view you and your platform.

It can also impact whether or not they buy another of your books, if you publish multiple.

But knowing the best way to write your author bio and how to make it speak to your readers in a specific way is the key…and we’ll cover just that for you, with examples.

Here’s how to write an author bio:

1. Author bio formatting
2. Know your readers
3. Include your background
4. Stay factual in your author bio
5. Use your personality in your author bio
6. Include awards and such
7. Get personal
8. Learn from author bio examples
9. Keep learning about author bios

Your Author Bio & YOU Do Matter

If you’re looking for a deep-dive on your author bios and the self-publishing industry as a whole, your best bet is to check out this video.

Not only will you learn a lot you didn’t know about self-publishing a book as a whole, but you’ll learn why these small details are so important.

It’s the first stepping stone to truly understanding what makes a successful author.

The other steps take quite a bit more time…unless you have a solid system to teach you the way. We help save our authors tons of time, even after some have wasted years, by showing them how to write and publish a book in as little as 90 days. Check out what we can do for you and your author career here.

What is an author bio?

An author bio is a paragraph or so about you, your credentials, your hobbies, and other information you wish to share with readers.

It’s how readers get to know you beyond the pages of your book. While your books are a great way to introduce yourself, an author bio can set you apart, bring in more fans, and even sell more books if you know how to write it correctly.

That’s what we’ll teach you here today.

How to Write an Author Bio That’s Impactful

So you’ve finished your draft and are ready to tackle the next steps of putting it out there in the world. (Promise me that you’re not procrastinating by reading this blog! If you are, get back to writing right now!)

The first step is to figure how who you want to be perceived, how you want to brand yourself, is in your author bio.

This is the blurb that will go on your Amazon author page, your Book Bub author profile, your Goodreads page, your author web page, on the back of your book and so forth. It’s a really important little piece of work that you want to get right!

While your book cover design is the most important tool when marketing a book, your author bio is easily number two. This is where you convince your audience why you are the best person to tell them about the matter at hand.

It’s a place to connect with your readers and build your legitimacy.

You’ll want to stay factual while interesting. You want to make yourself approachable and toot your own horn, just a little bit.

Here are some tips to master these.

#1 – Author Bio Formatting

Although you are writing the author bio, it still needs to be written in the third person no matter how quirky it is. In other words, avoid using “I” as your sentence subject but utilize your name or last name instead.

Additionally, you’ll have many drafts and varieties of this author bio. You’ll want to change it up depending on the application.

You may have a punchier version on your website while your bio for that speaking engagement session at a writing conference that you’re leading (and we’re confident that will happen for you!) will be more serious.

Today, we’re working on the basic draft that you can tweak as needed.

Remember to keep the bio short, less than 300 words. It seems that three sentences is a well-tested length (more on this later). Your author bio is not an entire list of every single award you’ve won or your life story.

Even if you did win the “Young Writer’s” award in middle school, unless you’re still in middle school, this little known fact probably doesn’t deserve to be on the back of your book.

Feel free to have a “full accolades” section on your author website where you can list every single thing you’ve ever done, won or written.

Your mom will be super proud of this list but readers browsing Amazon don’t need to get into the major details.

Here’s how to format an author bio wrapped up:

• Use third-person POV when writing it
• Keep it under 300 words
• Add relevant/recent achievements
• Minimize the number of sentences within those 300 words.

And remember: an author bio longer than 300 words or so will take up too much space and become an oversell.

#2 – Know Your Readers

Your bio is an extension of your book.

Write it for your audience. Keep the same writing style and connect this text to your subject matter.

If you wrote a book on productivity, a lengthy sentence about your lazy vacations doing nothing is not relevant and in fact, can persuade readers to avoid your books because they’ll think you to be uncredible.

Here are a few tips for getting to know your audience:

• Interact with your readers on social platforms
• Listen intently to the feedback during the beta reading process
• Run your author bio by a group for feedback and adjustments
• Ask people close to you if the bio embodies your personality and is accurate

#3 – Include Your Background

In order to sell yourself to new readers, you will want to include your pertinent background. If you happen to have other books, do include their titles and how many languages they have have been translated into or how many countries they’ve been sold in.

List your related education and memberships. Any higher education beyond college is usually noteworthy too.

Keep your lists short though. Only list three books, for instance, and a couple of memberships. A list of ten books, three degrees, and five memberships will only be skimmed by potential book buyers at the very best.

A huge list like this will become white noise so only include the most important and interesting stuff.

Your fanboys and girls (and your mom’s friends) will look to your aforementioned author website for more info and you can keep the tidy, complete list there.

#4 – Stay Factual

Statements like, “has always dreamed of writing a book,” while certainly may be true, are hard to back up and aren’t going to help sell your book.

Stick to the facts and to what you can prove. 

Another reason for this is if you claim achievements that aren’t true or invalid, there will always be someone there to point it out in an attempt to cut you down.

This can reduce your credibility, and therefore, readers’ trust in you.

#5 – Use your personality

One of the best things about being an author is that you get to put your personality, views of the world, values, and more into your writing.

What some don’t understand about authors is: if a reader likes you, they’re very likely to enjoy what you write, because your essence bleeds into the pages.

Being able to showcase this with your personality can do worlds for your readers connecting with you and wanting to read your book out of curiosity if nothing else.

Here are a few tips to add personality to your author bio:

• Exaggerate your tone just a little in order for it to be more evident
• Be goofy and creative with how you describe yourself (See Jenna Moreci’s example in #11)
• Have fun with it!
• Throw a joke in your bio

#6 – Include an achievement or award

In addition to your backlist of books, your awards, and education, you’ll want your readers to know any higher-profile stuff you have going on.

Be sure to cover your awards, your following, and any big deal author interviews or features.

Again, if any of these this happened decades ago, it may not be relevant. But if you have a quarter-million followers on Twitter or on your blog, this will sell your authority (and yeah, a quarter-million sounds better than 250,000 but are the same number!).

If your writing has been nominated for awards but didn’t make the cut, that is often fitting for an author bio too. “Award-nominated” anything is pretty cool!

#7 – Get personal in your author bio

Provide a bit of personal information to connect with your audience. The reason for this is if a reader sees something they have in common with you, it’s an automatic bond and gives them more of a reason to buy.

It’s standard for authors to share where they live and what their family make-up is.

A few non-divisive hobbies and interests are also often included. If you have experiences that are related, such as extensive travel or extreme situations, they may relevant to share as well.

Again, know your audience and choose wisely. Maybe (terribly) you were part of a cult as a child?

That’s really interesting but unless you’re sharing this story in the book or proves your authority on the subject at hand, skip including it in your author bio!

Bonus Author Bio Tip: Keep these bits broad enough to include a larger number of people. For example, if you play the flute, simply mention that you’ve been playing an instrument for however many years as this is more inclusive, and there’s a higher chance of others connecting with you.

#8 – Author Bio Example – Chandler Bolt

We all known and love Chandler Bolt, Self Publishing School Founder. We wouldn’t be here learning about writing without his hard work and book writing methods. Chandler’s author bio on the back of his book Published is only three sentences long but packs in a lot of authority building, states facts plus toots his horn a bit.

These three sentences along with the killer book cover art work well to sell Chandler’s mastery of book publishing.

Chandler’s Amazon Author Page is another version of his author bio. Here, Chandler gets really personal stating that his birth was almost miscarried!

He also gives some background about his entrepreneurial experience and awards.

#9 – Author Bio Example – Joanna Penn

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller and nonfiction author who also writes under the pen names of JF Penn and Penny Appleton.

She’s written and self-published nearly 30 books so she really knows what she’s doing. On her Book Bub author page, Joanna’s short bio is only (surprise!) three sentences.

It concisely tells potential readers a short version of her accolades and narrows down her writing style quickly. Then it tells us where she lives and one of her favorite drinks.

On her own website, The Creative Penn, Joanna provides a different three-sentence version of her short bio and then gets into the details about all her books, the many awards and best-selling experience she’s had plus where she lives and her favorite wine (a different drink mentioned here!)! Joanna’s short bio on her page is three sentences and shoves in a ton of accolades into a small space.

#10 – Author Bio Example – Amy Twigg

SPS alumni, Amy Twiggs, wrote her first book the Self Publishing School way and can now call herself a best selling author among her many other accomplishments (and there are many!).

Within her first book in the Flippin’ Awesome Series, Flippin’ Awesome Gymnast: 5 Tools to Crush Fear & Increase Confidence for Gymnasts (Volume 1), Amy uses the last page to tell her audience more about herself in her author bio.

Here she tells about her family, her gymnastic prowess as well as her authority and love of athletic mental training. T

his all builds strong authority for her book and brand.

On her Goodreads page about the same book, she sells the book by telling prospective readers that she’s been where they are and know “what it feels like to try your best and to fail.

I also know how it feels to work hard to achieve your goals.” She sells her wisdom and experience. Note that it is the norm to write in the first person on Goodreads but this is a big rule breaker everywhere else.

All of these examples have variations of author bios written in just a slightly different way for different applications. They all say very similar things about the same person.

#11 – Author Bio Example – Jenna Moreci

If you haven’t heard of this full-time self-published author and Youtuber, that’s surprising!

Not only does Moreci have ample experience when it comes to self-publishing, but she’s also among one of the best examples of how to market your book effectively, including how she’s written her author bio.

Here’s an example of her Amazon author page with her bio:

Notice how Moreci keeps it short, brief, but very clear with who she is, what she writes, and even has enough personal information to let readers into her life at an appropriate level.

If we take a look at her personal author website’s “about” page, we’ll see she has something similar, but with a few more additions, including her books and more.

In this example, Jenna has also doused us with her personality, giving us insight into how she operates and therefore, the tone of some of her books.

More Ideas for Writing an Author Bio

Know the very essence of your book and find keywords that your readers may search for to find your book. When crafting your author bio, use these keywords that search engines can catch. 

Although it may be irrelative in some bio spaces, add links to any free giveaways (we’ve got some ideas on that here..) on your website, your newsletter, social media or whatever web presence you have. 

Also, feel free to add a call to action where applicable.

Final Author Bio Thoughts

Remember that there is no perfect bio, and there are no two alike. Although these are all good ideas, it’s not an exact formula. Your author bio will be unique and will change as you write more books and gain more accolades (because we know you will!). 

Now tell me the truth. Is your book really done? We can help you finish your manuscript and really make use of this carefully crafted author bio! Schedule a webinar with Chandler today to get started!

Do you have more author bio tips to share with our writing community? Do you think bios should be longer than three sentences or do you like this standard size?

Knowing how to get an ISBN as a self-published author is crucial.

Since you can’t publish without an ISBN, we’re helping you learn how in order to publish the right way and why you even need an ISBN number in the first place.

But you don’t have to even worry about an ISBN number if you don’t have a book ready to publish, right? And it won’t even matter if you don’t publish that book the right way…

False. Becoming an author is about more than just the book, it’s about the business as well, and we’ll break down a very important part of that.

If you’re ready to get to the point and get your ISBN, here is the step-by-step breakdown of how to get an ISBN.

Here’s what to know about an ISBN as an author:

1. What does ISBN stand for?
2. What is an ISBN number used for?
3. How much does an ISBN cost?
4. What is the purpose of an ISBN?
5. How to read an ISBN with examples
6. What is the ISBN number on books?
7. Do ISBNs expire?
8. ISBN search
9. How to read a barcode
10. The difference between ASIN and ISBN
11. Reasons self-published authors need ISBNs
12. How to buy an ISBN
13. Problems with multiple ISBNs
14. Libraries and ISBNs
15. How to get an ISBN
16. How to register your book and ISBN
17. How many ISBNs to get
18. ISBN resources to make it easier

What does ISBN stand for?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number and is a 13-digit code used to uniquely identify your book amongst the millions out there.

What is an ISBN number used for?

Essentially, an ISBN number, or International Standard Book Number, is a regulated 10- or 13-digit identification number which allows libraries, publishers, and book dealers to locate and identify specific books.

But where did these ISBN numbers even start and why do we have them?

In the early days of World War 2, the Japanese military sent messages back and forth and the Allies needed to crack their intricate numbering system to get an edge in the war and turn the tables.

But how did they crack this complex system?

MI6 recruited a young mathematician named Gordon Foster to work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, where he scanned millions of numbers looking for patterns in the code.

Decades later, when the book industry needed a standardized tracking program in order to coordinate the increasing number of titles being published each year, Gordon Foster was approached by WH Smith, a British retailer, to write a report on how to create such a system.

This report led to the 9-digit standard book number which went live in the UK in 1967 and eventually led to the ISBN system used worldwide.

Several years later, this turned into a 10-digit numbering system when a policy was needed for new editions and variations. Then, in 2007, the ISBN switched to a 13-digit format and is now the standard used everywhere.

How much does an ISBN cost?

ISBNs cost about $125 for one number in the US. However, if you purchase more than one at a time, this cost could be lowered.

Warning: Amazon may grant you a free ISBN for your first book, but this can ONLY be used on KDP for distribution to Amazon and can’t be used for self-publishing services elsewhere.

Due to this, we always recommend purchasing a new one despite Amazon’s free ISBN.

Here are a few tips for buying an ISBN:

• If you publish physical copies through IngramSpark, you get your ISBN for only $85
• Buying your ISBNs in bulk can save you money if you intend to publish more than one book
• Amazon issues you an ISBN for “free,” but you have to list Amazon as a publisher along with other limitations
• If you’re in Canada or South African, it’s possible to get an ISBN issued through your government
• Australians pay about $40 for an ISBN
• UK residents will pay somewhere around 89 pounds for an ISBN

Here’s a table of the ISBN prices and what you can expect to pay:

What is the purpose of an ISBN number?

ISBN stands for “International Standard Book Number” and before it was implemented in 1967, the method and system for cataloging, ordering, organizing, and locating a specific book was a chaotic mess.

Today, to get your book into a bookstore, a library, or almost any book distribution channel on the planet, you need an ISBN number.

But the process can be really confusing for new authors. There are a number of questions you might be asking yourself about ISBN numbers:

• How does this long string of numbers on the back of books work?
• How do you get it?
• If you’re a self-published author, do you need an ISBN?
• Why would you need one?

These are all questions answered in this article.

Let’s unweave the intricate web of how to get an ISBN and how they work in the publishing industry.

How To Read an ISBN number with an ISBN Example

As of 2007, the ISBN is a 13-digit number. This came about in part because of the large volume of eBooks now being published every year.

Knowing how to break down and interpret these 13 digits aren’t of much use and interest to most book readers, but for publishers and distributors, it’s a necessity.

If you want to publish lots of books under your own publishing name then it’s something you may want to pay attention to. You can tell a lot about a book and its author by reading the ISBN number.

The 13 digit ISBN number helps:

• Identify the specific title
• Identify the author
• Identify the type of book they are buying
• Identify the physical properties of that particular book
• Identify the geographical location of the publisher

Let’s break it down and look at what all these numbers mean.

Here is the ISBN for a particular book:

978-3-16-148410-0

You’ll notice this sequence is divided into 5 number combinations. But the first three digits “978” indicates that this string of numbers is for an ISBN. If we remove these digits we have:

3-16-148410-0

First is the initial digit, in this case: 3

The 3 is the language group identifier which here indicates German. For English speaking countries a 0 or 1 is used. Numbers for language identification generally range from 1-5.

Here is a list of the most common Group identifiers:

0 or 1 for English

2 for French

3 for German

4 for Japan

5 for Russian

7 for People’s Republic of China

It’s worth mentioning that the rarer the language, the longer the number identifier will be. For example, Indonesia is 602 whereas Turkey is 9944. You can reference the complete list at the International ISBN Agency.

Next is “16”. This is the “publisher code,” and it identifies the publisher on any book that has this number. This number can be as long as 9 digits.

“148410” — This six-digit series represents the title of the book. The publisher assigns this to a specific book or edition of the book, such as a hardcover version or paperback. This could be a single digit or stretch to multiple digits.

“0” is the last digit and is known as the “check digit”. This number is mathematically calculated as a fixed digit. This is always a single digit.

This number indicates that the rest of the ISBN numbers have been scanned and is calculated based on the other digits in the code.

Where is the ISBN number on books?

The ISBN is usually found above the barcode on the back of the book. However, they’re not the same.

The barcode is much different than the ISBN number.

This is an important distinction because:

• When you purchase an ISBN you don’t automatically get a barcode
• The barcode of your book can change, while your ISBN can remain the same.

We’ve already discussed what data the ISBN carries, however, the barcode includes extra information such as the book’s fixed price and the currency it’s being sold in.

Barcodes are a necessary element of your book as they allow for most retailers and distributors to scan your ISBN for retail and inventory reasons.

The standard barcode is known as the EAN (European Article Number) barcode, and your barcode must be in this format to sell your book in bookstores.

(Breakdown of the typical EAN barcode on the back of a book by Publisher Services)

Do ISBNs expire?

No, ISBN numbers never expire or go bad. In fact, if you have one from a long time ago, you can simply reconstruct it for use.

But what if my old ISBN is really old and only has 10 digits?

That’s not a problem, either. With this handy tool from Bowker, you can convert the ISBN easily and immediately.

The Book Designer also has a great resource for learning how to reconstruct an ISBN if you finally decided to write and self-publish the book you’ve been thinking about since you bought the ISBN.

ISBN Search: How to Find Your Book’s ISBN

If you want to look up the ISBN of any book out there, you can do so easily by visiting the website ISBNSearch.org.

You’ll be greeted with a screen like the one above where you will be prompted to type in the ISBN, author name, or book title.

After hitting “search,” you will have a list of books matching your searched items with the both the 13-digit ISBN and the 10-digit, like in the example below.

How to Read a Barcode

If you look at the picture of a standard barcode, you’ll notice two barcodes side by side. The barcode that appears on the left is the EAN generated from the ISBN number.

The other number appearing on the right is a 5-digit add-on, called an EAN-5, that contains the price of the book. The first digit is a 5 and is a must for scanners to read. The 4-digits after the five indicates the price of the book.

For example, if the number reads 52995, this means the price of the book is set at $29.95. If the price of the book changes, a new barcode must be used, though the ISBN wouldn’t change.

This would only be replaced by a new ISBN number if the book is published as a new edition or as a new version.

To buy a barcode you must first purchase an ISBN. You can buy your barcodes at Bowker and they even offer a barcode-ISBN combo:

• 1 barcode + 1 ISBN is $150.
• 1 barcode + 10 ISBNs is $320.

The Difference Between ASIN and ISBN

If you’ve used Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program you’ve probably come across an ASIN. ASIN numbers are used by Amazon to manage and identify the products they are selling on their site. It’s a 10-character alphanumeric unique identifier that’s assigned by Amazon.com and its partners.

You can find this on your book page. In your browser, the Amazon ASIN will be after the product’s name and “dp”. The next place to find this is in your book or product details area of your book page.

However, an ASIN is not the same as an ISBN. You can only use it with Amazon. If you want to sell through other platforms or in brick and mortar stores, you’re going to need an ISBN.

Reasons Self-Published Authors Need an ISBN

If you want to publish and sell your eBook on Amazon, then the quick answer is no, it isn’t necessary. Amazon will assign your eBook an ASIN number which will be used to identify and track your title.

However, that’s only with Amazon, and only with eBooks.

If you want your readers to get a hold of a print version of your book, then you’re going to need an ISBN.

This might be important if you have a brick and mortar marketing strategy, or if you want your book to be accessible through libraries (more on this later), or if you’re looking to deal with wholesalers or other online retailers.

Here’s a simple rule of thumb: if you want to sell your book by means other than as an ebook on Amazon, then you’ll need an ISBN.

How do I buy an ISBN Number?

You might not even have to buy your ISBN number because of services offered to self-published authors. You can get assigned a free ISBN by Createspace, the On-Demand publishing company that has now merged with Amazon.

You can also get an ISBN when dealing with a whole host of On-Demand or self-publishing companies, like Draft2Digital, Smashwords or IngramSpark, and even Lulu.

If you can get a free or cheap ISBN with them, then what’s the use in paying for your own one?

Let’s say you get a free ISBN with Draft2Digital, but then you notice that there are some retail channels you can access through Smashwords that you can’t with Draft2Digital.

You can’t use the Draft2Digital ISBN with Smashwords.

Smashwords will only let you use your own ISBN or an ISBN they assign to you. So what do you do?

You get a free ISBN with Smashwords.

And now you have two ISBNs for the same book. Same book title, same book format, but two ISBNs.

You then hear of some exclusive channels you can get through eBookPartnership. The only wrinkle? You need an ISBN and they won’t take your Smashwords’ or Draft2Digital’s ISBN. So you sign up for their free ISBN instead.

Now you have three ISBNs for the same book.

The Problem with Multiple ISBNs

This problem can repeat itself again and again as you discover more ways to distribute your book. Sometimes you’ll have to pay for the ISBN, sometimes you won’t. But it leads to you having several ISBNs, all from different publishers, for the same book.

Can you picture how unprofessional that looks to a bookstore?

Wouldn’t it have been easier to start off by buying your own ISBN? Wouldn’t that make you look more professional?

On top of this, each of those free ISBNs identifies the self-publishing company as a publisher. It’s the equivalent of using your business email address as [email protected] or [email protected] instead of [email protected] (assuming you’re named Matt).

Not only does this make you look unprofessional, but there are some stores that will refuse to stock your book on this basis. If you have a CreateSpace ISBN, there are a number of bookstores that will refuse to carry your book.

All of these issues can be sidestepped by simply purchasing your own ISBN through Bowker.

Libraries and ISBN Numbers

We briefly mentioned that if you want to stock your book in libraries, you’ll need an ISBN. However, that might be the furthest thing from your mind. You might have decided to focus purely on eBook publishing and what part do libraries play in eBooks?

A big one.

And guess what you need to be able to partner with Overdrive? Yup. An ISBN.

How to get an ISBN

ISBNs are free in many countries, provided either by the government or a publicly administered branch. However, in the US and the UK, ISBN numbers are administered by Bowker and Nielsen respectively and require you to pay.

If you’re located outside the USA you can find out your local ISBN Agency here. While ISBNs are assigned locally, you can use them internationally.

If you live in the USA, you have to get an ISBN through myidentifiers.com, run by Bowker, the only company that is authorized to administer the ISBN program in the United States. You can purchase ISBNs as a single unit or in bulk of 10, 100 or 1000.

How to Register Your Book and ISBN Number

As soon as you purchase your ISBN through Bowker or the International equivalent in your local area, and you publish your book, you should register here at Bowkerlink.

This is an automated tool that will add your book to Bowker’s Books In Print and Global Books In Print.

I recommend you download the free PDF “ISBN Guides: Title Set Up & Registration” with step-by-step instructions on setting up your title.

How Many ISBN Numbers To Get

So how many ISBNs should you get?

First off let’s clarify a few common mistakes:

• You can only use an ISBN once. The ISBN is a unique number for that particular book, and can be assigned once, and only once, to that title. It can’t be used with any other book in the future, even second versions of the same book.
• You don’t need an ISBN to sell in each individual country. ISBNs are international, they are just assigned locally. A US-based publisher can purchase their ISBN through Bowker, but can stock their book worldwide using that ISBN.
• You need an ISBN for every specific format of the book and any new versions. Want to sell your book in print, as an eBook, and also as an audiobook? That’s great, however, you need a different ISBN for each one. If you want to publish a revised and updated version you’ll also need a new ISBN. (This doesn’t cover fixing some typos and errors).
• If you create a series of books you can’t use the same ISBN for them. You can use the same ISSN, however. Many fiction and nonfiction authors have an ISSN number assigned to their book series. ISSN stands for International Standard Series Number and can be purchased from the Library of Congress. However, each book in the series will need its own ISBN.

We mentioned that in the USA you can buy ISBNs as a single unit, a bulk of 10, 100 or 1000. Here are the prices:

First off, it rarely makes sense to purchase a single ISBN. A single ISBN would cost you $125, but a bulk of 10 only costs $295. Meaning if you purchased 10, each ISBN would cost you $29.50, a 76% discount.

Buying a single ISBN might seem feasible if you only want to publish one title, but remember that you need an ISBN for each format. So if you want to publish your book as an audiobook, you’d need a brand new ISBN for that. As well as needing different ISBN numbers for your eBook and print versions.

Not to mention that you’ll need an ISBN number for any future books you publish, perhaps as sequels to your book.

We recommend that if you’re serious about making book sales, you should purchase at least a bulk of 10 ISBNs. That gives you 3 ISBN numbers to use for publishing as an eBook, in print, and as an audiobook. You can keep the remainder for any future books you might publish.

How to Get an ISBN final steps

Now that you have a very good idea how to buy and use ISBNs for your own books, all the best on setting this up. If you want to be recognized as a publisher and have your books available to a larger global audience by registering through Bowker, consider investing in your own ISBN numbers.

Think of it as buying a piece of property: You own it and it is registered in your name.

For more information, you can find out anything you want to know by visiting the official Bowker page or at myidentifiers.com

Here’s a simple actionable checklist for ISBNs.

To buy an ISBN for your next book, here is what you should do:

1. Go to the website https://www.myidentifiers.com
2. Under the ISBN drop down tab, click on ISBNs—Buy Here. You can select 1, 10 or 100. For a bulk purchase, go to “Buying ISBNs in Bulk” and you can contact Bowker directly to discuss your options.
3. Once you have your ISBN assigned, you can then use it everywhere that requires your ISBN number.
4. At Createspace, under the “Setup” channel, you can choose to have Createspace assign you an ISBN. When you buy your own ISBN at Bowker, just put in the 13-digit number and Createspace will use this in your paperback.
5. If you publish your paperback through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), you can fill in your number in the “Paperback Content” section of your book when you log into your bookshelf. If you choose to have Createspace assign you an ISBN, KDP will ask for your 13-digit number if you are transferring your physical version over to KDP.
6. Register your ISBN here at Bowker as soon as your book is ready for sale. Download the free ISBN Guides: Title Set Up & Registration step-by-step guide.

ISBN Links & Resources

These links appeared throughout the post but here they are for easy access.

International ISBN Agency

ISBN.org by Bowker

Bowkerlink Publisher Access System

Bowker Identifier Services

U.S. Copyright Office

ISBN Set Up Guide

ISBN Guides: Basic Information