Publishing a book requires decisions at every stage. Some of those decisions are creative. Most of them are practical. Format choices, pricing structures, distribution strategies, marketing timelines, contract terms — each one affects the outcome of your book in ways that compound over time.
The resources on this page exist to help you make those decisions from a position of knowledge rather than guesswork. Every template, checklist, and guide here was built from our team’s experience working with over 3,000 authors since 2013. We know where authors get stuck, where they make costly mistakes, and what information would have changed those outcomes if they had it earlier.
Download what is useful. Use it for your project. No purchase required.
Pre-built Microsoft Word templates for the most common trim sizes in fiction and nonfiction publishing. Each template includes correct margin settings, gutter width for print binding, body text styles, chapter heading styles, front matter pages, and back matter pages. Drop your manuscript text into the template and your interior is structurally ready for formatting review.
Available trim sizes:
Each template includes a formatting guide explaining what each style does and how to apply it correctly. Download is free. No email sign-up required.
Download Interior Formatting Templates
A structured template for communicating your cover vision to a designer. Covers genre, mood, comparable titles, typography preferences, imagery direction, color references, and author photo placement. A well-completed cover brief reduces revision rounds and produces better results than an open-ended creative direction.
Includes:
Download Cover Design Brief Template
A week-by-week checklist covering the 12 weeks before and 4 weeks after your publication date. Built around the actions that have the most impact on launch visibility and early sales velocity.
Covers:
Each item on the checklist includes a brief explanation of why it matters and when it needs to happen relative to your publication date.
Download Book Launch Checklist
A structured guide for evaluating your manuscript before you submit it for professional editing. Works through the most common issues editors find at each level — developmental, line, copy, and proof — and gives you a framework for identifying where your manuscript needs the most work.
Not a substitute for professional editing. A tool for understanding what kind of editing your manuscript needs before you pay for it.
Covers:
Download Editing Self-Assessment Guide
A parallel resource to the Book Launch Checklist focused specifically on marketing execution rather than production milestones. Built for authors who want a clear action list for their launch marketing without the production steps.
Covers:
Download Marketing Launch Checklist
A step-by-step guide to purchasing your own ISBN through Bowker, registering it correctly, setting up a publishing imprint, and understanding what the publisher of record designation means for your long-term distribution and rights management.
Covers:
Download ISBN Purchase and Registration Guide
A spreadsheet-based tool for calculating your royalty at different price points across Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Apple Books, and Kobo. Enter your page count, printing specifications, and target price and the worksheet calculates your royalty per sale on each platform.
Includes:
Download Book Pricing Worksheet
A full walkthrough of the self-publishing process from manuscript preparation through post-launch marketing. Covers every stage in sequence with specific action items, common mistakes, and decision frameworks at each step. This is the guide we wish every author had before their first conversation with us.
Topics covered:
Read the Complete Guide
Your book description is the second thing a reader sees after your cover. It determines whether a browser becomes a buyer. Most authors write their description the way they would write a summary — recapping what happens in the book rather than selling the experience of reading it.
This guide covers the structure of a retail book description that converts, with examples from fiction and nonfiction across multiple genres. Includes a fill-in framework you can use to draft your description before submitting it for review.
Read the Book Description Guide
BISAC codes are the category classification system used by every major retailer and library platform in the publishing industry. The categories you choose affect where your book appears in retail search results, which recommendation feeds it gets included in, and how libraries catalog it.
Most authors choose categories by instinct. This guide explains how BISAC codes work, how to find the right codes for your book, and how to use Amazon’s browse category system alongside BISAC codes to maximize your book’s visibility in retail search.
Read the BISAC Category Guide
Library distribution is one of the most overlooked revenue streams for self-published authors. Libraries buy books, pay borrowing royalties through platforms like Hoopla and OverDrive, and introduce authors to readers who become long-term fans.
This guide covers the library distribution landscape, how to get listed on OverDrive and Hoopla, how to submit to the American Library Association’s review publications, and how to reach library acquisition librarians directly.
Read the Library Distribution Guide
An email list is the most valuable marketing asset an author can own. Unlike social media followers, email subscribers are people who have actively chosen to hear from you. Unlike retail platform sales, email subscribers give you direct access to readers outside of any algorithm.
This guide covers how to build an email list before your book exists, what to offer readers in exchange for their subscription, how to use your list during launch week, and how to maintain it between books.
Read the Email List Building Guide
Our newsletter goes out twice a month. Each issue covers one publishing topic in depth, a change in platform policies, a new tool or resource for authors, a case study from a recent project, or a breakdown of a marketing strategy that is working for authors in a specific genre.
No promotional filler. No sponsored content. Just information that is useful to authors who are publishing or preparing to publish.
Sign up with your email address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Name Email Address Subscribe
We do not share your email address with third parties. We do not send daily emails. If you unsubscribe, you are removed from the list immediately.
If there is a topic you want us to cover in a guide, a template you need that is not here, or a question you cannot find an answer to anywhere, email us at kevin@digibookstudio.com with the subject line “Resource Request.”
We build new resources based on what authors are actually asking. If you have a question, other authors have the same question. We will write the guide.
These resources give you the information to make good publishing decisions. When you are ready to work with a team that executes those decisions professionally, we are here.
Request a Free Consultation — Tell us about your manuscript and your publishing goals. We will give you a straight answer about what your book needs and what it will cost.
See Our Publishing Packages — Three package levels with transparent pricing and no hidden fees.
Call us: 443-247-5514 Email: kevin@digibookstudio.com
