A Beginner's Guide to Self-Publishing in the UK

Finishing the manuscript is the creative part. What follows is admin: identifiers, files, discounts and a surprising number of forms. None of it is difficult, but it does have an order, and doing things in the wrong order usually means paying for it twice. Here is how the main pieces fit together for a UK author publishing a first book.

Decide what you are publishing, and in which formats

Before you buy anything, settle two questions. First, which formats will exist: paperback, hardback, ebook, audiobook? Second, who is publishing them: you, under your own imprint name, or a platform acting on your behalf? The answer affects your ISBNs, your metadata and how bookshops see you.

Most first books start with a paperback and an ebook. Hardbacks make sense for gift editions, special launches or books you plan to sell at events. There is no prize for doing all three at once; each format needs its own cover file, its own proofread pass and its own listing.

ISBNs: what they are and how to get one

An ISBN is a thirteen-digit number that identifies a specific edition of a specific book. It is not a barcode, though the barcode on your back cover is generated from it. In the UK, ISBNs are issued by Nielsen Book Data, which supplies them in packs through its ISBN agency service. The more you buy at once, the lower the cost per number.

The important rule is one ISBN per format. Your paperback gets one, your ebook gets another, a hardback gets a third. A second edition with substantial changes also needs a new ISBN. A reprint with a corrected typo generally does not.

• Buying your own: you appear as the publisher of record, you can use the number across any printer or retailer, and the book is registered in the trade databases shops actually search.
• Accepting a free one: platforms often provide an ISBN at no cost, but it usually cannot be used elsewhere, and the publisher field will show something other than your imprint name.
• Ebooks: some retailers assign their own identifier, but other shops and library services expect a real ISBN, so it is rarely worth skipping.

Whichever route you take, register the title properly and keep the metadata accurate. Title, subtitle, author name, series, publication date and category all feed into retailer listings and library catalogues. Sloppy data means a book nobody can find.

Print-on-demand, without the jargon

Print-on-demand means copies are printed when someone orders one. Nothing sits in a garage, you pay per copy rather than per print run, and your book stays available for years. The trade-off is a higher unit cost than offset printing and slightly less control over paper stock.

You supply a print-ready interior PDF and a cover PDF built to the printer's template. Two details catch people out. First, trim size: choose it before you lay out the interior, because changing it later breaks every page break. Second, spine width: it grows as you add pages, so the cover template must be regenerated after the final proofread, not before.

Always order a physical proof. Screens lie about margins, grey text and how a cover looks in matte. Read the proof with a pen, checking the first and last pages, the page numbers and the barcode area. A small example: a 198-page paperback at a standard trim size looks thin in your hand, and the title on the spine has less room than the template suggests.

Distribution: how books reach readers

Distribution is two separate jobs: making a book available, and making it findable. Retail platforms such as Amazon handle the first for you. Getting into bookshops is a different process that runs through wholesalers, usually Gardners or Bertram, with whom shops have accounts. If a book is not listed with a wholesaler, a bookseller often cannot order it at all, even if a customer asks.

That means accepting trade terms: a wholesale discount, typically somewhere in the region of forty to fifty-five per cent, plus a returns policy. This is why self-published books sold through shops pay less per copy than those sold direct. If shop presence matters to you, plan for it; if you would rather sell at events and online, you can skip it and keep more of each sale.

Two practical steps help everywhere. Set a realistic publication date and stick to it, because pre-orders and reviews depend on it. And write a description that names the reader, the problem and the promise, rather than describing how much you enjoyed writing it.

Legal deposits: the step most authors miss

Books published in the UK must be deposited with the national libraries. This applies to self-published authors just as it applies to large publishers, and to print books rather than ebooks. The British Library and five other libraries hold copies, and there are usually rules about how many copies and how soon after publication they must arrive.

The British Library's legal deposit team publishes current guidance on what is required, including timescales and whether your print run or format is covered. Read it before your launch date, not three months after. Posting a few copies is cheap and quick; discovering a deadline has passed is neither. Because the requirements can change and depend on your particular book, check the official guidance or take advice if your circumstances are unusual.

Your first-book running order

1. Finish and professionally proofread the manuscript. Everything downstream copies your mistakes.
2. Choose trim size and formats, then commission the interior layout.
3. Buy or accept ISBNs and register the title with correct metadata.
4. Finalise the cover once the page count is fixed, and generate the spine template last.
5. Order a proof, correct it, then approve the file for sale.
6. List with your chosen retailers and, if you want shop sales, with a wholesaler.
7. Send legal deposit copies and record what you sent and when.

Then do the unglamorous work: tell people the book exists, ask for honest reviews, and book a few events where you can read and sell directly. Take your time with each stage, keep clean copies of every file, and treat the first book as practice for the second. If you are handling contracts, tax or anything with legal weight, a short conversation with a qualified professional is money well spent.

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