Publish and distribute
Self publishing services for Australian authors
The whole process handled — editing, cover, typesetting, ISBN, print and retailer setup — with the copyright, the accounts and the royalties staying in your name.
What it is
Self-publishing done properly is just publishing
The work a traditional publisher does has a shape. Self-publishing well means doing the same stages in the same order, with you making the calls.
The difference is not quality, it is who decides and who pays. You choose the cover, set the price, keep the rights and take the royalty. You also carry the cost up front, which is why we quote a fixed scope rather than taking a percentage of sales forever.
What we will not do is call ourselves your publisher while charging you to be one. The ISBN is registered to you, the retailer accounts are in your name, and the imprint is yours. If you want to weigh the alternative honestly first, read self-publishing versus traditional publishing, and there is more on how we approach fiction publishing if that is your book.
- One fixed quote for the whole process, itemised
- ISBN and imprint registered to you, not to us
- Retailer accounts in your name, paid directly to you
- Every file handed over, including the source files
In detail
What "end to end" actually covers
Three stages, each of which you can take separately if you would rather.
Getting the book right
Manuscript assessment if it is needed, then structural and line editing, then proofreading on the typeset pages. This is where most of the budget goes, and it should be.
- An honest read before anything is quoted
- Structural edit, line edit, proofread, in that order
- An Australian style sheet kept consistent across the book
Making it look like a book
Cover design tested at thumbnail size, interior typesetting built to your printer specification, and a printed proof copy in your hands before anything goes on sale.
- Cover for print, ebook and audiobook
- Print PDF, reflowable EPUB and the source file
- A physical proof copy before publication
Getting it on sale and keeping it there
ISBN registration, legal deposit, retailer and library listings, print on demand in Australia, and metadata built so the book can actually be found.
- Separate ISBNs for each format, registered to you
- Amazon, Booktopia, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play
- Legal deposit lodged, library suppliers notified
How it works
The whole process, start to finish
Five stages over four to six months. You approve each before the next begins.
- 01
Read and plan
Weeks 1–2An editor reads the manuscript, then you get a written scope: stages, dates, deliverables and one price. Drop anything you do not want.
Your part: Send the manuscript and say what you want from the book.
- 02
Editing
Months 1–3Structural edit, your rewrite, then a line edit. The longest stage, and the one that decides whether the rest is worth paying for.
Your part: The rewriting between the two editing passes.
- 03
Design and typesetting
Month 3–4Cover concepts and interior typesetting run alongside each other. Proofreading happens on the typeset pages, not the manuscript.
Your part: Choose a cover direction, approve the sample pages.
- 04
Registration and proof
Month 4–5ISBNs registered in your name, imprint set up, retailer accounts created, and a printed proof copy posted to you.
Your part: Read the proof copy. Nothing publishes until you sign it off.
- 05
Publication
Month 5–6Listings go live, print on demand is enabled in Australia, legal deposit copies are lodged and library suppliers are notified.
Your part: Pick a publication date and tell the people who care about you.
You keep your rights
Full copyright and royalties stay with you
Fixed written quotes
The quote you accept is the amount you pay
Australian owned
Local team, AUD pricing, GST invoices
Work you approve
Nothing goes to print without your sign-off
Packages
What self-publishing costs
The Publish package is the whole process for a standard-length book. Publish and launch adds the first ninety days of marketing. Both are confirmed after your manuscript is read.
Manuscript
Get the writing right before you spend anything on design.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Written manuscript assessment
- One round of structural editing
- Line edit and final proofread
- Australian spelling and style sheet
- A call with your editor at each stage
Publish
Everything needed to turn a finished manuscript into a book on sale.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Everything in Manuscript
- Original cover design, print and ebook
- Typeset interior for paperback and ebook
- ISBN registration and legal deposit
- Retailer and print-on-demand setup
- A printed proof copy before you sign off
- You keep the rights and the royalties
Publish and launch
For authors who want readers to find the book in its first month.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Everything in Publish
- A launch plan with dates and owners
- Author website with an email sign-up
- Retailer advertising for the first 90 days
- Review and bookshop outreach
- Monthly sales reporting for six months
Every quote is confirmed after we read your manuscript. Prices in Australian dollars and include GST. Longer books and illustrated books cost more, and we will say so before you commit.
Related services
What usually comes next
Questions authors ask
Self-publishing: questions authors ask
No, and the test is who owns the book. You hold the copyright, the ISBN is registered to you, the retailer accounts are in your name and we take no share of royalties. A vanity press typically takes the rights, keeps a percentage, and sells you a print run you have to store. We charge for work and hand everything over.
For a standard-length book, the full process usually falls between $4,000 and $9,000, with editing the largest component. Taking only some stages costs less. The figure depends on word count and the condition of the manuscript, which is why we read it before quoting rather than selling from a rate card.
Yes. The retailers pay you directly into your own account, at whatever rate their terms set — Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo and the rest all publish theirs. We never sit between you and that payment, and we take no percentage. Our fee is for the work and it ends when the work ends.
Four to six months for a standard novel. Editing is the bulk of it, because the structural pass, your rewrite and the line edit genuinely take two to three months between them. Design and typesetting take a month alongside, and registration and proofing another month. Illustrated books take longer.
You can. Work is invoiced by stage, so you pay for what has been done and you take the files with you. Some authors stop after the edit and publish themselves, which is a perfectly good outcome. Nothing in the agreement locks you in for the whole process.
It will be orderable by them, which is not the same thing. We list the title with Australian library and bookshop suppliers so any shop can order it in, and we lodge legal deposit. Getting physical stock onto a shelf is a separate effort involving local relationships and sale-or-return terms, and we are honest that it is hard.
Still have a question? A real publisher will answer it.
Start your publishing journeyFree, no obligation
Get a plan for your whole book
Send the manuscript. An editor reads it, then you get a written scope with stages, dates and one price — and you can cut anything from it.
- A written scope, not a sales call
- One fixed price, itemised by stage
- Rights, ISBN and accounts all in your name
- Stop at any stage and keep the files
- 1. You send it
- 2. An editor reads it
- 3. You get a written price