The vocabulary of self-publishing

The presentation text on the back of a book (or on an ebook's product page), designed to make people want to buy it.

A person who reads a manuscript before publication to give feedback on substance (clarity, interest, consistency) before the final proofread.

A structured list of a book's chapters and sections, essential for navigating an ebook as well as a printed book.

A page size (148 × 210 mm) that is the most common for printed pocket-format books or PDFs meant for on-screen reading.

The standard file format for digital books, whose text adapts to the size of the screen (e-reader, tablet, phone).

The unique identifier Amazon assigns to every product, including each ebook published on KDP.

Structured information attached to a book (title, author, keywords, categories, language) that determines its visibility in retail platforms' search engines.

A comparison of the two publishing formats, each with its own costs, sales channels and margins for a self-published author.

A unique international number that identifies a specific edition of a book, used to list it in retail channels and libraries.

Amazon's self-publishing platform, which lets you publish an ebook or a paperback directly on Amazon, without a publisher.

A model where the author pays the costs of producing their own book, as opposed to traditional publishing where the publisher advances the costs.

The set of rights that protect a written work and let its author control its exploitation and earn revenue from it.

A protection technology that restricts copying or sharing of a digital file, notably ebooks sold on certain platforms.

A legal obligation in France to deposit a copy of every published work with the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

The status of a work whose economic rights have expired, making it freely reusable without permission or royalty.