The Path › Step 4
Turn it into a real book.
Cover, interior design, ISBN, and your Amazon sales page — the parts that scare most authors. We handle them all, and everything stays in your name.
Amazon-first, on purpose
Built for the store where your readers already shop.
Most readers buy books on Amazon, so that’s where we focus: hardcover, paperback, and Kindle, built to Amazon’s specs and sold together on one page.
Paperback
The format most readers buy. Clean interiors, a variety of trim sizes, and a spine that reads well on a shelf.
Hardcover
For the gift table and the book you want to last. Same files, a case-laminate cover, listed beside your paperback.
Kindle
An ebook that flows on any screen, with a working table of contents and your links in the back.
Printing locally too? We can set up the same book for a local printer. Our formatting is always Amazon-first, though, because that’s where your book has the most impact on sales.
That’s why we start there.
A strong Amazon page reaches more readers than every other store combined.
Source: U.S. House Judiciary Committee, digital-markets investigation report, 2020.
What Amazon gives you
No warehouse. No guesswork. Your book, everywhere.
Publishing through Amazon in your own name comes with advantages most authors never hear about. We set up every one.
Order one copy, or a thousand
Books are printed when they’re ordered. No minimums, no boxes in the garage.
Author copies at cost
Buy your own books at Amazon’s printing price for events, gifts, your church lobby, and in-person sales.
Every format, one page
Hardcover, paperback, and Kindle sit together, sharing your reviews.
Your author page
An Author Central page with your photo, bio, and every book you’ve written.
A+ content
Image panels under your description that give readers a clearer picture of your book and a polished page they can trust.
Found in search
Keywords and categories chosen so the right readers actually find you.
Reviews in one place
Every review lands on the page readers are already looking at.
Update it anytime
No hassle at all. Found a typo, or want to revise and update the book? We update the file, and new copies print with the changes.
Before you sign anything
Traditional, hybrid, self-publishing — or with us?
Four ways a book gets published, side by side. Choose with your eyes open.
| Traditional publisher | Hybrid publisher | On your own | With Writing Momentum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You pay up front | Nothing. Some authors get an advance. | Usually thousands of dollars. | Whatever you spend on help — or nothing. | A flat fee for the work. No cut later. |
| Who owns the rights | You license them to the publisher, often for years. | Varies — read the contract closely. | You do. | You do. Always. |
| Your royalties | Typically 7.5–15% of list in print; about 25% of net on ebooks. | Varies; often split with the publisher. | Amazon pays about 70% on most ebooks and around 60% of list, minus printing, on paperbacks. | 100% of what Amazon pays — straight to you. |
| Where it sells | Bookstores and Amazon, if the publisher keeps it in print. | Usually Amazon, sometimes more. | Amazon, once you learn the setup. | Amazon-first — hardcover, paperback, and Kindle on one page — plus clean file exports for local printing if you want them. |
| Copies for your event | Bought from the publisher at an author discount. | Often a required minimum order. | Author copies, if you can find the button. | Order author copies at Amazon’s printing cost — one or a thousand. No inventory. |
| Your Amazon page | The publisher’s call. | Basic. | As good as you can make it. | Author page, A+ content, keywords, and categories — set up for you. |
| How long it takes | Often one to two years after a contract — plus finding an agent. | Several months. | As fast as you can learn it. | Typically 6–8 weeks from an edited manuscript. |
| Final say | The publisher decides cover, title, and price. | Shared. | You decide everything. | You decide, with 30+ years of guidance. |
| Best for | Authors with a large platform or celebrity status, and a lot of patience. | Authors who want a publisher’s name and can pay for it. Vanity presses use this label too. | Authors who enjoy learning the tech. | Authors and ministries who want it done right without learning it all. Some books are chosen for an imprint. |
Industry figures are typical, not guaranteed — Amazon’s rates depend on price and format. We’ll confirm every number with you before your book goes live.
Packages
Two ways to publish with us.
Every package starts with an edited manuscript. Need editing first? That’s step 3, Refine.
Publish Essentials
For a finished, edited manuscript.
- Cover design — front, spine, and back
- Three cover concepts to choose from
- Interior design for paperback and Kindle
- Your ISBN, included
- Your Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) account, set up in your name
- Your book description and categories
- Enrollment in Kindle Unlimited through KDP Select, if it fits your book
- Back-of-book pages that invite readers to join your email list, so every book builds your following
- Printed proof copies available at Amazon’s print cost
Publish Plus
Everything in Essentials, and:
- A hardcover edition
- Back-cover and Amazon description copy, written for you
- In-depth keyword, category, and pricing research, run through professional research software
- A+ content for your Amazon page
- Your Amazon author page, set up for you
Every package: your copyright, your Amazon account, 100% of your royalties, and every finalized file.
Then comes the launch. Ads, launch emails, and a launch-week plan are step 5, and you can add them to either package.
See Launch →Got a quote from another publisher?
See what you’d actually keep.
Some publishers charge a fee and keep part of every sale. This shows the difference over the life of your book.
How we figure it: Amazon pays about 60% of a paperback’s list price, minus the cost to print it (about $4.25 for a 200-page book). With them, you keep that amount minus their share, minus their fee. With us, you keep all of it, minus our one-time fee.
Inside the books
The pages readers actually see.
Interiors we’ve designed for real authors. Hover to pause.
Authors who took this step with us
“[Chris] went above and beyond to ensure the pagination of the book was completed with excellence.”
“Chris made choosing the cover very easy and exactly what I was looking for.”
“Chris took my book from good to GREAT. His ideas added depth and delightfulness. I highly recommend Writing Momentum and can’t wait to work with them again.”
Questions authors ask at this step
Do I need my own ISBN?
Amazon will give you a free one, but your book then shows “Independently published.” We recommend your own, in your name or your ministry’s — we’ll walk you through it. If we choose your book for one of our imprints, the ISBN is on us.
Whose Amazon account is it?
Yours. We set it up in your name or your ministry’s, and every royalty goes straight to you. We never take a cut.
Can I have copies for an event?
Yes. You can order author copies at Amazon’s printing cost, one at a time or a thousand. Tell us your event date when we start, and we’ll plan backward from it.
How long does it take?
Most books take six to eight weeks from an edited manuscript to a book you can order.
Should I order copies through Amazon or a printer?
For fewer than about 250 copies, Amazon’s author copies are usually the best deal. For a bigger run, we’ll refer you to a printer we trust.
Can my book be a hardcover?
Yes. Amazon prints hardcovers too, so you can offer a paperback and a hardcover side by side.
Will my title fit on the spine?
Amazon puts text on the spine only when a book has at least 79 pages. For a shorter book, we design the cover so it still looks right on a shelf.
Can you format for IngramSpark or a local printer?
Yes. We’re Amazon-first because that’s where most readers buy, but we format for any printer you need. We don’t currently upload to IngramSpark, but we can give you all the files you need if you want to publish wide through them or another self-publishing service.
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