publishing.co.uk
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The questions we get asked most often. If yours isn't here, email us and we'll add it.

About publishing.co.uk

Who is this service for?

First-time authors, non-fiction writers, memoirists and small publishers — the people the indie fiction podcast circuit doesn't talk much about. Cookbook authors, picture-book authors, business book authors, anyone whose book isn't a simple text-only novel.

If you're a fiction-series author who already owns Vellum and is happy with it, we'll be honest: you don't need us for formatting. You might still want our free Amazon audits.

Are you UK-based?

Yes. We're UK-based, work in pounds sterling, and our experience leans heavily toward UK and US Amazon (amazon.co.uk + amazon.com). We can publish to other Amazon storefronts but our deepest market knowledge is UK / US.

How does the Love Reading connection work?

Love Reading is the UK's longest-running independent book recommendation site, operating since 2018. publishing.co.uk is the publishing-services side of the same group — readers on one side, authors and publishers on the other.

Formatting

What books can you format?

Every kind. Novels, non-fiction, memoir, cookbooks, picture books, workbooks, planners, multilingual / RTL, hardback gift editions. Different book types use different pricing tiers (£69 for standard print up to £219 for picture books).

If your book is a simple text-only novel and you're comfortable on a Mac, you might find Vellum cheaper for repeated use. We don't try to compete with Vellum on novels — we're built for everything else.

How long does formatting take?

Standard turnaround is 24 hours from when we receive your manuscript. Rush turnaround under 12 hours is available as an add-on (+£29). Picture books and complex non-fiction with heavy illustration may take 48-72 hours due to the additional design work.

What file formats do you accept?

Word (.docx, .doc), PDF, Google Docs, RTF, ODT, EPUB, plain text. Up to 50MB. Picture-book and cookbook authors can also send InDesign or Affinity files if they have them.

Do you guarantee KDP approval?

Yes. If KDP rejects your file for a formatting reason, we fix it free. The 100% approval claim isn't marketing — we genuinely haven't had a rejection on a file we've delivered, but the guarantee is the principle.

How many revisions are included?

Two free revision rounds in every package. Most books need none. Complex non-fiction sometimes needs both. Additional rounds beyond two are £19 each.

Launch service

What's included in the £499 / £799 launch service?

Manuscript formatting, cover review (and redesign if needed), full Amazon listing setup (title, subtitle, categories, keywords, A+ Content), ad-readiness audit, AI Discovery Score, and 90 days of post-launch check-ins.

The £799 tier adds extended ad-spend management for the first 90 days, monthly listing rewrite as data lands, and a Book 2 prep call.

Do you upload to KDP for me?

No — KDP doesn't allow third-party uploads from a non-author account. You'll always upload to KDP yourself via their browser interface. We send a one-page guide with your exact trim size, spine width, category recommendations and keyword starters so the upload takes about 20 minutes.

Can I run ads through you?

Yes — we run paid Amazon Ads professionally for agency clients spending £30k+/month. After launch, the £799 tier includes ad management for 90 days. Beyond that, we can move to a retainer if it makes sense for the volume.

Free audits

How does the Ad Conversion Readiness Score work?

You paste your live Amazon URL. We pull the page, look at the cover at 90×135 px (mobile thumbnail size), score the title field for mobile truncation and keyword pull, audit the blurb opener, calculate review velocity and check format coverage. Out of 100, with a 🔴 / 🟡 / 🟢 verdict and a money-math projection.

How does the AI Discovery Score work?

Live retrieval test against ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini — both with web search active and from training data alone. Tells you what each model actually knows about your book. Out of 100 with an embeddable badge that refreshes every 90 days.

Are the audits really free?

Yes. No payment, no email gating, no upsell email spam. They run free because the underlying compute cost per audit is small and we'd rather you know the truth about your listing than waste ad budget on a page that won't convert.

Pricing & turnaround

Why is your pricing one-off rather than subscription?

Authors don't subscribe to formatters. You write a book, you publish it, you move on. One-off makes more sense. The free audits are the only ongoing thing, and they're genuinely free.

Do you offer multi-book discounts?

Yes — for authors and small publishers with multiple titles in the same series, we'll quote a per-book rate that's lower than the standalone pricing. Email us with the series details.

Can I pay in instalments?

For one-off formatting under £250, we ask for full payment upfront via Lemon Squeezy. For the £799 launch service we can split into two payments (50% on commission, 50% on delivery). For multi-book or agency-style engagements, monthly invoicing is available.

KDP & Amazon basics

Do I need an ISBN?

For Amazon-only publishing, no — KDP gives you a free ASIN. For wider distribution (IngramSpark, libraries, bookstores) you need a real ISBN. UK authors can buy ISBNs from Nielsen. We cover this in detail in our ISBN requirements (UK) guide.

KDP rejected my file. Can you help?

Yes — re-formatting a rejected file is one of our most common jobs. Send us the file plus the rejection email and we'll diagnose and fix. If you've already paid for our standard service, we cover this free under the KDP-approval guarantee.

How long does KDP take to approve a book?

72 hours is the published number; in practice it's often 12-48 hours. Manual review is triggered for first-time authors, complex layouts, picture books, and anything that fails their automated check. We pre-flight against KDP's spec before submission so manual review usually passes first time.