Digital + printable planner for indie authors
The Ultimate Self-Publishing Planner
Run your author business, publish like a pro and build a backlist
Choose your format
What you get with the Goodnotes & PDF edition
- 119-page digital planner with clickable tabs, contents and back links
- Two designs: Classic and the colourful Pop design
- Printable US Letter versions of both designs
- Recommended Resources for Authors PDF
A hyperlinked PDF for Goodnotes, Notability, Noteshelf and other PDF note apps on iPad or Android tablets. Tap the tabs and contents to jump between pages.
About this planner
Run your author business, publish like a pro and build a backlist. The Self-Publishing Planner has 11 sections: business, book, production, metadata, distribution, launch, marketing, ads, series & rights, events and money.
It comes as Goodnotes & PDF, Microsoft Word, Notion template and E-ink edition, or as a printed, spiral-bound planner, so you can plan in the app you already use.
Sample pages
Take a look inside
Real pages from the Self-Publishing Planner, in both designs. Tap a page to see it bigger.
What's inside
11 sections, 119 pages in the PDF
Business13 pages
- Author business plan
- Pen name & author brand
- Yearly & five-year plans
Book5 pages
- Book profile
- Production schedule
- Book budget & break-even
Production12 pages
- Editing plan & brief
- Cover brief & cover sketch
- Formatting & print specs
Metadata10 pages
- Blurb workshop & drafts
- Categories & keywords
- Metadata master sheet
Distribution9 pages
- Exclusive or wide?
- Pricing plan & pre-orders
- Royalty calculator
Launch9 pages
- Launch strategy & timeline
- ARC team & review trackers
- Launch week & checklist
Marketing15 pages
- Your ideal reader
- Newsletter plan & calendar
- Promo sites & price promos
Ads9 pages
- Ads strategy
- Amazon, Meta & BookBub ads
- Break-even & read-through
Series & Rights8 pages
- Series plan & read-through
- Backlist audit & relaunch
- Rights & translations
Events4 pages
- Event calendar
- Event kit checklist
- Stock & sales
Money9 pages
- Income & expense trackers
- Profit & loss
- Tax set-aside
Section and page counts are for the Goodnotes & PDF edition; the other formats hold the same planning pages, arranged to suit each app.
Highlights
Inside the Self-Publishing Planner
Treat it like a business
- A one-page author business plan you'll actually reread
- Yearly, five-year and quarterly plans for your publishing
- A production schedule and budget for every book
- Work out how many copies each book must sell to break even
From manuscript to the shelf
- Editor and cover briefs, plus a page to sketch your cover
- Blurb workshop, categories, keywords and a metadata sheet
- Exclusive or wide? Weigh it up, then set up each retailer
- Pricing, pre-orders and a royalty calculator by format
Launch it, then keep selling
- A week-by-week launch timeline, counted back from release day
- ARC team, two review trackers and a launch review
- Ideal reader, newsletter calendars, promo sites and swaps
- Ad trackers for Amazon, Facebook and Meta, and BookBub
Build a backlist that pays
- Series plan, read-through tracker and a backlist audit
- Box sets, relaunches, translations and foreign rights
- Event calendar, kit checklist and stock and sales log
- Income, expenses, profit and loss and a tax set-aside
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