You don’t need a $300-a-month software stack to publish a book. You need a plan, a few free tools and somewhere to look things up when you get stuck.
This is that somewhere. Bookmark it. It grows as new guides go up.
Plan your book
- 30 romance tropes readers can’t stop buying: how to pick the tropes your book is built on
- How to write to market without selling out: what readers in your subgenre expect, and how to research it
- Save the Cat, the Hero’s Journey and 7-point structure for romance writers: the big plotting frameworks, translated for romance
- Series vs. standalone: why series make more money, and which structure to start with
- Do you need a pen name?: when to use one, and when a second one is a mistake
Write it
- How to write a romance novel with AI (without it sounding like AI)
- 25 AI-isms that tell readers a robot wrote your book
- How to fix the sagging middle of your book
Edit it
- How to edit a book on a budget: the layered editing method
- How to find beta readers and ARC readers (for free)
Package it
- The 3-second cover test and the romance cover cheat sheet
- How to write a book blurb that sells
- How to find Amazon KDP keywords for free
- How to choose Amazon KDP categories
- Vellum vs. Atticus vs. free formatters
- Front matter and back matter that sell your next book
Publish and price it
- How much does it really cost to self-publish on Amazon KDP?
- Kindle Unlimited explained: how authors actually get paid
- How to price your ebook
- How to calculate your series read-through
- Your first 180 days on KDP
The free tools worth bookmarking
For writing
- Google Docs voice typing (Tools → Voice typing): free dictation for brain dumps. Your phone’s voice memos work too.
- A free AI chat (Gemini, ChatGPT or Claude): brainstorming, outlining and blurb drafts.
- Antigravity, Google’s free AI editor, if you want to build a writing desk where your AI reads your files every session.
For research
- Amazon’s search bar, in a private browser window: type slowly and write down what autocompletes. It’s the best free keyword tool there is.
- Amazon’s bestseller lists, drilled down to your subgenre: a live snapshot of what readers are buying.
- Google Trends: a quick read on whether a trope is rising or fading.
For covers and graphics
- Canva (free tier): text, layouts and quick promo graphics.
- Photopea: a free, browser-based alternative to Photoshop for layers and fine detail.
- DIYBookCovers: free 3D mockups of your cover on paperbacks and e-readers.
For formatting and publishing
- Reedsy Studio and Draft2Digital’s formatter: free ebook and print files.
- Kindle Previewer: Amazon’s free app for checking your ebook on every device before you upload.
- KDP Help: the official rules, straight from Amazon. When a blog post and KDP Help disagree, KDP Help wins. (Yes, including this blog.)
For readers and launches
- MailerLite or Kit: both have free plans for small newsletters.
- BookFunnel: not free, but cheap to start, and the easiest way to deliver ARCs and reader magnets.
Want it all in one place?
Plot. Publish. Profit. takes everything on this page and puts it in order, step by step, from your first brain dump to your first launch, with copy-paste prompts and worksheets for every stage.
