Book Writing & Publishing

If you’re a self-published author trying to upload minor corrections to a book that’s been live on Amazon for months—or even years—and suddenly seeing an error about unsupported fonts, you’re not alone.

No, you didn’t suddenly break your book.

Amazon KDP has quietly changed how it validates fonts during the Quality Check process, and it’s catching a lot of previously approved interiors off guard.

Let’s talk about what’s actually going on, and what to do next.

Why Amazon KDP Is Suddenly Flagging Fonts That Worked Before

Here’s the frustrating truth: When you upload any new interior file to KDP—even for a small typo fix—Amazon re-checks the entire manuscript as if it’s a brand-new book.

That means:

• Fonts that passed before are re-evaluated

• Embedded fonts are re-scanned

• Older formatting choices are held to new standards

So even if:

• your book has been live for years

• the font is embedded in the PDF

• nothing about the design changed

…it can stil...

Sarah Vacchiano’s journey from querying 100 agents to publishing with one of the industry’s top houses is a story of patience, "luck," and the power of building genuine relationships.

In this episode, Sarah shares the behind-the-scenes details of her publishing journey, including how a chance reconnection with an editor led to her debut novel’s acquisition and publication. You'll discover how her strategic persistence, timing, and a bit of serendipity turned a decade-long work into a real-life success story that defies typical timelines.

We break down:

• The unconventional path from manuscript to publication, including querying, rejection, and a six-year pause
• How the universe conspired through a friend’s recommendation to seal her deal with Little A (an imprint of Amazon)
• The magic of editorial collaboration, with insights into the intensive editing process
• The importance of vulnerability and personal growth reflected in her characters and story
• Why embracing failure and
...

An elementary school librarian by day. A writer by night (and other spare moments). Somewhere in between, a whole book got written.

In episode 154, I’m joined by Cassie Miller, author of the upcoming young adult contemporary sports romance Meet Me Under the Lights (Viking, March 2026). We talk about how she balanced teaching, writing, and real life long enough to finish a novel—and then had the courage to send it into the traditional publishing world.

Cassie walks through her querying experience with refreshing honesty. The waiting. The no’s. The small wins that kept her going. And the moment it shifted from “maybe someday” to seeing her story become a real book.

We also dig into what helped her stay grounded while juggling deadlines and expectations, and why writing while working full-time didn’t disqualify her from success. Instead, it helped shape it.

This conversation isn’t about overnight breakthroughs or perfectly optimized writing schedules. It’s about showing up consi...

Fear of failure shows up early for most authors. And despite what you may think, it doesn’t magically disappear once you’re published.

In this episode, I get honest about how fear, rejection, and unmet expectations quietly shape the writing process, especially in nonfiction and memoir. Drawing from years of editing experience (and my own hard-earned lessons), I break down why failure so often feels personal—and why that belief keeps writers stuck.

This conversation reframes failure as one thing: information. I'll challenge the myth of overnight success, name the role imposter syndrome plays for authors at every stage, and offer a more realistic definition of success—one that actually supports long-term creative work.

If you’ve ever questioned your talent, taken rejection personally, or wondered whether you’re “doing this wrong,” this episode will feel familiar in the best way.

Check out These Great Author Resources

Grab the free nonfiction or memoir kickstart that's help...

If you’re an author, you’ve surely been told you need an email list but perhaps gotten very little explanation and/or a lot of exaggerated promises. Here’s the grounded truth: Email lists matter (a lot), but only when you understand why you’re building one and how to keep it simple.

Put simply, an email list is one of the only platforms you actually own. Social media reach changes constantly. Algorithms shift. Platforms disappear. (Remember Vine? Or Periscope? Or...Clubhouse?)

Your email list allows you to communicate directly with readers who choose to hear from you. You don’t need thousands of subscribers for it to be effective, but you do need the right ones. 

If you’ve seen claims like “sell thousands of books from one email,” you’re not wrong to feel skeptical.

Those results often come with years of backlist, ad spend, or an existing audience. Email marketing for authors isn’t a shortcut. It’s a long-term tool that supports sustainable growth over time.

To start an auth...

This episode starts with a question that’s been tapping me on the shoulder all year: What would it look like to choose ease without giving up momentum?

I’m reflecting on the past year in book writing and publishing, and sharing what I’m carrying forward into 2026. Less hustle-for-hustle’s-sake. More sustainable progress that feels livable.

I talk about why consistency in book sales matters more than viral spikes, and why realistic goals tend to outperform ambitious ones you can’t maintain. 

There’s an honest look at marketing, too. It takes time. It’s rarely linear. And there’s no shortcut that replaces steady effort and experimentation. 

Finally, I dig into the quieter side of growth: building community, focusing on connection over vanity metrics, and staying open to adapting your approach as the market (and your life) changes.

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Check out These Great Author Resources

📚 Author Visibility Bundle: 200+ customizable email and social media templates just for authors

Gr...

Episode 150 provides the reset many authors quietly crave as Jenn Hanson-dePaula returns to help us modify (if not outright rebuild) our expectations, systems, and perspectives when it comes to book sales.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

• How to implement a "2 sales a day" strategy.
• Becoming "profitable, not popular." (Hint: Clicks matter. Likes and views don’t.)
• The simple link path that outperform complicated funnels every time.
• The easiest daily selling you're probably NOT doing. 

We also walk through how to measure what actually moves readers, not what flatters the algorithm. Jenn breaks down clean DM workflows, repeatable content, and approaches that spark joy so you can stop force-feeding content.

We also look at the quieter parts of growth: handling criticism, building systems before you’re “big,” and treating your author life like a business, even when it still feels small.

If you want calm, clarity, and a plan that won’t chew through your energy the way I'm currently going ...

In this episode, I share 8 books that reshaped how I parent, relax, and think about storytelling in 2025. 

Books:

Just Do Nothing (for Parents) by Joanna Hardis

The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram

What Happened to Lucy Vale by Lauren Oliver

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Small Victories by Anne Lamott

Moms Like Us by Jordan Roter

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📚 Author Visibility Bundle (200+ customizable email and social media templates just for authors)

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🗞️ The Damn Good "Can't Stop Writing" Formula

Grab the free nonfiction or memoir kickstart that's helped hundreds of authors get out of their heads and into the flow: 

👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook.com/chapterone

✍️ You've Been Thinking About This Book Forever. So let's start writing (for real this time).
 
No incense, inspirational playlists, or fancy mantras. Just a clear, doable plan to get your nonfiction or memoir draft written in 33 days. 

👉 https://www.publishaprofitablebook/writethebook

In this episode, we walk through 5 mistakes that quietly undermine first-time self-publishers and show how to fix each one with practical, doable steps.

We start by tightening your audience with a one-sentence framework that keeps every chapter aligned to a clear promise. 

From there, we map a real editing workflow: self-edit, gather targeted beta feedback on structure and flow, then bring in a professional editor who can strengthen the developmental and line work.

We also get honest about design. DIY your interior with reliable templates and checklists. But your cover? Invest in that. It needs to signal genre, earn clicks, and meet exact printer specs for spine width, trim, and image quality.

Then we dig into metadata, the quiet engine behind discoverability. Keywords, categories, and a clean description help the right readers find you on the world’s third-largest search engine. 

If you’re tired of guessing and want a simpler way to publish with confidence, this conversatio...

If you’re writing a nonfiction book or memoir and your draft feels messy, scattered, or “not quite ready,” this episode will help you clean it up fast. I’m sharing 5 editing rules that instantly improve any nonfiction manuscript — the same rules I use to help guide the authors whose manuscripts I edit. 

These are the patterns I’ve seen again and again after coaching hundreds of authors, editing countless drafts, and publishing six nonfiction books of my own. When you understand these rules, your writing gets clearer, tighter, and far more compelling. And most importantly, your reader stays with you.

Inside the episode, you’ll learn:
 – Why your intro is probably too long
 – How writing for ONE reader changes everything
 – How to make each chapter deliver a single promise
 – The difference between clarity and jargon
 – How to end chapters with momentum (and why that matters more than you think)

If you want help starting your book, you can grab my free “Can't Stop Writing” guide here...