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Self-publishing author

Plain guides to writing, finishing and launching your own book

I’m Trevor. I have published four books on my own, and I sell checklists, templates and short guides for first-time authors, plus two video courses.

A veranda desk with a laptop, manuscript pages and coconut water
A veranda desk with a laptop, manuscript pages and coconut water

The chart

Ranked by what readers reach for first.

  1. Place 01
    Checklist sheets and a pencil on turquoise board

    Book Launch Checklist

    PDF · 6 pages

    Where nearly every reader starts: every task from the last proof to launch day.

    $7

    Buy: Book Launch Checklist
  2. Place 02
    Author seen from behind on a seaside wall

    Publish Your First Book

    Video course · 8 lessons

    The full course, from a finished draft to a book on sale.

    $79

    Buy: Publish Your First Book
  3. Place 03
    Hand writing on a printed worksheet

    Blurb Writing Worksheet

    PDF · 8 pages

    Four prompts for the words on the back cover.

    $6

    Buy: Blurb Writing Worksheet
  4. Place 04
    Yellow booklet standing against a white wall

    Manuscript Formatting Guide

    PDF · 28 pages

    The settings that make an interior look finished.

    $12

    Buy: Manuscript Formatting Guide
  5. Place 05
    Row of seven colourful calendar squares

    Launch Week Plan

    PDF · 22 pages

    Seven days before and seven after, one small job a day.

    $19

    Buy: Launch Week Plan
  6. Place 06
    Laptop screen with a blurred coloured spreadsheet

    Self-Publishing Budget Sheet

    Spreadsheet · 5 tabs

    What the book costs, what it earns and when it pays back.

    $9

    Buy: Self-Publishing Budget Sheet
  7. Place 07
    Paperbacks, brass bell and straw hat in teal dark

    Launch and Keep Selling

    Video course · 6 lessons

    The months after launch, for readers who already have a book out.

    $69

    Buy: Launch and Keep Selling
A brightly painted wooden chattel house with white shutters

About

About me

I wrote my first book at a kitchen table in the evenings, and I published it with no agent, no publisher and no idea what I was doing. It sold eleven copies, nine of them to family. The second one did better, because by then I had written down every mistake I made on the first.

That list of mistakes became the guides on this site. They are short and they are plain: a checklist for the launch, a worksheet for the blurb, a sheet for the money, a template for the cover brief. Nothing here promises a bestseller. It promises that you will finish the book, put it into the world properly and know what to do on the day after.

I teach the same steps in two video courses, one for getting the first book out and one for the months after. I write from a veranda with a laptop, a jug of cold water and a pile of printed pages, and a small letter goes out every Friday.

Newsletter

Page One

A short letter every Friday for authors who publish their own books: one lesson, one checklist and one thing to try this week.

One email every Friday. Unsubscribe any time.

Printed to order

Merch

My designs, printed to order and shipped by Printful.