Hi Reader,
​
Summer's over, autumn is starting to show its colors, and authors are calling me with the same question: "Can I get my book finished and published in time for the holidays?"

Fair warning: this is a longer email than usual, and it's worth saving and studying. Too many authors come to me after wasting years of time and thousands of dollars, not because they lacked talent or didn't work hard enough, but because they didn't know what they didn't know. They made decisions about contracts, services, and timelines without the full picture.

Knowledge is power. Whether you're aiming for December or next spring, and whether you're going traditional, hybrid, or independent, getting clear on these three areas will help you make good decisions:

1. Book positioning: a recommendation
2. Your publishing plan: a presentation with video
3. The importance of ISBNs: a presentation with video

Know where your book fits: positioning

Book positioning is the foundation of every publishing decision you'll make. It's how you define who your book is for, where it sits on the shelf, and why readers (and agents, and editors) should care. I cover the essentials in my Publishing 101 class, and every author should understand them no matter which path they take.

However, if you're committed to landing a traditional publishing deal, you need to go deeper. Agents and acquiring editors decide in minutes whether a book is right for their list, and they're looking for an author who can articulate exactly who the audience is, which recent titles it sits alongside, and why it will sell.

That's where my colleague Lisa Secondari comes in. Lisa comes from the traditional publishing world, and her program, The Strategic Author, is a three-month small-group deep dive into positioning, audience definition, comparables, your pitch, publishing path, and a roadmap for getting there.

Lisa Secondari Lisa has more than two decades of experience helping authors create books that resonate and find their audiences, positioning them for real-world impact.

The program is built for the stage before you query, so you go out with a book that's ready to be taken seriously instead of spending another year second-guessing it.

Enrollment is limited, and the program begins the week of Monday, October 5, 2026. The fee is $1,750, and Lisa has offered my readers a $250 discount with the code TSAJANE. Read about the program and Lisa's industry experience at The Strategic Author. She's taking applications now.

Know what's ahead: your publishing plan

Every year I update my educational presentation, Your Unstoppable Book Publishing Plan, and last week I presented an early version of the 2027 edition to the South Bay Writers group (California Writers Club).

The big idea is that publishing isn't one task. It's marketing, production, publicity, and platform working together, and authors who treat it as a single step (write, upload, done) tend to sell a hundred or two copies and stall. The presentation walks through everything from comps and business setup to design, distribution, launch, and building your team, so you can budget, hire, and schedule with confidence.

If you're hoping to publish by the holidays, this is where you'll see what's realistic. Preorders can be set up months ahead, but distributor approvals, digital and print proofs, and file fixes all take time, and every round of changes adds days.

​You can find the presentation here. And if you want the task list that goes with it, download my free "What tasks do I need to publish successfully in 2027?" worksheet at carlaking.com/freebies.

When you're ready to turn that list into a real plan, my Publishing 101 course ($597) takes you through it step by step, with a book proposal and business plan, a budget and timeline, tools, website, design, editing, and other publishing team members identified.

Know who your publisher really is: ISBNs Matter

ISBNs look like a small technical detail, but understanding them is one of the fastest ways to understand how the book business actually works, even if you're going traditional.

The ISBN identifies the publisher of record. Whoever owns it is, in the eyes of the industry, the publisher of your book. That's why the question "Will you provide the ISBN, or can I get my own?" tells you so much about a publishing services company. Hybrid presses use their own ISBNs because they are the publisher. Many publishing services companies do too, which means that even though you're paying for everything, they're listed as your publisher, not you, so you might want to talk with them about using your own ISBNs instead.

This matters because not every company in this business plays fair. Predatory publishers and services companies are out there, and when they own your ISBN, they control your book's data: its title, description, price, and where it's sold. If the relationship goes bad or the company disappears, you can't simply take your book elsewhere under the same ISBN. You'll have to republish it with a new one. When you own your ISBN, you own your book's record, and you stay in control no matter who you hire. Having that conversation before you sign can save you a lot of confusion (and sometimes a lot of money) later.

ISBNs also open the door to the rest of the system: the metadata that tells retailers and libraries what your book is and where it belongs, and the Library of Congress Control Number, which you can only get before publication by enrolling in the Library's Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program. Miss that window and it's gone.

Free or paid? 10 or 100? One per format or one per retailer? I answer all of that and more in the All About ISBNs workshop I presented to the Publishing Professionals Network last month.

Keep learning

The more you know, the fewer surprises you'll face and the better your publishing decisions will be. For more like this, subscribe to my Author Friendly Substack. And I'd love to hear where you are with your book, so feel free to hit reply.

—

Carla King

​Vicarious adventure reads | HELP FOR AUTHORS​