Publish with us
Two ways to publish.
Publish it yourself and stay the publisher of your own book — or be published by us, under our imprint.
Both start in the same place: a proper writing workspace, the tools to turn a manuscript into a finished book, and a storefront to sell it in. Where they differ is who carries the book from there.
Self-Published
Independent. Yours, entirely.
Publishing on your own terms, with professional tools on tap.
You write it, you own it, you publish it — and you keep every right and every dollar of what it earns, less our commission on each sale. We give you the workspace, the storefront, and the tooling to get a finished book into the world without a gatekeeper between you and your readers.
It’s free to be here. You bring your own ISBN, run your own Amazon listing, and reach for print, covers, or audio only when you want them — paying just for what you use. Your book is clearly marked as self-published, because that’s exactly what it is: your work, under your name, published by you.
No one at Curated Word reads your book before it goes on sale — there’s no queue and no gatekeeper. What we ask is a floor: you confirm the work is your own and rights-cleared, and that it meets our content standards. Books that breach that come down.
If you want a professional around the work, hire one. Editors, proofreaders, cover designers and narrators take engagements through the platform, on your terms and at your expense.
How it’s attributed
Byline: “Available on Curated Word.”
Publisher of record: The author. Curated Word is named only as the platform, never as publisher.
Published by Curated Word
We become your publisher.
The full partnership: we carry the book, and it goes out under our name.
When Curated Word takes on a title, we carry it — commissioning and paying for editorial, cover, ISBN, audiobook, distribution, and full-service marketing — and the book goes out under the Curated Word imprint. Our name is on it, which means we invest in it as our own.
Each title comes with its own publication agreement, and Curated Word manages the publishing rights for the work. You bring the manuscript and the talent; we bring the house. It’s selective by nature — we take on the books we believe we can do justice to.
The way in is to send us the book. We read what’s submitted, all year round.
How it’s attributed
Byline: “Published by Curated Word.”
Publisher of record: Curated Word — on the book, and in the metadata retailers receive.
A different question
Then there’s the plan.
Which path you’re on is about your book. Which plan you’re on is about your workshop — the tools you work with and the terms you sell on.
Self-publishing is free and complete without a subscription: the workspace, the storefront, the basic AI tools, print and audio at cost, and the specialist marketplace are open to everyone. Pro is for when you’re serious about commercialising your work. — it lowers what we take on every sale and opens up the heavier tools.
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A lower commission on every sale
The rate we retain on each sale of your book drops for as long as you subscribe. On any real sales volume this is the line that pays for the subscription.
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Advanced AI tools
The full toolkit — fix formatting, character, setting and plotline profilers, and research notes — on top of the basics everyone gets.
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Bring your own key
Point the AI tools at your own provider key and run them at cost, billed by your provider instead of metered by us.
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Event management
Create and run your own events — launches, readings, signings — with ticketing on the platform.
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Global distribution
We push your ebook and audiobook out to 50 global distribution channels beyond our own storefront.
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Rights management
Choose where each book sells and in what formats, and keep a ledger of the translation, audio, and film rights you’ve licensed out. Your territory choices are enforced at checkout and sent to the stores we distribute to.
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Your own imprint
Publish under a publishing name of your own, carried through to the book and to the metadata retailers receive.
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Priority storefront listing
Your titles rank higher across search and browse, and rotate through the Featured shelf on our Books page.
Choosing
You’re never locked in.
- Want to own and control everything? Self-publish — free, and yours.
- Want a publisher to carry the load with you? Submit your manuscript and we’ll read it.
- Serious about the business of writing? That’s what Pro is for.
Publish one book yourself and pitch the next to us. Subscribe for the season you’re working hard and drop back when you aren’t. Nothing here is a one-way door.
At a glance
The two paths, side by side.
| Self-Published You publish it | Curated Word We publish it | |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher of record | The author | Curated Word |
| Rights owner | Author | Curated Word, under the publication agreement |
| How you get there | Publish it yourself — open to everyone | Submit a manuscript; we choose what we take on |
| Editorial review | None. We don’t read it before it goes on sale | Full editorial development, paid by Curated Word |
| Content standards | Apply, and we take down works that breach them | Apply throughout |
| Authoring workspace | Yes | Yes |
| Storefront listing | Yes | Yes |
| Specialist support | Hire and pay for your own | All specialists — engaged and paid by Curated Word |
| Print on demand | Pay as you go | Included |
| Cover design studio | Pay as you go | Included |
| Audiobook generation | Pay as you go | Curated Word pays |
| ISBN | Author supplies | Included, from our block |
| Amazon listing | Your own store | Curated Word store |
| Marketing | Author | Full-service, paid by Curated Word |
| Agreement | Terms of service — no publication agreement | Terms of service + a per-title publication agreement |
| Badge | Independent | Curated Word (our imprint) |
| Byline | “Available on Curated Word” (publisher of record: the author) | “Published by Curated Word” (publisher of record: Curated Word) |
And the two plans.
| Casual Free, and the default | Pro A$18 / month | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on each sale | Standard rate | Reduced rate |
| AI tools | Basic | Advanced — the full toolkit |
| Bring your own key | No | Yes |
| Included AI credit | Sign-up credit only | A$5 each month |
| Event management | No | Yes |
| eBook distribution | No | Yes |
| Audiobook distribution | No | Yes |
| Rights management | No | Yes |
| Your own imprint | No | Yes |
| Priority storefront listing | No | Yes |
The byline on the storefront and the publisher-of-record field in a book’s metadata — which flows to Amazon, distributors, and library catalogues — always agree. On a self-published title that field carries your name, or your own imprint if you have one; on a book we publish, it carries ours.
Because you publish under your own name, a self-published ISBN is registered to you, not to Curated Word — it’s what keeps you the publisher of record. Our ISBN guide shows how to get one; only titles we publish carry an ISBN from our block.
Ready to start writing?
Read the manifesto for why we built it this way, or the self-publishing FAQ for how it works.