Optimised for the latest tech on Windows and Mac – and chosen by Apple as its Mac App of the Year – Affinity Publisher is the next generation of professional publishing software. From books, magazines and marketing materials, to social media templates, website mock-ups and more, this incredibly smooth, intuitive app gives you the power to combine your images.
Barnes & Noble is the largest book retailer in the US and its self-publishing service offers a ‘free, fast, and easy-to-use’ service that enables you to publish and sell directly to Barnes & Noble’s millions of readers. The website offers plenty of help and resources, including details for third party experts such as professional editors and cover artists who can help you make your book. Learn how to quickly create a book cover for your low-content books in Affinity Publisher.This program is a professional level desktop publishing software id.
Whether it’s a novel, magazine, children’s picture book or a collection of your best work, Affinity Publisher gives you the power to combine your images, graphics and text to create the perfect document, ready for publication.
But while writing and illustrating a book or putting together a magazine is no mean feat, getting your work out in the world and making it available for people to buy can seem like a mammoth task in itself.
To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular platforms and services you can self-publish your work through once you’re ready. They all accept PDF format, which is perfect if you’ve created your book in Affinity Publisher.
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
By far the most well-known and widely used self-publishing platform is Amazon’s KDP. For no cost at all, you can upload your book to the site and it will then appear on Kindle stores worldwide within 24-48 hours. The website provides a wealth of information and resources to help you get started and the information is provided in a well-organised, straightforward way.
Thanks to its recent merger with CreateSpace, KDP now offers the option to make your book available in both eBook and paperback format. You can also choose to opt into KDP Select, through which you exchange exclusivity rights for your book for three months for enrolment in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library programmes along with other promotional tools to help you market your book.
For every book sold through KDP, you’ll earn 35% or 70% of your book’s listed selling price (list price), depending on factors such as price and location.
Ingram Spark
If you’re interested in self-publishing print copies of a book, IngramSpark offers a print-on-demand self-publishing service for PDF files (if you want to publish digital versions, you’ll need to convert your PDF file to an ePub).
Opposed to Amazon which is a retailer, IngramSpark is an aggregator, or a distributor. Aggregators provide a similar upload service to retailers, but also offer a distribution service after you self-publish through its platform. So, once you upload your book, IngramSpark will then distribute it to its many retail partners and libraries in order to help you reach even more potential readers. IngramSpark even promises that they’ll make your work available to more than 38,000 different retailers and libraries.
The catch with this, of course, is the cost. IngramSpark charges an up-front fee of $49 (about £39) to publish your book in print. And if your book is purchased through a retailer IngramSpark distributed to, the retailer will take a cut of the earnings as well.
In summary, IngramSpark will cost you, but your book will be seen by more potential readers, so it’s up to you whether you think this is a worthwhile investment. Ultimately, you’re paying for convenience and a wide-reaching print-on-demand service.
Blurb
Similar to IngramSpark, Blurb provides a distribution service for your self-published work. With Blurb, you can upload your PDF to create both a digital version of your work as well as a paperback or hardcover version. Blurb also allows you to self-publish magazines, unlike many of the other platforms.
Once uploaded, you can sell your work through Blurb’s bookstore as well as through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and a network of over 38,000 retailers, libraries and schools thanks to its partnership with IngramSpark.
Blurb isn’t free though. You’ll have to pay £3.59 to upload a PDF version of your work or £8.39 if you want your PDF converted into a different file type. For print books, Blurb doesn’t charge anything and doesn’t even take commission—you just need to list your book for the cost of printing it as well as the profit you choose. If your work sells through any of the retailers Blurb distributes to though, the retailer will take a small percentage of earnings.
Blurb also offers large order services in case you want to pay outright for a large number of copies of your printed work rather than go for the print-on-demand option. This works well if you want to give away or sell physical copies of your work on your own.
Barnes & Noble Press
Barnes & Noble is the largest book retailer in the US and its self-publishing service offers a ‘free, fast, and easy-to-use’ service that enables you to publish and sell directly to Barnes & Noble’s millions of readers. The website offers plenty of help and resources, including details for third party experts such as professional editors and cover artists who can help you make your book even better.
Affinity Publisher Workbook Pdf
While you need a Word, HTML, TXT or ePub version of your work to publish an eBook through Barnes & Noble, you can self-publish a print version with your PDF.
Barnes & Noble Press is a free service and you’ll earn 40-65% of the list price you set. And if you sell enough books through the online platform, your book could even qualify to be sold in-store.
Xinxii
If you’re not interested in self-publishing print versions of your work and you’re happy with self-publishing digital versions, Xinxii is a great option as it allows you to turn your PDF into an eBook through its platform. As ‘Europe’s leading indie eBook self-publishing and distribution platform’, Xinxii is similar to IngramSpark and Blurb as it’s an aggregator that makes your work available to a wide range of retailers.
And unless you decide to opt for its ‘Plus’ or ‘Power’ plans, Xinxii is a free service; the company makes its money off of commission for your book sales rather than charging an up-front fee in addition to this.
With Xinxii, you’ll earn 70% or 40% of your book’s net sales if your book is purchased from XinXii’s website. If your book is sold through one of the retailers such as Amazon, Kobo or Apple Books (if distributed by Xinxii), then you’ll receive up to 85% of the amount XinXii received from the retailer.
Which is best?
There are pros and cons to every self-publishing service, so it really comes down to what you prefer and what you think will work best for you and your work—just make sure to do your own research before proceeding and understand the terms and conditions of the service to avoid any confusion down the line.
Affinity Publisher is a powerful design app available for Mac and Windows. It’s a standalone tool that is made for creating printed projects, such as magazines, brochures, posters, and other collateral pieces.
Use it to combine images and other graphic elements to create outstanding layouts for publishing. Whether you are new to Affinity Publisher or not, great tutorials can help you master specific or general skills to help you make the most of the tool. Here, we’ve collected some of the best to help you jumpstart projects.
How to Use Affinity Publisher
If you are new to Affinity Publisher, start with the basics. This video tutorial offers a quick overview of how to use basic tools and set up documents. It’s the perfect guide for new users and you can get everything you need to start using the software in about 30 minutes.
7 Best Beginner Tips
Nothing makes learning software easier than a few key tips that will speed up your productivity and have you using Affinity Publisher like a pro. This video is packed with 7 great tips in just 11 minutes. It will walk you through setting margin and bleed, changing hyphenation, warping text, and more.
Publisher Master Pages
Anyone who works with larger or multi-page layouts will understand the value of creating master pages for a project. Affinity Publisher includes this feature, This video shows you how master pages work and walks through some practical uses if you aren’t familiar with usage. (Hint: Master pages allow you to repeats elements of the design throughout documents without duplicating r copy and pasting objects.)
How to Import InDesign Templates to Affinity Publisher
Most Affinity Publisher users are likely coming from Adobe InDesign unless you are just getting started with designing publications. If that’s the case, you probably have files and templates that you want to move from InDesign to Publisher. This tutorial takes you through how to import different native InDesign file types and use them right away, including how to export from InDesign.
Working with Color
Elaine Giles offers live streaming tutorials and then archives the videos so you can learn on your own time. This recording of the live stream is a lesson on how to use color in Affinity Publisher. The video runs more than 2 hours and is a wholly comprehensive look at everything you need to make the right color choices, including using the color picker tool, working with palettes, using afpalette files and Adobe swatches, and more.
How to Create a Tri-Fold Brochure in Affinity Publisher
Creating a tri-fold brochure is one of the most common print design asks. This common format is used almost universally by all types of industries and organizations. This tutorial takes you through the entire setup and design process in Affinity Publisher and even has a downloadable file that you can use to follow along.
Using Baseline Grids
A consistent baseline grid ensures that text lines up vertically in a text frame, table, or document. It’s one of the pro tips that print designers use to make large text documents look great. This 7-minute video shows you how to set up a baseline grid in Affinity Publisher.
Working with Images in Affinity Publisher
Bring images into a new document using each of the tool options available. Image tools include the ability to place actual images or placeholders. The quick tutorial shows all the basics of using images in less than 8 minutes.
Text Wrapping in Affinity Publisher
Affinity Photo Book Tutorial
Text wrapping allows you to create a polished merging of images and text on the same page. This Affinity Publisher tutorial shows you how to prepare photos for perfect text wrapping and customize wrap outlines for a perfect finish.
Affinity Publisher Tables
Using tables can be a valuable tool for a lot of different types of design projects. Sometimes the first time using them can be a little clunky. This video takes the worry out of using data in a structured way. The 15-minute Affinity Publisher tutorial will have you designing tables like a pro.
How to Design a Book Cover in Affinity Publisher
Learn how to make a book cover – for printed or digital publishing – in Affinity Publisher. This tutorial takes you through design concepts such as choosing artwork, putting fonts together, and tips for the cover design. Olivio Sarikas does it all in Affinity Publisher in a manner that’s designed for beginners.
How to Make a Menu Template in Affinity Publisher
Are you interested in making design templates that you can reuse in Affinity Publisher? This tutorial uses a restaurant menu as an example, but you can apply the steps and practices to almost any type or size or design.
Composing an Editorial Layout in Affinity Publisher
Affinity Publisher Photo Book Templates
Product expert Emily Goater shows how easy it is to create eye-catching covers, simple and effective inside covers and stand-out feature pages in Affinity Publisher. The lesson lasts about an hour but provides plenty of information to help you make the most of the tool for project publishing, as well as tips for using the iPad version of the software.
How to Collect Resources in Affinity Publisher
This short video lesson shows you how to move linked images in Affinity Publisher to a central file location for easier project management and portability. Don’t forget to collect all images and fonts when packaging files for printing.
PDF Publishing for the Web
Affinity Photo Workbook Download
Not all projects designing in Affinity Publisher are printed; many of these jobs are exported to PDF for digital publication. This tutorial shows you how to convert files into web-ready, RGB PDFs (even if you designed in CMYK with printing in mind).
Affinity Photo Ebook
Affinity Publisher Templates
In this feature, we've covered the basics of Affinity Publisher with tutorials and software comparisons, as well as the best Affinity Publisher templates.