For writers exploring how to publish a book, the publishing landscape has never been more open—or more overwhelming. Since Amazon revolutionized the industry with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) in 2007, the book publishing landscape has evolved at breakneck speed, and self-publishing has become one of the biggest forces shaping how authors produce and distribute books. In recent years, the number of independently published titles has skyrocketed: in 2023 alone, more than 2.6 million self-published books were released in the United States, while traditionally published titles numbered around 563,000 (Publishers Weekly)—a clear sign of how prolific independent authors have become.