Can You Publish a Book Just for Yourself or Your Family?

You can write a book for yourself or your family and print it without selling a single copy. Print on demand makes one copy a normal order. The real question is whether to publish at all, so I will cover that first and then how to print one or a few copies.

Should you publish it or keep it private?

This part is my advice, not a rule. If the book is a family history, a gift or something you wrote to get it out of your head, keep it private. Order a copy, hand it over, and enjoy the moment. Nothing about that needs a public listing, an ISBN or a marketing plan.

Publish it properly if you want strangers to find it, or if there is any chance you will want it to earn money. Once a book is for sale, the work changes: cover, description, categories and a plan to get readers. That is a different project, and my free checklist walks through it.

A good middle path is to print the family copy first. Holding the paper book shows you the typos and layout problems you will not see on a screen. If you decide to go public afterwards, you have already done the hardest checking.

How do you print one copy with KDP?

KDP is a print-on-demand service, so each copy is printed when it is ordered. There are two ways to order, and they work at different times.

Proof copies are for books that are still drafts. KDP says you can order up to 5 proof copies per order, and you have to approve the book in the Print Previewer first (KDP: order a proof or author copy). Proofs are meant for checking the book, but they also work if you want a copy in your hands.

Author copies are for live books. KDP says you can order up to 999 of them per order, and only when the book is Live or Live with unpublished changes. That means you would have to publish first, which puts the book on sale. If the book is only for family, proof copies are the simpler route. My post on KDP author copies has the full detail on author copies.

Either way, you pay the author price. KDP says that is the print cost for your book in the marketplace you pick, times the number of copies, with no extra discounts (KDP: cost of proof and author copies). Your trim size, interior type and page count set that print cost, so a long book in colour costs more than a short black-and-white one. Shipping comes on top.

How do you print a copy with Lulu?

Lulu works differently. When you set up a project, you choose a goal. Lulu’s page on print books for global distribution describes a Private Access setting under the Lulu Bookstore options: the book will not appear for sale there, and only the author can buy it through their account (Lulu help). That is close to what you want for a family book.

One warning from the same page: if you set a print book up for global distribution, you cannot opt out of any of the distribution channels. So if you want it private, don’t choose that route. My post on Lulu self-publishing explains the platform in more detail.

What about the ISBN?

If the book will never be sold, my view is that you do not need to spend time on it. If there is a chance you will sell it one day, read where to get an ISBN before you publish, because that decision is easier to make early.

What makes a family book worth printing?

This is advice, not a rule. A book for your family works best when it is finished, not perfect. Pick one reader in your head, usually the person it is for, and write to them. Add dates, names and places, because those are the details a family cares about most and will lose first.

Photos help, but they raise the print cost if you go for colour pages, so decide early whether you need them. A short black-and-white book with a handful of photos on the cover is cheaper to print and easier to proof.

Give it a proper title page and a short note at the front saying who it is for and when you wrote it. Years from now, that note will matter more than the formatting.

What should you check before you order?

Read the whole book on paper-sized pages first, check the cover and spine, and order one copy before ordering ten. Mistakes in a family book hurt more because everyone will read it closely.

If you decide you want it public after all, my guide on how to self-publish your first book covers the steps from manuscript to listing. The free checklist linked above is the place to start.

Start with the free checklist

The checklist is the 12 steps I follow for every book I publish, from choosing a profitable niche with keyword research to setting up the marketing machine. It is free, and you get it straight away.

Get the free checklist