Pre-publish QA and iteration

Publishing is not the finish line. A careful last check prevents refunds, bad reviews and rejected submissions.

What you will build

A four-gate checklist and a post-launch improvement loop.

Figure 1. Fix, then run that gate again. Submit only when all four pass.

The four gates

Gate	Check
1. Content	Facts, typos, rights for every image and text, no claims you cannot support, AI use statement matches the book
2. Layout	Trim, bleed, margins, page count, fonts, image resolution, spine, no content in unsafe areas
3. Metadata	Title and subtitle, keywords, categories, description match the actual book
4. Preview	KDP previewer clean, proof copy checked in hand, listing read as a buyer

Use our 12-point KDP pre-publish checklist as the detailed version of these gates.

Ask Claude to review, then verify yourself

Review this book's metadata and description against the book's contents list.
List every statement in the metadata that the contents do not support.
Then list anything in the contents a buyer would expect to be mentioned
but is not. Do not rewrite.

CONTENTS: [paste]
METADATA: [paste]

Claude can catch mismatches; you must still check the files, the previewer and the proof copy.

Re-read the rules

Before you submit, re-read KDP’s content guidelines, especially the AI-generated content section, and confirm your AI use statement and disclosure answers are correct.

After launch: a small improvement loop

Week	Do
1	Read every review and customer message; note the exact words
2	List what buyers praised and what they asked for
3	Fix factual errors and update the files; update metadata if the buyer language is different
4	Decide: improve the edition, make a companion, or stop

Compare results across books you publish, with the same simple notes each time. Avoid conclusions from one or two sales.

Worked example

A puzzle-book author found a repeated review comment: “Pages are too thin to color on both sides.” That was a layout and design decision (single-sided pages), not a marketing problem. The second edition used a blank back page behind each puzzle and a note in the description.

Common mistakes

• Rushing past the proof copy.
• Changing the description to chase sales rather than to be accurate.
• Reading feedback emotionally instead of as data.

Final checklist

• All four gates passed
• KDP rules re-read, AI use statement matches
• Proof copy checked
• Improvement loop on the calendar

If you want ready-made prompts for the steps in this course, see our coloring book prompt pack and kids KDP prompt pack, and our Greenlight Publish review for a pre-publish checking tool.

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