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self-publishing

American  
[self-puhb-lish-ing] / ˈsɛlfˈpʌb lɪʃ ɪŋ /

noun

  1. the act or process of publishing one's own work for sale or distribution without the aid of a traditional publisher.


adjective

  1. publishing one's own work for sale or distribution without the aid of a traditional publisher.

  2. providing services such as editing and printing to authors wishing to publish their own work.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Greeley, 62 years old, worked at Amazon for nearly 19 years, including a stint where he helped oversee the launches of Amazon’s dominant self-publishing platform and of Amazon Prime.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

And for more than six years, Louis' project remained a little-known hobby he did in his spare time, self-publishing the first two translated books of War & Peace and selling a handful of copies.

From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025

He turned his recital hall into a lecture hall, as he describes it, and started offering travel courses and self-publishing his first book, "Europe Through the Back Door."

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2025

In an early experiment in self-publishing, Harris would write and illustrate books using stacks of printer paper.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2023

Jean-Paul also enjoyed the freedom of online self-publishing.

From The eBook is 40 (1971-2011) by Lebert, Marie