Browse Episodes 21–26 of Life According to Lisa (and Jim too!). Click an episode to listen on Spotify, or open Read more for the full description.
October 2, 2026
You wrote the book. Congratulations! Now what? In Part II of So, You Want to Write a Book? Lisa and Jim move beyond the writing and into the part nobody really talks about: turning that manuscript into an actual published book.
Paperback or hardcover? Or both? What about an e-book? White paper or cream? Dust jacket or no dust jacket? Who designs the cover? What goes on the back of the book? How do you write a blurb about a story that took you hundreds of pages to tell? Writing your own bio!
And then come the acronyms and numbers: ISBN. LCCN. Copyright. Distribution. Print-on-demand. What do they mean? Which ones do you need? And where do you even begin?
Lisa shares what she learned while independently publishing The Brooklyn Witch: The Battle for Brooklyn, while Lisa and Jim talk about the decisions, surprises, mistakes, and technical details that come after you finish writing the book.
Because apparently... Writing the book was only the beginning.
Resources We Talk About in This Episode:
IngramSpark: Self-Publishing, Printing & Distribution
Paperback, hardcover, jacketed hardcover, e-books, print-on-demand and global book distribution.
IngramSpark Website
Bowker: ISBNs for U.S. Publishers & Authors
Bowker is the U.S. ISBN agency. Different book formats may require separate ISBNs.
Bowker Publishing Services
Library of Congress: Preassigned Control Number (PCN/LCCN)
Library of Congress PCN Program
U.S. Copyright Office: Register a Literary Work
U.S. Copyright Office — Literary Works
One thing to remember: an ISBN, LCCN, and copyright registration are three different things.