How To Self-Publish A Book In New Zealand: A Step-By-Step Guide For Kiwi Authors

By Tasman Publishers 23 October 2026 12 min read

To self-publish in New Zealand, get your manuscript edited, have a cover and interior designed, then apply for free ISBNs from the National Library of New Zealand (one per format). Choose how the book is printed and sold, list it with retailers and library suppliers, and send copies to the National Library under legal deposit within 20 working days of publication.

New Zealand is one of the better places in the world to publish your own book. ISBNs cost nothing, the National Library actively supports self-publishers, and there's a government scheme that can pay you when libraries hold your book. The catch with self-publishing in NZ? A lot of the advice online is written for American authors, and some of it simply doesn't apply here.

This guide covers how to self publish a book in New Zealand from start to finish, including the parts most guides skip: legal deposit, NZ library supply, GST and getting printed books across the Tasman.

Self-Publishing In New Zealand At A Glance

If you've read Australian advice, here's how the NZ process differs. The steps are similar. The rules and the agencies aren't.

Step	New Zealand	Australia (for comparison)
ISBNs	Free from the National Library of New Zealand, for publishers located in NZ	Bought from Thorpe-Bowker, the Australian ISBN agency
Pre-publication catalogue record	National Library Cataloguing in Publication (CiP), open to self-publishers	National Library of Australia Prepublication Data Service
Legal deposit	Two print copies (or one if fewer than 100 printed) within 20 working days; one copy of an ebook	National Library of Australia, plus most state libraries
Library payments	Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors (print books, annual registration)	Public and Educational Lending Rights (PLR and ELR)
Tax on sales	GST through Inland Revenue once you pass the registration threshold	GST through the ATO once you pass its threshold

Step 1: Get The Manuscript Properly Edited

Every reader who leaves a one-star review for typos is telling other readers not to bother. Editing is the stage self-publishers most often cut, and it's the one that shows most.

There are four levels of edit, and most books don't need all of them:

Developmental edit: structure, pacing, plot or argument. Does the book work?
Line edit: sentence-level flow, clarity and voice.
Copy-edit: grammar, consistency and spelling (NZ English, not American).
Proofread: a final check on the typeset pages, after formatting.

When you're comparing book editing in NZ, ask any editor which level your manuscript actually needs, and why. A good one will sometimes tell you to skip a stage. Our editing team does a free 1,500-word sample edit on your own pages so you can see how we work before you commit, and every change comes back as a tracked change you can accept or reject.

Step 2: Cover Design And Interior Formatting

Your cover has about two seconds to convince someone browsing Mighty Ape or a bookshop table in Nelson. It needs to signal the genre instantly and still read clearly as a thumbnail on a phone. Good book cover design for NZ readers works the same way as anywhere else: research what's already selling in your category, then design to stand out within it.

The interior matters just as much. A print book needs a print-ready PDF with the right margins, bleed and trim size, and the ebook needs a properly built EPUB rather than a converted Word file. Our cover design includes the full print wrap with the barcode, and our formatting service sets files to KDP and IngramSpark specifications so they're accepted first time.

Tip: get your ISBN before the back cover is finished. The barcode is generated from the ISBN, and your designer can't complete the wrap without it.

Step 3: Get Your Free ISBN From The National Library

This is where Kiwi authors are genuinely lucky. The National Library of New Zealand issues ISBNs free to publishers located in New Zealand, and that includes self-publishers. If you paid for the book's production and you're publishing it yourself, you're the publisher.

A few things to know about getting a free ISBN in NZ:

One ISBN per format. Your paperback, hardback, ebook and audiobook each need their own number.
Apply online through the National Library's request form. The Library says it aims to supply ISBNs within three working days.
Regular publishers can order a block. If you've published with the Library before and release more than one title a year, you can request several numbers at once.
Don't swap it for a platform's free ISBN. Amazon KDP's free ISBN lists Amazon's imprint as the publisher and can only be used on KDP. Your National Library ISBN costs nothing and works everywhere.

While you're dealing with the Library, consider its Cataloguing in Publication programme too. It's open to self-publishers, creates a catalogue record before the book comes out, which alerts libraries and booksellers, and gives you a standard statement for your copyright page.

If you've published in Australia before, the process there is quite different. Our guide on how to get an ISBN in Australia explains the Thorpe-Bowker side.

Publishing From New Zealand? We register your free NZ ISBNs, handle legal deposit, and set up print, ebook and library distribution. Quotes are in AUD, with an NZD estimate on request. Tell us about your book for a fixed quote. Get a fixed quote or call +61 8 7111 2944.

Step 4: Choose How Your Book Gets Printed

Here's the decision that shapes your budget most. There are three realistic routes for book printing in NZ, and plenty of authors combine them.

Route	How it works	Best for
Print on demand	A copy is printed each time someone orders. No stock to store.	Online sales, testing a market, keeping risk low
Short-run local printing	A New Zealand printer produces a set number of copies.	Launch events, consignment stock for bookshops, speaking gigs
Offset print run	A larger run, often printed offshore, shipped in bulk.	Picture books, cookbooks and books with proven demand

Print on demand in NZ is the easiest way to start, because you don't need boxes of books in the garage. It's less helpful for bookshops, though, and the freight on each copy adds up. Many authors use POD for online orders and a small local run for events and shops.

What moves the cost of printing? Page count, trim size, colour versus black and white, paper stock, hardback or paperback, the number of copies, and how soon you need them. Get quotes on the same specification from each printer so you're comparing like with like.

Step 5: Sell Through NZ Bookshops, Online Stores And Libraries

Online retail and ebooks

Ebook publishing in NZ works through the same global stores as everywhere else: Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play Books. You set the price and the store pays you a percentage. Your paperback can be listed with Amazon and with the wholesalers that other retailers order from.

Bookshops

If you want to sell your book in NZ bookshops, start local. Independent bookshops are often willing to stock local authors, usually on consignment, where the shop pays you only for copies that sell. Every shop sets its own terms, so ask before you turn up with a box. Bring a one-page sheet with the ISBN, price, blurb, your local connection and any events you have planned. A book that's also listed with a wholesaler, with a normal trade discount, is far easier for a shop to order again.

Libraries

To get your book into NZ libraries, you need to understand how they buy. Most public libraries don't purchase directly from authors. They buy through contracted library suppliers. Palmerston North City Library, for example, points self-published authors to Wheelers, a supplier to libraries and schools in New Zealand and Australia, which lists self-published titles and takes a percentage of each sale. Not every library uses the same supplier, so it's still worth contacting your local library directly.

Ebooks and audiobooks reach libraries through lending platforms such as Libby (OverDrive) and BorrowBox, which many NZ and Australian readers use to borrow.

Get paid for library copies: the Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors makes payments to NZ-resident authors based on how many copies of their books NZ libraries hold. Self-published books qualify. You must register each year between 1 January and 1 March, and the scheme currently covers print books only, with minimum page counts and a minimum number of library copies. Check the current criteria on the National Library website.

Step 6: NZ Legal Deposit

Once your book is published, the law requires you to send copies to the National Library of New Zealand. This is legal deposit, and it applies to self-publishers just as it does to big publishing houses. Using an overseas platform such as KDP doesn't get you out of it. If you're the publisher, it's your job.

Print books: two copies, at your own expense including postage, within 20 working days of first publication.
Small print runs: one copy is enough if you produced fewer than 100.
Ebooks: one copy of the digital file, sent with a legal deposit form. The Library prefers EPUB, and the file must be free of DRM.

Deposited books are kept permanently as part of New Zealand's documentary heritage.

GST And Your Book Sales (Keep It Simple)

This isn't tax advice, but here's the general picture. Book sales are income. Once your taxable turnover passes the GST threshold set by Inland Revenue, over any 12-month period, you have to register for GST. Below the threshold, registering is optional. Royalties from overseas stores, speaking fees and other self-employed income may count towards it too.

Keep records from your first sale: what you sold, where, and what you spent on production. If you're unsure how your situation works, ird.govt.nz has plain-English guides, and a quick chat with an accountant is money well spent.

Shipping Books Between Australia And New Zealand

Freight across the Tasman can quietly eat your margin. A few things help:

Print close to your readers. If most of your readers are in New Zealand, print there or use a POD service that can supply the NZ market, rather than shipping every copy from Australia. You can list the book worldwide and still set up regional printing so buyers aren't paying international freight.
Watch consignment size. NZ Customs generally doesn't collect duty or GST on low-value consignments, but larger consignments are assessed, and separate parcels arriving together can be added up. Since 1 April 2026, a Low-Value Goods Levy also applies to low-value goods crossing the border as freight. Check customs.govt.nz before bringing in a bulk shipment.
Plan your launch stock early. A pallet from an offshore printer takes weeks, not days. Order copies for your launch with time to spare.
Limit territories if it suits you. If the book is very local, a family history or a regional guide for example, you can publish for the New Zealand and Australian markets only.

Doing It Yourself Or Using A Trans-Tasman Team

You can absolutely publish a book in NZ on your own. Plenty of authors do, hiring an editor here and a designer there, then learning each platform's file specs and dashboards. It takes time, and you become the project manager.

The other option is to hire one team to run the whole project. If you compare book publishing services in NZ and Australia, ask every provider the same question: who owns the book afterwards? With us, the answer is always you.

Tasman Publishers is an author services company based in Adelaide, and the name comes from the sea between the two countries we work across. Our team includes Australian and New Zealand editors, designers and production specialists, and our authors are in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as Australian cities. Here's what that means for a Kiwi author:

We register your free NZ ISBNs with the National Library at no extra charge, in your name.
We handle legal deposit, so the National Library gets its copies on time.
We set up retail and library distribution, including Libby, OverDrive and BorrowBox.
Quotes are fixed and itemised, in AUD, with an NZD estimate on request.
You keep your copyright and 100% of your royalties. Retailers pay you directly.

Most of the work happens by email and video call, and files are delivered digitally, so the distance rarely matters. Adelaide is two and a half hours behind New Zealand, so a morning email from Auckland lands at the start of our working day.

The cost of a project depends on your manuscript's length, how much editing it needs, the formats you want, any illustrations, your print run and how quickly you need it. See how a full project fits together on our book publishing page, read what drives the price on our publishing costs page, or send us the details for a free, fixed quote. We reply within eight business hours.

Self-Publishing In NZ: Questions

Are ISBNs really free in New Zealand?

Yes. The National Library of New Zealand issues ISBNs free of charge to publishers located in New Zealand, and that includes authors publishing their own books. You apply online, one ISBN per format, and the Library says it aims to supply the number within three working days. If we handle your publishing, we do the registration for you at no extra charge.

Do I have to send my self-published book to the National Library?

Yes. Legal deposit applies to self-publishers as well as publishing houses. For a physical book, you send two copies within 20 working days of publication, at your own cost, or one copy if you printed fewer than 100. For an ebook, you send one copy of the file with a legal deposit form.

Can a New Zealand author use an Australian publishing services company?

Yes. Editing, design and formatting are done digitally, so the distance makes little difference. What matters is that the team knows the NZ process: free National Library ISBNs, NZ legal deposit, local library suppliers and freight across the Tasman. Tasman Publishers works with authors in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and across NZ, with quotes in AUD and NZD estimates on request.

Do I need to register for GST to sell my book in New Zealand?

Only once your sales and other taxable income pass the threshold Inland Revenue sets, measured over any 12-month period. Below that, registration is voluntary. Book sales count towards your turnover, so keep records from day one and check the current rules at ird.govt.nz or with your accountant.

Can I get paid when NZ libraries hold my book?

Possibly. The Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors pays NZ-resident authors based on how many copies of their books are held in NZ libraries, and self-published books qualify. You register each year between 1 January and 1 March, and the scheme currently covers print books only, with minimum page counts and a minimum number of library copies.