Karen Stanley working at her desk of Mabel and Stanley Publishing By Karen Stanley | Mabel and Stanley Publishing If you're a writer, you'll know NaNoWriMo... National Novel Writing Month, the November challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It was a brilliant idea. But the organisation behind it closed in 2025, and a lot of writers lost the November community and accountability they'd come to rely on. So I've created something instead. And honestly? I think it suits how most writers...

Trudi Smith - Mabel and Stanley Author "Can I self-publish my book myself... without paying someone thousands of pounds to do it for me?" It's a popular question... And the honest answer is YES. Absolutely yes. And also... it depends! So what do I mean by "it depends"? Let me explain... What does it mean to self-publish a book in the UK? When most people talk about self-publishing, they mean publishing directly through Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), without a traditional or hybrid...

By Karen Stanley | Mabel and Stanley Publishing Let me be honest with you upfront: Amazon KDP is brilliant, genuinely accessible, and entirely free to use. It is also, at times, glitchy, confusing, and the kind of platform that will have you staring at the screen wondering what on earth you just clicked. I've published 15 books of my own, the majority through KDP, and helped 80+ authors do the same. I still think it's brilliant, but I also know that, in the early days, it caused me more than...