Author guide
Short answer: yes — when you self-publish, you keep the rights to your book. You wrote it, you own the copyright, and self-publishing does not change that. What varies between routes is narrower and more important: the licence you grant to sell it, and how easily you can walk away.
Yes — you keep the copyright to a book you self-publish. You own it from the moment you write it, and no reputable self-publishing or rev-share route takes it off you. What to read carefully is the licence you grant to sell the book — how exclusive it is, and how cleanly you can leave.
That is the real question behind "do I keep the rights?", and it is where authors get caught out. Here is the honest version for the UK.
Two different things get bundled together under the word "rights":
A traditional publishing contract typically takes an exclusive licence for a long term. Pure DIY on KDP leaves everything with you — but leaves all the work with you too. The routes worth scrutinising most are the ones in between, which brings us to the question everyone is really asking.
It can be, but the terms are everything — not all rev-share is equal. Confirm you keep copyright, that you can exit cleanly, that nothing is at risk upfront, and that it is all in writing. If a publisher won't answer those plainly, that is your answer.
If you have researched publishing routes recently, you have probably seen the warning signs about rev-share, and they are fair. In 2025 the crowdfunding publisher Unbound collapsed owing authors a reported £657,000, and the rights to 350+ of its books were sold on to a successor for £50,000 — with historic royalties that authors may never see (Plagiarism Today and Wikipedia). It is exactly the right thing to be wary of. So the honest question is not "is rev-share good or bad" — it is "what happens to my book, my rights and my money if this arrangement goes wrong?" Any rev-share publisher worth trusting should answer that plainly, in writing, before you sign anything.
Here is how to pressure-test any rev-share offer:
We built FossPress so the rights/risk answer is a strength, not something to bury:
That is the difference between a publisher that owns your book and a launchpad that launches it. We only do well when you do.
One honest caveat, because this page is about honesty: FossPress launches your book hard, but no publisher can promise a book will sell. What we can promise is the terms above — your copyright stays yours, nothing is invoiced upfront, and we only earn when the book does.
See how the FossPress launchpad works →
Yes. You own the copyright to your book from the moment you write it, and self-publishing does not change that. What varies by route is the licence you grant to sell it - how exclusive it is and how easily you can leave. With FossPress you keep your copyright and all non-book rights; we hold the exclusive book-publishing rights for the term and hand them back on 30 days' notice.
It can be - but check the terms, because not all rev-share is equal. The 2025 collapse of Unbound (which left authors owed a reported £657k) is the cautionary tale. Before signing any rev-share deal, confirm you keep copyright, that you can exit cleanly, that nothing is at risk upfront, and that it's all in writing. FossPress is £0 upfront, so you have no fee at stake, and the rights you keep are set out in the agreement.
Not with a launchpad model. Traditional publishers usually take an exclusive licence and creative control; FossPress leaves the rights and the control with you and runs the launch on your behalf. You keep writing; we run the channels.
This is the exact risk the Unbound collapse exposed, and it's why £0-upfront matters: if you've paid nothing, you have no fee to lose, and because your copyright never moves, you can take your book elsewhere once the rights revert. Always confirm in writing, before you commit, that your copyright stays yours and that you can exit.
Related: how to publish a children's book in the UK · how much it costs to publish a children's book · self-publishing vs traditional publishing. Or see more author guides.
Prefer proof to promises? See a real book we published, and exactly what we did.
