Managing Titles

Learn how to create and manage your book catalog in Pubblish.

What is a Title?

In Pubblish, a Title represents a distinct intellectual work - a book. A single title can have multiple editions (paperback, hardcover, ebook, audiobook), but they all share the same core content and metadata.

Creating a Title

Basic Information

Every title needs:

  • Title - The main title of the work
  • Subtitle (optional) - Additional descriptive text

A URL-friendly slug is automatically generated from your title.

Example: - Title: “The Great Gatsby” - Subtitle: “A Novel”

Sorting and Display

Sort Title is automatically generated but can be customized: - “The Great Gatsby” becomes “Great Gatsby, The” - “A Tale of Two Cities” becomes “Tale of Two Cities, A”

This ensures proper alphabetical sorting in catalogs.

Contributors

Contributors are the people who created the work.

Adding Contributors

  1. In the Contributors section, pick a contributor from the Contributor dropdown. It searches your existing contributors by pen name. Type a name it does not hold and it offers to create one — which makes both a Person and a Contributor.
  2. Choose their Role. Eight roles come with Pubblish:
  3. Author - Primary creator
  4. Editor - Content editor
  5. Illustrator - Visual artist
  6. Translator - Language translator
  7. Narrator - Audiobook performer
  8. Photographer - Photography credit
  9. Foreword by - Wrote the foreword
  10. Introduction by - Wrote the introduction Type a role that is not on the list and the dropdown offers to add it for your workspace. It is then available on every title.
  11. Order contributors with the up and down arrows under the Order label. The arrows work once the row is saved.

Contributors vs People

People and Contributors are related but separate concepts:

  • Person - The real human being (legal entity) with legal name, address, payment details
  • Contributor - A public persona (pen name, biography, author brand)

One person can have multiple contributor personas. For example, “J.K. Rowling” and “Robert Galbraith” are two contributors linked to one person.

See People & Contributors for more details.

Editions

A title can have multiple editions - different physical or digital formats.

Formats

  • Paperback - Trade paperback edition
  • Hardcover - Hardback/clothbound edition
  • Ebook - Digital edition
  • Audiobook - Audio narration
  • Board Book - Children’s board book
  • Map - Printed map

Large Print is not a format. It’s a checkbox on the edition, and it appears once the Format is Paperback or Hardcover.

Creating an Edition

  1. On the title page, open the Editions tab
  2. Use the Quick Add row at the top: choose the Format, enter the Identifier, optionally add a Pub Date, then click Quick Add. The Identifier is required — an ISBN-13, an ISBN-10 or an ASIN. Leave it empty and Pubblish answers “Identifier is required.” To create an edition with no identifier yet, use the Full Edition Form instead
  3. Open the new edition to fill in the rest of its details

A Full Edition Form button is also offered — in the empty state before the first edition, and below the table once editions exist. Use it when you want every field rather than the Quick Add three. See Editions for everything an edition can hold.

Edition-Specific Details

Each edition can have its own: - ISBN (each format needs its own) - Publication date (formats may release at different times) - Physical specifications (for print editions)

Copyrights

Manage copyright notices for your title.

  1. In the Copyrights section, click Add Copyright
  2. Fill in:
  3. Copyright Holder 1 - Who owns this copyright. Each row is numbered, so the second is Copyright Holder 2
  4. Work Title - Only if this copyright covers a work under a different name from the title
  5. Year - Copyright year (e.g., 2024)
  6. Description - What this copyright covers (optional)

Multiple Copyrights

Some books have multiple copyrights:

Example: 1. “© 2024 Jane Author” (text) 2. “© 2024 John Artist” (illustrations)

Keywords

Add custom keywords to improve discoverability. Most retailers only use the first 7, so put your best terms first. Think about: - Genre terms readers might search - Themes and topics - Comparable titles or “readers who liked X”

Don’t repeat words from your title - these are additional search terms.

Subject Classifications

Pubblish supports industry-standard subject classification:

  • BISAC Codes - Book Industry Standards and Communications codes (used in North America). Up to 5 are saved
  • Thema Codes - International subject classification standard. Up to 4 are saved
  • Thema Qualifiers - optional refinements to your Thema codes, covering place, language and time period

You can shortlist more than the cap while you decide; only the codes above the line are saved, and a note tells you which will be dropped. See Subjects & Keywords for how to use each picker, and the Metadata Guide for more on subject classification.

Target Audience and Content Warnings

Set who the book is for in the Target Audience section: pick from the Target audience list, which has twelve options from young children through to adult.

What you pick reveals extra fields in the same section:

  • Children / Juvenile — From age and To age fields appear.
  • Young Adult / Teen — the age fields appear too, pre-filled with 13 to 18. Change the range if it’s wrong. A checkbox labeled Contains sensitive content requiring reader discretion also appears. Tick it to reveal a list of sensitive content warnings to select.
  • Adult / Trade / General — a checkbox labeled Contains adult-only content, sexually explicit or age-restricted material appears. Tick it to reveal a list of content warnings to select.

Other audience choices show no warning controls. Whenever a title carries an age range — Children as well as Young Adult — Pubblish exports it in your ONIX metadata as the audience range. These flags help retailers categorize your book appropriately.

Best Practices

Title Entry

Do: - Use the exact title as it appears on the cover - Include subtitle if it’s part of the cover design

Don’t: - Add series information to the title (use Series feature instead) - Include edition info in the title (“Paperback Edition”)

Metadata Quality

Do: - Choose specific BISAC/Thema codes (not broad categories) - Add relevant keywords readers would search for - Include all contributors with proper roles

Don’t: - Choose subject codes just because they’re popular - Keyword-stuff or use irrelevant terms - Forget to credit editors, translators, illustrators

Edition Management

Do: - Create separate editions for each format - Use proper ISBNs for each edition

Don’t: - Use the same ISBN for multiple formats - Create separate titles for different editions of the same work