Upload publications

In this article, we'll show you how to manually upload publications to your store.

• Accepted formats are PDF, EPUB, and/or MP3 (Audiobook, Podcast, etc.)

• Maximum file size is 320 MB

1. Go to Dashboard → Content → My inventory or Dashboard → Publications

2. Click Upload. A window like this will open:

3. Select the format of what you're about to publish (E-book or Audiobook). Upload your file PDF, EPUB, or MP3, by dragging it into the box or clicking on it and choosing the file from your computer.

Recommendation for PDF files:

• If you're uploading a PDF file, check out this link for some recommendations to provide the best reading experience.

Recommendation for EPUB files:

• To avoid decoding errors in the reader, it's recommended that fonts are not encrypted.

• We suggest using EPUB version 3.

4. Fill in the product information with the details you want your publication to have, including its metadata. The only required field is the title.

5. Once you've completed the fields, click Publish and wait a few minutes for your publication to finish processing.

Some clarifications about the fields:

Product information:

• Name: Required. This is the title of your publication.
• Genre: Based on BISAC codes. This is a category that indicates the subject matter of your content and helps your users find it easily. You can choose up to 4 genres for each publication, such as art, fiction, history, etc.
• Description: Add a description of your publication to hook your readers — it will be shown on the book page when they click Acquire. You can include links, Markdown code, HTML code, and more.

The rest of the taxonomies where you'll enter your metadata can be used both to set up shelves and to create filters in your store. Another option is to use the menu instead of filters for content search in the store.

👉 See tutorial on how to create custom categories

Identifiers

• External ID or ISBN: a unique identifier for your publication, or the unique identification code for books.
• Collections: these allow you to later create subscription plans or shelves. Adding any alphanumeric character will create a collection.

For example: if you assign the collection "Premium Access" to some publications and "General Access" to all others, you'll then be able to set up two plans — one for the general public and one for users who subscribe to a Premium plan.

👉 See tutorial on collections.

• Keywords: Add keywords so your readers can quickly find the publication. When your users use the search bar in the main section, the publication will appear among the results.

Pricing:

Set the price for your publication in up to two currencies.

• Offer for free: when you select this option, the publication will be offered to the public at no cost. This is a great tool to attract new users that you can later convert into subscribers. You can change this option at any time, and once you do, free access will no longer be available. The number of free publications you can have depends on your current plan. (Check plan features here)

• Require login: decide whether you want to require users to register in your store before accessing your free content (to capture their data), or whether they can access it freely (for example, when sharing it in an email campaign with direct and simple access for the reader).

• Free until: schedule the date when the content will stop being free, so you don't have to remember to change it manually. This option is ideal for launch or marketing campaigns.

Preview:

Enable this option if you want to allow your readers to access a preview of your content, which will default to 10%.

You can also choose whether to require login for users to access the preview.

The percentage available in the preview can be modified from Dashboard → Settings → Advanced → Preview time. Keep in mind that the change will apply to all publications of the same format.

Subscribers only

Select this option if you want a title to be available for purchase only to users who have an active plan in your store.

Non-subscribers will see a "Subscribe" message instead of the purchase buttons. Those who have access to the publication because it is included in their plan will be able to access it directly. While those with a subscription that does not include the publication in their plan will see the sale price to purchase it.

Use cases

• Exclusive titles reserved for plan subscribers as a membership benefit.
• Catalogs where subscription is the only distribution channel.
• Differentiating the value of the subscription tier from marketplace or retail offerings.

General information:

You can add any metadata fields or custom categories you need. None of these fields are required — use only the ones that apply to you. By default, we include:

• Release date: the date corresponding to the edition or publication. By default, if you don't specify a date, the system will use the date and time when you upload the file to the platform (based on your store's timezone).

→ If you enter a future date and time, the title will only become available to users from that moment onward, but you'll be able to see and work on it from the Dashboard.

→ You can also use it to sort your publications internally in any order you want within shelves.

• Language: choose the language of your publication.

• Audience: indicate which audience the publication is intended for. You can choose between Children, Young Adult, or Adult.

• Categories
• Authors
• Countries
• Publishers
• New releases

Private material:

Here you can add supplementary material that will only be visible to users who have access to that publication. For example, a link to a video or song, additional text, an embedded video, downloadable exercise materials, etc. You'll first need to enable this feature — here we'll show you how.

Geographic restrictions:

If your product has no geographic restrictions for distribution, you can select Available worldwide. Otherwise, you can specify restrictions by inclusion or exclusion by filling in the fields:

• Countries to include
• Countries to exclude

Related formats:

This feature lets you link the different formats you offer for the same book. You can find more information in this guide.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• Why does my PDF get stuck in the Processing stage?

• To improve your search engine rankings, make sure to fill in all metadata when uploading your content: author, publication date, and description. It's also important to include keywords in the description that your users might search for on Google or other search engines.

We hope this guide was helpful. If you have any questions, reach out to us at support@publica.la.

Updated on: 03/06/2026