Rocket picks the keywords. SelfPub Go prices them.
Publisher Rocket and SelfPub Go solve different halves of the job: Rocket helps you choose keywords and categories before the book is live; SelfPub Go tracks what your ads cost and what your books earn once it is. Nobody has to lose that argument — plenty of authors run both, and that is the honest recommendation.
Every claim about Publisher Rocket on this page comes from Publisher Rocket's own pages, read on 21 August 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
A research tool that has been at this a long time.
Its homepage claims “117,000+ Serious Authors” — its own published figure, not an audited one. Here is what its pages describe, in its words.
A pricing model a subscription cannot argue with
Publisher Rocket is a one-time purchase — $199 as of August 2026, with lifetime access, free updates and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Its own site adds: “Act NOW before it becomes an annual subscription!” For an author with one or two titles, that is a strong argument and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Keyword and category research done properly
Choosing keywords, sizing categories and studying competing titles before a book goes on sale is the job Publisher Rocket is built around, and it is a real job. See its own pages for the current feature list — we only publish what we have read and dated ourselves.
Real desktop software, not a browser extension
Publisher Rocket is downloadable software for Windows, macOS and Chromebook. Its support page states: “since it is not a web-based app, it will not work on iPads, tablets, or smartphones.” Software you install is a design decision we happen to agree with.
Keyword lists aimed straight at your ads
Its own tutorial describes the Amazon Ads feature as keyword work: it “will help those doing AMS book advertisements find more effective keywords, more efficiently.” That is a genuine head start for a campaign build.
Research stops at the launch button.
These are not defects. They are the boundary of what a pre-publication tool sets out to do, described using Publisher Rocket's own wording.
It does not track what you earn
Publisher Rocket is a pre-publication research tool, not an earnings tracker. On 21 August 2026, its homepage, download, support, tutorials, updates and checkout pages contained no mention of royalties, KENP or Kindle Unlimited. The question “am I profitable on this title” is not one it sets out to answer.
It hands you keywords; Amazon still runs the campaign
Publisher Rocket's Amazon Ads feature generates keyword lists for AMS campaigns — in its own words, it “will help those doing AMS book advertisements find more effective keywords, more efficiently.” Running the campaigns stays in Amazon's own advertising console.
Desktop only, and only on computers
Publisher Rocket is downloadable software for Windows, macOS and Chromebook. Its support page states: “since it is not a web-based app, it will not work on iPads, tablets, or smartphones.”
Where its numbers come from is not published
On the pages we checked on 21 August 2026 we found no explanation of how Rocket obtains its keyword, search-volume and competitor-sales data. Third-party reviews guess; a guess is not a fact, so we record this as unknown rather than describe a method we have not seen documented.
The half that starts on launch day.
It starts where research finishes
Rocket answers “which keywords and category should this book take”. SelfPub Go answers “what did those keywords cost this week, and what did the book pay back”. The handover point is the day the campaign goes live.
Royalty and page reads, not just clicks
SelfPub Go reads your KDP royalty reports and folds KENP page reads into profit per book, so a campaign is judged on the money that reaches you rather than on impressions.
Campaigns managed in one table
Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display in a single grid, connected through Amazon's official Advertising API. Bid changes and negative keywords arrive as proposals and are applied only when you approve them.
A subscription to an ongoing process
Rocket's one-time price fits a one-time job. Watching daily spend against daily royalty is not a one-time job — which is the honest reason the two are priced differently, rather than one being cheaper than the other.
The comparison, with the gaps left visible.
Where Publisher Rocket does not publish an answer, this table says unknown rather than filling the space with an assumption.
| Dimension | Publisher Rocket | SelfPub Go |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Keyword and category research before the book is live; AMS keyword lists | Ad spend and royalty once the book is live |
| Royalties, KENP, Kindle Unlimited | No mention on the six pages checked on 21 August 2026 | The centre of the product |
| Amazon Ads role | Generates keyword lists — “find more effective keywords, more efficiently” | Sponsored Products, Brands and Display managed in one table |
| Where campaigns are actually run | Amazon's own advertising console | Inside SelfPub Go, with every change awaiting your approval |
| Platform | Windows, macOS, Chromebook — “it will not work on iPads, tablets, or smartphones” | Desktop app for macOS and Windows |
| Commercial model (as of August 2026) | One-time $199, lifetime access, free updates, 30-day money-back guarantee | Not published — SelfPub Go is in closed early access |
| How the data is obtained | unknown — not disclosed by the vendor | Amazon's official Advertising API, plus your own KDP royalty reports |
Before the launch, or after it.
Reach for Publisher Rocket
The book is not out yet, or the listing needs work: you are choosing categories, filling KDP keyword slots, sizing up competing titles, and assembling the first keyword list for an AMS campaign.
Reach for SelfPub Go
The campaigns are running and the spend is real. You need ACOS scored against your royalty, page reads counted, and the losing titles named before the month closes.
Running both is normal
Publisher Rocket and SelfPub Go solve different halves of the job: Rocket helps you choose keywords and categories before the book is live; SelfPub Go tracks what your ads cost and what your books earn once it is. Positioning head-on against Rocket would simply be inaccurate.
Publisher Rocket and SelfPub Go, answered.
Does SelfPub Go replace Publisher Rocket?
No. Rocket's work happens before a campaign exists — keywords, categories, competitor research. SelfPub Go's work starts once money is moving through campaigns and royalties are landing. If you use Rocket to build a keyword list, SelfPub Go is where you find out which of those keywords deserved the budget.
Can Publisher Rocket show me my royalties or KENP?
Not that we can find. On 21 August 2026 we checked its homepage, download, support, tutorials, updates and checkout pages and found no mention of royalties, KENP or Kindle Unlimited. It is a research tool, and it does not present itself as an earnings tracker.
Rocket is a one-time $199 payment. Why would I pay a subscription instead?
For the job Rocket does, a one-time payment makes sense — research is something you do in bursts. Watching daily ad spend against daily royalty is continuous work against data that changes every day, which is a different kind of product with different running costs. If you only need the research half, Rocket's model is the better deal and we will say so.
Can I import Rocket's keywords into SelfPub Go?
Campaign and keyword data in SelfPub Go comes from your Amazon Ads account through Amazon's official Advertising API, so anything you have launched from a Rocket-built list will appear there with its own spend and performance. There is no direct Rocket-to-SelfPub Go connector, and neither product advertises one.
How current are the facts on this page?
Every statement about Publisher Rocket here was read from Publisher Rocket's own pages on 21 August 2026, and each source is linked below. Prices and features change without notice, so this page is scheduled for re-verification by 21 November 2026. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
Every statement about Publisher Rocket on this page was read from Publisher Rocket's own public pages on 21 August 2026 and is quoted or closely paraphrased from them, never taken from a third-party review. Where the vendor publishes nothing, this page says unknown. The $199 price is their published figure as of August 2026 and their site warns it may become a subscription. Scheduled for re-verification by 21 November 2026. Something here out of date or unfair? Tell us and we will correct or remove it.
Publisher Rocket is not affiliated with SelfPub Go. Product names and quotations belong to their owners and are used here for identification and comparison.