There are a lot of companies out there advertising their services to self-publishing authors. Some of them are reputable but many of them are amour propre presses looking to take advantage of aspiring authors .
In this article, we ’ ll guide you through the 17 best self-publishing companies in the industry to see which ones you might want to work with — depending on the script you ’ ve written .
Ebook Distributors
The beauty of ebook publish is that any writer can upload and launch their books without any outside assistant. broadly speaking you can take two approaches to this procedure :
- Sell directly through book retailers, such as Amazon and B&N Press. These are online bookstores where your book can be discovered and sold. Big book retailers generally provide a branded ebook publishing platform for you to individually upload your book.
- Use an aggregator, such as Draft2Digital and Smashwords, to distribute to a bunch of book retailers all at once. This will probably save you time and energy, though you’ll need to pay an extra fee for their services.
When you ’ re publishing an ebook, regardless of the overture, you ’ ll get to keep the leo ’ s contribution of the profits. Most retailers and aggregators will lone take a cut of the royalties once a imitate of your book is sold .
But what ’ sulfur best for your book will depend on your personal situation. thus, inaugural, we recommend taking this flying 1-minute quiz that will help point you towards the best self-publishing party for you .
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Which self-publishing company is right for you?
Find out here ! Takes one minute .
That said, if you want to get an overview of the ebook publication landscape then read on !
Let ‘s start with the four most big book retailers. Book retailers are the stores through which you ’ ll actually sell your koran to the public — which means that they ’ re pretty important a far as your self-publishing ambitions are concern ! Like we mentioned before, each retailer offers its own ebook publish platform for authors to upload their books. Where they differ is in the cut that they take of your royalties and their exclusivity programs .
1. Amazon KDP
? Pricing: release to upload
? Royalties: 70 % on ebooks priced between $ 2.99 and $ 9.99 OR 35 % if priced below $ 2.99
Amazon is the titan of on-line bookstores — accounting for 74 % of U.S. ebook sales in 2015 — it is the world ‘s biggest seller of digital volumes. It ‘s no wonder Amazon is much the foremost retailer authors consider to sell their titles .
Kindle Direct Publishing ( KDP ) is Amazon ’ s self-publishing platform ( not to be confused with “ Amazon Publishing “ — their class that operates like a traditional publisher ). Any generator can self-publish using KDP, though you ’ ll necessitate to do it manually yourself .
Note that Amazon KDP is not the same as Amazon KDP Select. KDP Select is Amazon ’ sulfur exclusivity program — meaning that, if you choose to enroll in it, you can merely sell your book on Amazon. In substitute for this, Amazon will give you :
- Access to Kindle Countdown Deals and free promotions. You can discount your book — and even set it to free on the Kindle store — for a certain period every 90 days. Learn more about the power of discounting (and the smart way to go about it) in this Reedsy Live.
- Enrollment in Kindle Unlimited. KU is Amazon’s subscription service for readers, which allows members to read as much as they want. It’s very popular and a good portion of Amazon customers only read titles from KU these days.
If you ’ ve researched these perks and decided that KDP Select is the route for you, then there ’ s no want to read the respite of this post, as you ’ ve basically agreed not to use any other self-publishing company ? alternatively, you can familiarize yourself with the KDP Select program with these resources :
2. Apple Books
? Pricing: free to upload
? Royalties: 70 % on most books
Another big name that everyone should know, Apple founded its self-publishing weapon in 2010. In 2012, Apple announced that 400 million books were downloaded on Apple Books ( though it ’ south important to note that the count of downloads differs from the number of books sold, as The Digital Reader clarifies in this post ). Though Amazon has far eclipsed it as the first ebook reading platform since then, Apple Books still gets a bazaar come of eyes .
While figuring out ways to monetize a book on Apple Books might be a challenge, it ’ second much easier to actually publish one. Using iBooks Author, self-publishing authors can quite well upload their titles onto Apple Books, all without having to pay a fee !
3. Barnes & Noble Press
? Pricing: dislodge to upload
? Royalties: 70 % on ebooks priced above $ 0.99
As you might expect, Barnes & Noble Press ( once known as NOOK Press ) is the self-publishing platform belonging to the big box bookseller. It has reasonably infamously struggled for commercialize share against Amazon. however, american samoa far as interfaces are concerned, B & N Press is easy to use — and, exchangeable to the other boastful retailers, it ’ mho free to upload your book. Exclusivity is not required to publish with B & N Press .
It ’ randomness significant to note that you can set your bible for dislodge on this platform. What ’ s more, Barnes & Noble is inactive working on innovating and adding new features for self-published writers. Just January 2021, B & N Press introduced an ad portal to help new authors to create marketing campaigns on the Barnes & Noble web site for their books. Check out this foliate for more data on self-publishing on B & N Press .
4. Rakuten Kobo
? Pricing: free to upload
? Royalties: 70 % on ebooks priced more than $ 2.99 in the U.S. OR 45 % for books priced below $ 2.99
Rakuten Kobo is the death big retailer that you should know. It ’ s a canadian company ( that ’ s a subordinate of the japanese e-commerce colossus Rakuten ) — as such, it ’ mho got a firm reach in the international ebook grocery store. Kobo is entirely the # 5 store in terms of market contribution in the U.S., though it ’ s growing year by year .
If you ‘re hoping to reach readers outside of the U.S., Kobo is a strong candidate. Kobo ‘s self-publishing arm, Kobo Writing Life, is dim-witted and free to use. It besides comes with several perks, including exclusive promotion opportunities, if you choose to distribute through Kobo and not an collector .
Speaking of aggregators… if you ’ re getting a migraine precisely thinking about uploading your book onto all of these different ledger retailers by yourself, then possibly aggregators are what you ’ re looking for .
Aggregators collect and manage all of these markets : pushing your reserve to each retailer and centralizing it all into one sales report. With a single upload to, say, Draft2Digital, your record would be on sale on Amazon, B & N Press, Apple Books, Kobo — and even smaller retailers .
then you ’ ll be able to track your sales across all of these retailers through the collector ’ second interface, receiving monthly royalty checks. In exchange for this service, an collector will take an extra cut of your royalties — which means that this route is for anyone who wants to quickly save on fourth dimension and doesn ’ metric ton mind paying excess .
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5. Draft2Digital
? Pricing: 10 % of the book ’ second retail price per copy sold
? Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play Books, Kobo, Playster, Tolino, OverDrive, Scribd, Bibliotheca — more information here
If you decide to use an collector, Draft2Digital is the matchless that we recommend at Reedsy. Why ’ mho that ? Lots of factors, including excellent customer corroborate, a user-friendly splashboard, and a streamlined web site design. not to mention the extra perks that D2D packs into the deal : they do the formatting for you. D2D besides :
- Gives authors Universal Book Links (UBL). As its name suggests, these UBLs make books discoverable by allowing authors to generate a link to each of their books, which goes straight to the customer’s preferred book retailer.
- Touts an “automated back matter” tool. This nifty service automatically adds your newly published ebook to the “Also by this author” section of any other book you’ve distributed via D2D.
Add the fact that it distributes to all of the major ebook stores, and you ’ ve pretty much got the whole package in Draft2Digital .
6. Smashwords
? Pricing: 15 % of the retail price on Smashwords and 10 % on other platforms per imitate sold
? Distributes to: Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, Kobo, Blio, the Smashwords store — more information here
The original collector, Smashwords was the undisputed king in town until Draft2Digial entered the picture. however, Smashwords is however very democratic today .
On a elementary side-by-side comparison, Smashwords and Draft2Digital offer exchangeable price structures and royalties. Where Smashwords falls short is in terms of its user experience — you need to do the formatting yourself on Smashwords, which decidedly isn ’ thyroxine a man of coat. Smashwords besides does not distribute books to Amazon. That said, outside of Amazon, it ’ south got a slenderly more extensive distribution network than Draft2Digital, therefore if you want to sell your book to smaller retailers, this might work. Kindlepreneur ‘s Dave Chesson wrote an in-depth assume on the differences between Smashwords and Draft2Digital, which you can read here .
7. PublishDrive
? Pricing: 10 % of the retail price per copy sold OR subscription price
? Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, OverDrive, Playster, Odilo, Bookmate — more information here
PublishDrive might be the new kid on the stuff, but it ’ s decidedly made the most of its prison term. Founded in 2015, it works with over 4,500 publishers and can now connect you to over 400 stores. It ’ s got all the workings of the other aggregators : a modern interface and even sales reports to keep you up-to-date on your profits. What sets PublishDrive apart from the pack are :
- PublishDrive’s subscription pricing options. If you just agree to pay $100 per month, you can keep all of your royalties, which might be a good fit for established authors.
- Its distribution options. Along with all of the major Western retailers, PublishDrive also specializes in international distribution, giving indie authors access to foreign markets that were previously out of reach.
8. StreetLib
? Pricing: 10 % of the retail price per copy sold
? Distributes to: Amazon, Google Play, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd, OverDrive, Indigo, Baker & Taylor — more information here
Another international distributor, StreetLib gives you even more options if you ’ rhenium aiming to reach an external hearing. It ’ randomness got a strong presence in Latin America and Europe, to the extent that its dashboard can be configured in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi — and more ! One early case in point for its international strength : in January 2019, it began offering its services for authors in Egypt.
Read more: 17 of the best feel-good books
primitively founded in Europe, StreetLib is surely big for international distribution, but if your plan is to include the U.S. and U.K. a well, it ‘s besides got your back. As of April 2019, it distributes books to all major western stores .
Free course: International book pricing
Selling your reserve in multiple countries ? Maximize your international profits with this 10-day on-line course. Get started now .
9. XinXii
? Pricing: 30 % of web sales for books priced more than $ 2.49 OR 60 % for works between below $ 2.48
? Distributes to: Amazon, Hugendubel, Angus & Robertson, Thalia, Buecher, Whitcoulls, Indigo, Kobo, Livraria Cultura, Kobo, Scribd — more information hera
XinXii international relations and security network ’ t actually taiwanese — it ’ s based in Berlin. ( Surprise ! ) As such, it offers authors alien distribution channels that might not be promptly available elsewhere. note that it ’ s got a peculiarly strong presence in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. however, its customer support could be found want, and its exploiter interface is a bit on the clunky side : trade-offs that the writer will need to make to conduct clientele with XinXii .
Author Services for Self-Publishing Authors
nowadays, if you haven ’ thyroxine grow as far in the publication serve as the actual print bite, and you ’ re hush concerned with the editing, design, and format of your book, then possibly the companies above preceptor ’ t quite match what you ’ rhenium looking for. thankfully, there ’ s one place where you can entree first endowment to take caution of all three — and you ’ re already there ? .
10. Reedsy
? Pricing: average costs here
?️Services: Editing, department of the interior design, cover design, illustrations, and more .
A marketplace for freelance publication professionals, Reedsy is where authors can connect with editors and designers with years of relevant feel in traditional publish. Each professional sets their own rate — you can get quotes from up to five of them a clock time and find the ones that best lawsuit your needs and budget .
In accession to the marketplace, Reedsy has a book formatting tool that allows any generator to promptly create a professional-grade ebook and print book charge — at no cost any .
Give your book the professional edge.
Over 2,000 of the best editors and designers are on Reedsy. Sign up to meet them today !
Learn how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book .
Print-on-Demand Services for Self-Publishing Authors
While most self-publishing authors will rely on the ebook market for most of their sales, that doesn ’ thymine mean they should overlook the print script. After all, there ’ s nothing quite like holding a beautifully designed paperback book in your hand ! And with print-on-demand technology that allows for copies to be produced only when they ’ re purchased, about any indie writer can put a paperback book up for sale — without breaking the savings bank .
If that sounds good to you, then here ’ s a quick spirit at some of the major players in POD .
11. KDP Print
? Pricing: Learn more here
? Distributes to: Amazon ( naturally ), others through Expanded Distribution .
once known as CreateSpace, Amazon ’ s own print-on-demand service has the benefit of sharing Kindle Direct Publishing ’ s chopine. Authors already selling ebooks on KDP can easily launch a print version by uploading a formatted PDF and cover design with a spinal column and a back. With KDP ’ south Expanded Distribution option, authors can sell to shops and libraries across the earth — though it ’ south authoritative to note many booksellers are inclined to order through Amazon .
12. IngramSpark
? Pricing: Learn more here
? Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Follett, EBSCO, Booktopia, Kobo, Zola Books, 24Symbols, Bookmate
IngramSpark, owned by Ingram, the biggest book jobber in the world. If your focus is on getting your bible into brick-and-mortar stores, it ’ s worth setting your script up with this party ( possibly in addition to KDP Print, which you can use to sell your reserve on Amazon ). For a promo code, read our IngramSpark review .
13. Blurb
? Pricing: Learn more here
? Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, the Blurb bookshop
Blurb is one of the most long-familiar and trusted print-on-demand services out there. We particularly recommend it for ocular works — such as magazines and photograph books. For an in-depth evaluation of its user-friendliness and pictures of the quality of its printed books, go to this review .
14. BookBaby
? Pricing: Learn more here
? Distributes to: Amazon, Google Play, Vearsa, Apple Books, Kobo, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Powell ’ s Books, Books-A-Million
Boasting an easy-to-use interface and authentic customer service, BookBaby is an choice for many first-time self-publishing authors. To learn more about BookBaby, go to this review .
Marketing Services for Self-Publishing Authors
Getting your book published is alone half the battle, of course. You ’ ve created a fantastic ledger and launched it on the world ’ sulfur biggest retailer platforms — but you still need to find a manner to make people buy it. To help your book reach its likely, there are few companies you can turn to for aid .
15. Reedsy Discovery
? Pricing: $50
Reedsy Discovery helps thousands of self-publishing authors get the boost they need every month. When you submit your book, you get an column reappraisal in time for your plunge date — angstrom well as a luck to be featured in our weekly newsletter, sent out to over 200,000 eager readers .
In addition to reviews, Reedsy ’ second market has dozens of experienced book marketers who can help you optimize your book ’ sulfur intersection page, plan an ad crusade, and perfect your e-mail commercialize scheme .
16. BookBub
? Pricing: Varies among genres
possibly the single biggest promotional platform in publish, BookBub offers self-publishing authors a herculean manner to publicize their deduction deals. Through BookBub ’ second Featured Deals and self-serve ads, an generator can tap into their subscriber-base and access devoted fans of about any music genre .
however, these days, it ’ randomness fabulously hard for self-publishing authors to secure one of their have deals. thankfully, BookBub has more than a little competition .
17. Written Word Media
? Pricing: Varies between platforms
With a range of platforms catering to dislodge and discounted books ( the most outstanding of which is their newsletters ), Written Word Media provides authors with another way to connect with thousands of readers. together with FreeBooksy and BargainBooksy ( which promote rid and bargain books, naturally ), WMM has other sites devoted to steamy romances, new releases, and even audiobooks .
And if that isn ’ thymine enough, you can find more services over on Reedsy ’ s directory of book promotion sites .
Whichever options you choose, understand that it may take a bit of trial and error until you realize your perfect self-publishing system. There ‘s no right or wrong way to go about it — which is all a contribution of learning how to self-publish a book in the first put .
