List of self-publishing companies

The following lists are of notable self-publishing companies, and some which provide assistance in self-publishing books, provide print on demand services as publishers, operate as vanity presses, or custom print merchandise and on products.

Self-publishing and vanity publishing are different business models. And vanity presses are different from book packagers, book shepherds, or those offering a la carte publishing services for a fee but who do not charge you to publish your book. [1] A self-published author employs a printer (publishing) to operate a press, but retains ownership of copyrights, ISBN's, the finished books and their distribution.[2] A vanity press or subsidy publisher retains some of the rights,[3] usually including ownership of the print run and control over distribution, while the author bears much or all of the financial risk.[4]

Both models share a common characteristic of shifting risk and primary editorial control to the author; both encounter the same issues of lax editorial control when the author does not do all of the editorial and production functions well. The vanity press model almost always charges too much, delivers too little, all with low quality and tries to sell unneeded and useless services at high profit margins.

This differs from the conventional model (royalty publishing) in which a publisher pays an author an advance to create content, then assumes full control of the project and any commercial risk if a tome sells poorly. Also excluded is sponsored publishing, where a company pays an author to write a book on its behalf (for instance, a food manufacturer marketing a cookbook written by outsiders or a hobby materials supplier publishing a book of blueprints).[5]

These lists includes only some publishers; it is not a complete list of all existing self publishers nor vanity publishers.

Self-publishing companies
Main article: Self-publishing

Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author without the involvement of an established publisher. In common parlance, the term usually refers to physical written media, such as books and magazines, or digital media, such as e-books and websites. It can also apply to albums, pamphlets, brochures, video content, zines, or uploading images to a website.

Self-publishing e-book platforms
Main article: Self-publishing § Publishing platforms

E-book digital distribution platforms

E-book digital distribution platforms

Active

Discontinued

Vanity publishing books
Main article: Vanity press

A vanity press, vanity publisher, or subsidy publisher is a publishing house in which authors pay to have their books published.

Main article: Print on demand

Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of singular or small quantities.

Self-printing products and custom merchandise

See also

References
  1. Mark Levine. The Fine Print of Self-Publishing. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  2. April Hamilton. The Indie Author Guide: Self-Publishing Strategies Anyone Can Use. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  3. Irina Webster, William Webster. How to Become a Successful Author:: 34 Steps to Self-Publishing. Australian Self-publishing Group. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  4. Dan Poynter, Danny O. Snow. U-Publish.com 4.0: A 'Living Book' to Help You Compete With the Giants. Unlimited Publishing LLC, Dan Poynter, Danny O. Snow. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  5. Marilyn M. Moore (2012-06-17). The Self-Published Cook: How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Own Cookbook. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
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