Are you thinking to self-publish your book but are not totally sure which publisher to choose? We have listed 5 most popular publishers and provided a brief description of each one:
CreateSpace
CreateSpace was acquired by Amazon in 2005. CreateSpace enables authors to publish e-books for Kindle, as well as hard copied for Amazon. CreateSpace also offers distribution for additional fees. It is free to create e-book for Kindle on CreateSpace. For a 300-pages book, it would cost around $4.5 to use their printing-on-demand service. If the same book is placed on Amazon.com for $15, you can expect to make around $5 of royalty per book sale.
Blurb
Blurb enables authors to create books with colorful images and complex designs. Once you have created a book, you can choose to make it “public” or “private”. If made public, your book can be sold on the blurb. They also allow you to add meta tags like title, description, and so on to make your book search friendly. Depending on the size, hardcover books cost from $3.95 to $49.95 per copy when printing on demand. One of the biggest advantages of Blurb over other publishers is their SmartBook software that helps you create a nice layout.
Booktango
Booktango was established not long ago. They only work with e-books. It is free to publish and distribute, but they charge from $50 to $400 for additional services including editing, marketing and design work. Books can be marketed through their website, but also can be sold on Amazon and other places. The advantage of Booktango is that the author receives all the sales revenue.
Lulu
Founded in 2002, this website offers e-books and printed books. For an average size book, authors usually pay around $8.50 per printed copy. E-books are free of charge. Lulu also offers e-book distribution to iBookstore, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Amazon and Lulu market place. One of the advantages of Lulu is working with groups. This allows you to sell your book with other similar books in a group storefront. Group members share a group blog, forum, and find like-minded individuals for future collaboration efforts.
Xlibris
Xlibris was founded in 1997 and is one of the first self-publishing services in the industry. You start by contacting one of their managers. They help you in picking their right package that suits your needs. They also design your book, and send it to you for approval. Following your approval, they print your book. You need to do the marketing afterwards. One of the advantages of Xlibris is the possibility of getting free consultation. At the end, it is really up to you to pick your favorite publishers. Our favorite one is CreateSpace as it has proved to be very reliable. With the possibility of publishing your book on Kindle with millions of readers, CreateSpace outranks all other publishers.
Author: Christian Lingua