The Most Popular Self-Publishing Services

The Most Popular Self-Publishing ServicesThe Most Popular Self-Publishing ServicesYouve done your self-publishing research and read the self-publishing success stories- and now youd like to know more about your options. Heres a handy overview of some of the most popular self-publishing tafelgeschirrs. Each has its pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, and proprietary features. Blurb High-Quality Designed Illustrated Self-Published BooksBlurb offers print-on-demand services and seems especially suitable for highly visual, bookstore quality books. As a testament to Blurbs popularity for visual artists, it was the service of choice for photojournalist Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post - he used Blurb to print his Pulitzer-Prize winning collection of photos of Ian Fisher, a young soldier sent to Iraq. Blurb also has a collaboration with Adobe Systems, featuring built-in Blurb bookmaking functionality within Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. This feature makes the process of book cre ation turnkey for those photographers and visual artists already using and/or conversant with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. BookBaby Got Its Start In An Indie Music CompanyBookBaby seems friendly and accessible and offers up a number of free marketing resources, along with a friendly blog that dispenses regular advice. CreateSpace Amazon.coms Paperback Self-Publishing ServiceThrough CreateSpace, self-publishing authors can set up a basic book with no initial costs and get seamless access to its parent company, Amazon.coms, powerful book distribution and merchandising channel. CreateSpace claims to offer some of the highest royalties in the industry, as well as an easy ebook conversion through its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) electronic publishing program (see below). iUniverse iUniverse Guided Self-Publishing from an Author Solutions companyiUniverse uses the term guided self-publishing to describe its robust range of DIY publishing services, which are laid out much the same wa y as in a traditional publisher- at a la carte and package prices. If you want to see your book available both in print and in ebook formats, represented in stores and maybe even in the mediaand are willing to pay for the privilegeconsider iUniverse. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Self-Publishing eBooks with Amazons KDPKindle Direct Publishing offers ebook-only publishing and the advantages of Amazon.coms online distribution power. Kobo Writing Life Kobos Reading Life Extends to Self-Published eBook AuthorsThe Japanese-based cross-platform e-reading service Kobo launched theKobo Writing Life ebook publishing service in Beta in June 2012. Offering key reader insights and marketing tools gleaned from their capabilities, the Kobo Writing Life aims to be Best in Class, helping self-published authors to engage with fans on a weltweit scale through their reading service, and puts all aspects of publishing (setting prices, advertising, marketing) in the hands of the writers helping t hem to maximize sales. Lulu.com A Wide Array of Self-Publishing Print and eBook OptionsLulu.com is a very popular self-publishing service that offers both a print-on-demand book and ebook digital development capabilities and a wide array of publishing support options. The author picks the package and the price, and promotion is available through Lulu.com. NOOK Press Barnes Nobles eBook Self-Publishing PlatformNOOK Press, from the major book retailer Barnes Noble, offers the distribution of barnesandnoble.com and some of the useful promotional features of being associated with a major brick-and-mortar store. With NOOK Press, there are no upfront costs and competitive royalty rates. Smashwords A True Indie eBook Self-Publishing ExperienceWith Smashwords, the author is considered to be the publisher of his or her ebook. Unlike some other ebook self-publishing services, Smashwords allows its authors a great measure of control over pricing, and over access to the work. To exploit the Smashwords service to the fullest requires the author to take a good deal of responsibility for the quality of the work uploaded to the service, as well as be fully engaged in other aspects of the process.