2016 BEST Online Book Publishing Reviews
REVIEWS & COMPARISONS
Online Book Publishing Review
Lulu
Review
CreateSpace
Review
AuthorHouse
Review
Outskirts Press
Review
iUniverse
Review
Llumina Press
Review
Xlibris
Review
Virtual Book Worm Publishing
Review
Infinity Publishing
Review
Wheatmark
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Online Book Publishing Review
Lulu Classic Review
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Lulu
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Lulu is a respected name in online book publishing and has a well-earned reputation for its services. The service provides a quality, affordable way to publish your content through its easily navigable website. The site clearly explains the guidelines for publishing, so you know exactly what you are buying when you pay for a service.
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This eBook publisher offers packages for you to choose from depending on the extent of your publishing needs. You can also forgo the package deals and buy services individually so you don't pay for unneeded features. You can outsource your cover art and editing, which gives you the flexibility to customize your project the way you want.
All of the packages include a custom front-and-back cover design, ISBN assignment, global distribution, one-on-one author support, interior design, layout and image insertions. All of the packages can format your content for Nook, iPad and iPhones, and each includes author discounts and free copies for the author.
Lulu's cover design options range, depending on the plan you choose, from basic to sophisticated templates. There are many predesigned options you can choose from at no additional cost beyond the basic printing expenses. The premium cover design service allows you to work with a graphic artist to bring out the themes of your book in a professional, customized cover design that gives your book a distinct look.
One of the great things about Lulu is its approachability. Before you decide on any of the paid services, you can consult with professionals free of charge to determine if a service is right for you. The company doesn't pressure you into paying for services that don't serve your specific needs.
Once Lulu publishes your book, you can opt for promotional services such as an author website and website hosting. The hosting, which comes as a free service for the first year, ensures that your site is fully functional and maintained.
You can also pay for book reviews in recognized publications, such as Kirkus and Trifecta, and take full advantage of book fair exhibits on a regional, national or international stage at such locations as New York, London and Beijing. You can pay for professional book and author videos that can be distributed to YouTube and other venues to advertise your book with style.
If you and your consultant feel the book has multimedia potential, Lulu even has a production company called Thruline Entertainment, made up of an impressive team of Oscar- and Emmy-winning professionals, who can help you bring your story to life on the big or little screen if a studio picks it up. Even if it isn't picked up, it will be available in an exclusive file for Hollywood execs to access for future projects.
When you publish your eBook, it is available on Lulu's website, which is a great way to get eyes on it. Lulu can also help you distribute your book to Amazon, the Barnes & Noble website, Baker & Taylor, and iBookstore.
Lulu operates its print services on a print-on-demand basis, but by utilizing Ingram Book Group, it can sell print volumes through popular book websites like Powell's and AbeBooks. You set the price for your book and retain 90 percent of the profits. Print books sold directly through Lulu have a higher profit margin than those sold elsewhere, but there is a generous margin regardless of where you sell them.
Lulu is a well-established publishing service that gives you all of the options you need to release your manuscript exactly the way you want, without the headaches often involved with getting a book published. Consultation during every step of the process is free and helps you make informed decisions, so you never have to buy a service you don't need.
CreateSpace Standard Review
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CreateSpace is Amazon's online book publishing service. That alone makes it worth looking if you want to self-publish. Like its parent company, CreateSpace has earned a reputation for a continually high standard of service. You can customize how you want to use the service, paying only for what you need.
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CreateSpace has several packages to choose from, but it gives you the flexibility to purchase stand-alone services. For instance, if you have editing or graphic design skills or know someone who does, you may opt to do some of the services yourself and outsource others. This option may be more cost-effective, depending on your situation.
The packages include services such as cover design, a simple or complex custom interior service, and online distribution through Amazon, your eStore and any other sales channels of your choosing. Higher plans offer comprehensive copy editing, premier cover design, a professional review from Kirkus Indie Reviews, and LCCN and ISBN assignments.
The cover design service helps you translate the themes and feeling of your book into a professional visual design that attracts readers. You have different options during the design process and can provide feedback to shape the look you envision for your book.
Some packages offer marketing copy from a professional copywriter. The copywriter uses the book's themes and message to produce a tagline, book description, cover texts and author biography that will catch readers' attention. CreateSpace also provides keywords to improve your book's placement on Amazon so more readers will discover it. When you publish the digital version of your work, it's free to change the cover design at any time if you want to update the look of your book.
The biggest advantage CreateSpace has over other online publishing companies is that, because of Amazon's enormous customer base, there is a far greater potential to get your book seen by more eyes than there is with the average venue. You can pay for additional marketing services to grab potential readers' attention.
CreateSpace offers a professional review of your book, an excerpt from which can be placed on the cover to give the book third-party credibility. If your book is a "page-turner" or a "terrifying thrill ride," a cover quote from a reliable source like Kirkus Indie Reviews grabs readers' attention. You can also pay to get a professional video trailer produced for your website, and you can link it to YouTube and Amazon to get even more eyes on your project.
Since it is an Amazon company, CreateSpace publishes your work to Amazon and Kindle, but it also has other publishing options to extend your bookselling reach. CreateSpace has the ability to expose an eBook to a larger audience than most other sites can. With the print-on-demand (POD) service, you can provide a print copy to your readers as they order. You can also sell your book through your eStore or other sales channels of your choosing. CreateSpace uses services like Ingram Book Group to access websites like Powell's and AbeBooks to sell POD editions of eBooks.
CreateSpace is one of the most accessible and customizable self-publishing services we reviewed. It allows you to publish your manuscript your way, without pressure to buy anything you don't want or that doesn't help your process. When you sign up for the service, before you pay a cent, a representative calls you and answers any questions you have. The CreateSpace team is available to answer questions throughout the process, either via email or phone.
CreateSpace is a customizable self-publishing service that helps you publish your book the way you envision it. This online publisher has all of the paid services you need to professionally edit, format, design and market your manuscript. You can take advantage of its expert marketing services to catch your readers' attention, improve the visibility of your book and maximize your sales.
AuthorHouse Standard Review
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AuthorHouse provides some rare services in the world of print publishing companies. Among these is the ability for you to set the price of your book. The company also has an extraordinary selling reach through popular platforms like Amazon and the Barnes & Noble website, and a comprehensive set of extra paid services to help you make your book just the way you want it. It also offers eBook publication in addition to print. Among online publishing companies, AuthorHouse has the largest number of titles in print.
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Publishing your book through AuthorHouse typically takes 12 to 18 weeks from start to finish. AuthorHouse sets a minimum cost for your book, and you set the list price. Royalty amounts vary depending on where you sell your book.
The packages give you many basic publishing services for a paperback book, including manuscript layout and formatting, ISBN number assignment, barcode creation, original cover design, placement of images inside the book, and cover art images. You get copies of your book at no charge, but how many depends on the package you purchase.
This online publisher assists you by making copies of your book available for review and offers discounts if you buy extra copies of your book to sell at book fairs, conventions, trade shows and other events. You also have access to articles that teach you effective steps to promote and sell your book.
Among the services you can get for an extra fee are copy editing and proofreading, expedited publishing, copyright registration, custom illustration, and cover art design. When it comes to book promotion, depending on how skilled you are at marketing, you might want to seek assistance from a personal publicist, pay for professionally written press releases, and have notices sent to media outlets to hopefully catch the eyes of book reviewers.
The company also offers help with arranging personal appearances as you make yourself and your work known to potential buyers. In the same vein, you might want to take advantage of AuthorHouse's traditional marketing tools such as business cards, postcards and bookmarks.
However, nothing has quite the enormous power of the internet for selling just about anything. Given this fact, you are in luck with AuthorHouse. This company will format and publish an eBook for an extra charge, which has become a huge trend that may eventually overtake the sales of physical books. It can also get your book positioned with Amazon and format it for reading on a Kindle. Since these eReaders are selling like hotcakes, this could widen your audience dramatically.
Another new and modern tool that AuthorHouse offers is a custom-made video trailer for your book for outlets like YouTube, Metacafe and Dailymotion. AuthorHouse promotes your video by adding links to the About the Author section of your book in its online bookstore, giving you web-streaming capabilities and distributing an email campaign to 200,000 possible buyers.
AuthorHouse also offers a personal publicist service to help you improve your online presence, communicate with the media and act as a spokesperson on your behalf. Such a service could turn a modest success into a significant one with the right marketing and publicity.
With more than 60,000 titles in print, it is abundantly clear that AuthorHouse can get books published and out there to the public. Once your book goes through the editing and publication process, AuthorHouse can make it available to Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, two giant book wholesalers. Your book can also be sold through websites such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Buy.com, Powell's, Alibris and AbeBooks. In addition, it will be available through AuthorHouse's online bookstore. With its 14-year history and firmly established reputation for getting books in print, this puts you at a real advantage.
AuthorHouse has all of the support options you need to answer your questions and make the experience of publishing your book a seamless one. You can obtain answers to questions through a toll-free phone number, email, a list of FAQs, and online forums and discussions. On the main webpage, you can also order a free book publishing guide to get detailed information about how the process works and get a better idea which services you want.
AuthorHouse is well established among publishing companies. With the right content and services, your book could take off and become a bestseller through AuthorHouse. Some of the paid services you can opt for are a personal publicist and a trailer of your book to get the word out.
Outskirts Press Ruby Review
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Outskirts Press offers a strong package of basic services, a large selling reach, and a generous assortment of additional services and modern marketing options. Also, it gives you the freedom to set your royalty rates, which is extremely rare in the world of online book publishing.
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The ability to set your own royalty percentages is quite an advantage for individuals who have a clear idea of what their work is worth and do not want to sell themselves short. You can use the Outskirts Press Pricing Calculator to help you set your royalty rates.
Paperback packages have an average turnaround time of 10 to 13 weeks from manuscript to published volume. This publishing package also gives you manuscript layout, barcode creation, an ISBN number and an original cover design.
This online publishing company designs an author webpage on its site that you can use to market your book. You also get a customized sales sheet to track your book's sales. Outskirts Press provides you with six free author copies, author discounts on books you might purchase to sell on your own, and access to articles on writing and book publishing.
With more than 12,000 titles printed through Outskirts Press, the service has shown that it has what it takes to compete with larger publishers. This fast-growing company uses Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor to sell, both of which are enormous book distributors. It can also sell your book through the Outskirts Press online bookstore, Amazon, Buy.com, and the websites for Barnes & Noble, Powell's, Alibris and AbeBooks.
Paid services are available through Outskirts that can improve your book or marketing campaign. For an additional cost, it offers copy editing, copyright registration, a Library of Congress Control number, expedited publishing, eBook formatting, custom interior placement, art creation for your book's cover, color printing and a hardcover version. Paid promotional services include press releases, custom bookmarks and business cards.
Outskirts Press can format your book for the Amazon Kindle for an extra fee. Another service it offers is the highly useful See Inside the Book capability for Amazon. Looking inside can be highly tempting to potential customers, and before you know it, many may hit the buy button.
In addition to these modern marketing techniques, Outskirts Press can create and distribute a professional book trailer that includes music, text and video, which it displays on its website. The firm also uploads this trailer to social networks to get it out there to the public. This can potentially provide your work vast exposure on YouTube, Yahoo Video, Facebook, Dailymotion, Twitter, Metacafe and more.
Outskirts Press offers support through a toll-free phone number, email, live chat and a FAQs section. However, it requires a nonrefundable down payment fee for upfront information and consultation, such as detailed information about different packages, which most companies provide free of charge.
Outskirts Press offers extensive features to help your book succeed in online publishing. You do have to pay to obtain detailed information about the packages, but there are enough choices to suit a wide variety of books and their authors.
iUniverse Select Review
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iUniverse is a fast, affordable service that gives you a variety of amenities to help you publish your book online. Its packages offer far-reaching selling capabilities and comprehensive customer support.
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In case you do not have the experience to market your book, this online book publisher offers an array of marketing services for an extra fee. These services include help from a personal publicist, press releases and assistance in arranging public appearances.
This company has entered into the electronic world in a big way, which can be an enormous help in selling your book on a large scale. As part of this company's additional paid services, it helps you get an author website, the Barnes & Noble See Inside the Book service, and keyword search help with Google and Amazon.
With the paperback printing package, iUniverse can format and publish your book in an average of six to eight weeks. It pays you a 20 percent royalty of the cover price for your books sold through its own online bookstore and a 12 percent royalty of the wholesale price for copies sold through third-party retailers. This is comparable to other online publishing companies.
Most of the plans provide all the basics, including manuscript layout and formatting, barcode creation, an ISBN number, and an original cover design. Some packages also come with plenty of extras, including eBook formatting, interior images placement and making your book available for critical review.
With 12 years of experience in the print-on-demand industry and more than 39,000 titles in print, iUniverse is an online publishing company that knows how to sell books. Through distribution relationships with both Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, this service gives over 25,000 retailers access to your book. iUniverse also hosts an online bookstore where it promotes and sells works by its published authors. Other online retail stores it distributes to include Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Buy.com, Powell's, Alibris and AbeBooks.
iUniverse offers one of the most comprehensive sets of additional paid services available and some digital publishing options. Its supplementary services include an editorial evaluation, copy editing, ghostwriting in case you have writer's block, OCR text scanning for converting paper manuscripts into an electronic format, and expedited publishing. You can also publish your book in hardcover for an additional fee.
You can also pay for a service to improve your search-engine standing on Amazon. Certain pages from your book are available for individuals to read before buying. The company can also create a video trailer for your book to enhance your promotion efforts.
iUniverse offers fast, affordable publishing and an extraordinary selling reach. You have loads of additional paid services to choose from with this experienced print-on-demand publishing service to help you get your book into the hands of readers.
Llumina Press Review
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Llumina Press is one of the few online book publishingcompanies that provide the benefit of a free initial editorial evaluation to determine how much, if any, editing your manuscript might need. Unlike with some online publishing companies, you have the option of finding your own editor.
With Llumina Press, it takes about 12 weeks to mold your manuscript from its raw form into a published work, which is an average time frame for online book publishing companies. As for royalties, you can expect to receive a generous 30 percent of the cover price for books sold through this company and 10 percent of the cover price for any books sold through a third-party retailer.
As part of its paperback publishing packages, Llumina Press obtains you a Library of Congress and ISBN number, handles manuscript layout and formatting, and places images in your book. The company also creates an original, full-color cover for your book and helps you compose and edit the text on the front and back covers. You can publish your book in hardcover too if you choose a higher package.
Llumina Press creates a page for you and your book in its online bookstore. The company offers free informational eBooks, including one on communication and another that fills you in on how to be successful in online publishing. One thing it does not handle is copyright registration. Instead, it provides instructions on how to do it yourself.
Llumina Press has 1,500 titles in print, so its selling reach is small compared to the giant online publishing houses. However, it works with Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, which are huge book distributors, and it sells your book through its online bookstore. Llumina Press also sells your book on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, Buy.com, Powells.com, Alibris.com and AbeBooks.com.
This online publisher clearly understands the enormous value of eBook publishing. Through another of its paid packages, it prepares your book for digital distribution. You can also get the benefit of See Inside the Book capabilities on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com, which are hugely popular with book lovers who are your potential readers.
You can receive many other services for an extra cost, such as copy editing, original cover art, written promotional materials including business cards and bookmarks, press releases, and targeted email campaigns. Ghostwriting services also are available for a fee, which help when you want to tell a tale but cannot express it in words, or need help with developing and organizing concepts.
As a small book publisher, Llumina Press prides itself on having the personal touch with its authors. It has features and a company philosophy that make it easy for you to work well with the company and sell plenty of your books.
Xlibris Basic Review
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Xlibris offers a wide selling reach and provides some useful features in its publishing packages. Some of its packages provide fewer features to authors than the publishing packages available from many other POD companies provide, but, with 25,000 titles in print, Xlibris clearly knows how to get books published. It typically takes 12 to 17 weeks to get your book from manuscript into published form.
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As far as royalties go, you get 25 percent of the cover price for books sold directly through Xlibris' online bookstore and 10 percent of the cover price for volumes sold through any third-party sellers. You can choose one of its templates for covers and book interiors.
This online publisher offers manuscript formatting, an ISBN number and free book copies for you as the author. It also provides both a book page and an author page for you on its website. With some packages, you receive postcards, bookmarks and business cards for your promotional efforts.
The company distributes its books through the huge Ingram Book Group. In addition to Xlibris' online store, your book can be sold through Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, Buy.com, Powells.com, Alibris.com and AbeBooks.com.
Xlibris offers many useful add-on services. These include a Library of Congress Control Number, copyright registration, expedited publication, custom text and layout, publication in hardcover, leather-bound editions, custom illustrations, extra illustrations inside your book, a custom cover, Google search assistance, and a set-your-own-price package that affects your royalties.
You can buy book return programs that make it more attractive for brick-and-mortar bookstores to stock your work, because they can return it without any financial penalty. These programs are available in 12-, 24- and 36-month packages. However, the burden is on you to persuade a bookstore owner or manager to take part in this effort. Xlibris offers recommendations for how to approach businesses and make a pitch for them to stock your book. These suggestions even cover what to wear and which times during the week are best for making an appointment.
Xlibris makes other DIY marketing tools available, such as free articles about how to get your book publicized and into the hands of readers, create a promotional plan, and choose media targets and set up book signings. For an additional fee, Xlibris can undertake any number of marketing programs for you, including writing press releases, contacting media outlets, embarking on email campaigns, designing your webpage, working on social media marketing, and creating a video book trailer.
You can also get an eBook upgrade to format your book for use on an eReader device such as the Kindle. You can pay to get See Inside the Book capabilities on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com, which many readers use to help them make buying decisions.
Xlibris has shown by the number of book titles it has published that it is a real mover in the world of online publishing houses. It has many publishing options for authors of all writing and skill levels, including a large number of marketing and promotion services.
Virtual Book Worm Publishing Standard Review
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Virtual Book Worm Publishing offers publication packages with relatively low costs and high-quality customer support. This company's packages give you many solid features that are not available from other online publishing companies.
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With Virtual Book Worm, you can get your book through the entire publishing process, from editing to printed form, in only four to six weeks, which is faster than many online book publishing companies. You also get royalties set at 50 percent of your book's net price whether your book is sold directly through Virtual Book Worm Publishing or a third party.
The eBooks published through Virtual Book Worm, however, are relatively overpriced. Most other online publishers price eBooks low with the hope of making more in royalties from a higher volume of sales. Virtual Book Worm charges as much for its eBooks as many mainstream publishers. This could put you at a disadvantage as the author. The POD editions are priced reasonably and in line with other publishers, though.
Virtual Book Worm designs your book's layout with a number of free images, creates a generic cover, assigns your book an ISBN number, arranges for a barcode and places images inside your book for free. The company also creates a page for your book on its website.
However, the company does not handle any of the copyright work for you. Instead, you get a copyright kit and must obtain the copyright yourself. Not all packages include promotional help, which is fine for writers who understand and can handle that aspect of publishing, but not so good for other writers who need help with promoting their books.
Virtual Book Worm makes it clear on its website that it works extensively with authors to make sure that they are happy, but that it will cancel the contracts of authors who are too difficult to work with and make the process miserable. This publishing house also states that it does not accept hate literature, pornography or writing that involves the occult.
This company provides author discounts if you are buying copies of your book to sell yourself, which you can do at conventions, book fairs or through other avenues. Virtual Book Worm has about 1,100 titles in print, so its selling reach is not extraordinary. You can get your book associated with the giant Baker & Taylor and Ingram Book Group distributors, though, which provide an enormous potential pool of readers and book buyers. Your book can also be sold through Virtual Book Worm's online bookstore, Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, Buy.com, Powells.com, Alibris.com and AbeBooks.com.
For an extra fee, you can convert your book to an eBook format compatible with the Kindle, which expands your potential buying audience. Virtual Book Worm can also create a video book trailer for you that you can upload anywhere, giving you another powerful promotional tool.
You can buy add-on services for a professionally designed cover, copy editing and proofreading, custom illustrations, press-release writing and distribution, promotional emails, media notification, and written promotional materials such as postcards, business cards and bookmarks. Virtual Book Worm, for a fee, can set up a personal website for you to showcase your book and attract buyers. Virtual Book Worm does an excellent job of providing help and support to authors. You get access to a toll-free phone number, email support, FAQs and a forum to discuss a variety of topics.
Virtual Book Worm Publishing states that it is a small publishing company by choice and is pleased with the friendly relationships it has with its authors. For some writers, the company's smaller size and the fairly low number of book titles in print could be off-putting, but the personal touch suits other writers.
Virtual Book Worm Publishing Standard Review
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Virtual Book Worm Publishing offers publication packages with relatively low costs and high-quality customer support. This company's packages give you many solid features that are not available from other online publishing companies.
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With Virtual Book Worm, you can get your book through the entire publishing process, from editing to printed form, in only four to six weeks, which is faster than many online book publishing companies. You also get royalties set at 50 percent of your book's net price whether your book is sold directly through Virtual Book Worm Publishing or a third party.
The eBooks published through Virtual Book Worm, however, are relatively overpriced. Most other online publishers price eBooks low with the hope of making more in royalties from a higher volume of sales. Virtual Book Worm charges as much for its eBooks as many mainstream publishers. This could put you at a disadvantage as the author. The POD editions are priced reasonably and in line with other publishers, though.
Virtual Book Worm designs your book's layout with a number of free images, creates a generic cover, assigns your book an ISBN number, arranges for a barcode and places images inside your book for free. The company also creates a page for your book on its website.
However, the company does not handle any of the copyright work for you. Instead, you get a copyright kit and must obtain the copyright yourself. Not all packages include promotional help, which is fine for writers who understand and can handle that aspect of publishing, but not so good for other writers who need help with promoting their books.
Virtual Book Worm makes it clear on its website that it works extensively with authors to make sure that they are happy, but that it will cancel the contracts of authors who are too difficult to work with and make the process miserable. This publishing house also states that it does not accept hate literature, pornography or writing that involves the occult.
This company provides author discounts if you are buying copies of your book to sell yourself, which you can do at conventions, book fairs or through other avenues. Virtual Book Worm has about 1,100 titles in print, so its selling reach is not extraordinary. You can get your book associated with the giant Baker & Taylor and Ingram Book Group distributors, though, which provide an enormous potential pool of readers and book buyers. Your book can also be sold through Virtual Book Worm's online bookstore, Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, Buy.com, Powells.com, Alibris.com and AbeBooks.com.
For an extra fee, you can convert your book to an eBook format compatible with the Kindle, which expands your potential buying audience. Virtual Book Worm can also create a video book trailer for you that you can upload anywhere, giving you another powerful promotional tool.
You can buy add-on services for a professionally designed cover, copy editing and proofreading, custom illustrations, press-release writing and distribution, promotional emails, media notification, and written promotional materials such as postcards, business cards and bookmarks. Virtual Book Worm, for a fee, can set up a personal website for you to showcase your book and attract buyers. Virtual Book Worm does an excellent job of providing help and support to authors. You get access to a toll-free phone number, email support, FAQs and a forum to discuss a variety of topics.
Virtual Book Worm Publishing states that it is a small publishing company by choice and is pleased with the friendly relationships it has with its authors. For some writers, the company's smaller size and the fairly low number of book titles in print could be off-putting, but the personal touch suits other writers.
Infinity Publishing Basic Review
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Infinity Publishing offers packages that allow you to adjust your royalties. This online publisher has one rare service offering that can increase your sales: a no-risk opportunity for book retailers to sell your book. Bookstores can stock your book with the knowledge that they can return any unsold books.
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If you choose Infinity as your partner in publishing, it takes an average of six to nine weeks to work through the process from manuscript to finished volume. When you sell your books, you get a 30 percent royalty based on the cover price of books purchased directly from Infinity's online bookstore. You receive a 15 percent royalty based on the wholesale price for all books sold through third-party retailers.
This online publisher has a wide selling reach. You have options to sell through Infinity's online store, Amazon, Buy.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Powells.com, Alibris.com and AbeBooks.com. Unlike with some other online publishing companies, you must pay extra to get your book linked up with distributors Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, which are enormous companies and highly useful in placing books for sale. In this era, working with them is practically a necessity to sell books on a significant scale.
Infinity Publishing offers a Value-Added Royalty Package that lets you raise the price of your book beyond the minimum suggested price. Infinity recommends this primarily for nonfiction works, since the demand for fiction may not justify a price increase. However, the decision is yours. After consulting with an Infinity representative, you have a say in how much customers must pay for your book.
This company extends an excellent and rare bookseller return service to its authors. Infinity sells books to stores at a 40 percent discount and permits retailers, for a one-year period, to return unsold volumes without a penalty or restocking fee. This could make retail bookstores more likely to carry your book, because there is no financial risk, which opens more avenues for you to make your book available to potential buyers.
Other publishing features include manuscript layout, the assignment of an ISBN number, barcode creation, an original cover design, unlimited images placed inside your book and free author copies. Infinity can make copies of your book available for review. You get author discounts if you want to sell books yourself through any avenue, including trade shows and book fairs. You also have access to articles on how to market your book.
Infinity recognizes the power of eBook publishing and makes this an attractive extra service for an additional fee. Some packages offer you eBook formatting for Kindle, Nook and other eReaders. For an extra fee, you can also get copy editing and proofreading, expedited publishing, art for the cover design, press release writing services, co-op discounted advertising, custom illustrations, help with creating a website, and written promotional materials including bookmarks, postcards and business cards.
Customer support is an area where this online publishing company does wonderfully. You have access to a toll-free phone number, email support, FAQs and blogs where you can discuss publishing with other writers.
Infinity Publishing can convert your manuscript into an attractive paperback at a relatively low cost and make it easy for stores to keep your book in stock. This is a full-featured service to get your book published and printed.
Wheatmark Basic Review
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Wheatmark offers an array of editing, publishing and marketing options for authors who are eager to get their works into print. With 1,200 titles published, it is not the largest of the online book publishingcompanies around, but it has excellent book-selling avenues.
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The time it takes Wheatmark to move your work from manuscript to published form depends on the condition of the manuscript when the company receives it, what services you choose to buy and how long it takes you to review proofs. However, it typically takes about 12 weeks. Wheatmark provides you a 20 percent royalty based on the cover price for books sold directly through its online bookstore and a 20 percent royalty for wholesale books sold through third-party retailers.
Wheatmark offers several services to promote your work, including instructions on how to use Twitter to sell. It also instructs you on how to use your book to position yourself as an expert on an issue you have written about, which could have benefits not only in selling books, but in enhancing your career.
This online publishing company offers a number of free beneficial services to help you sell your book, including newsletters, tutorials, informative videos and author tips. The website also provides a toll-free phone number, an online form to submit questions and a FAQs section.
Like many other online publishing companies, Wheatmark uses Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, two of the largest book distributors. Besides Wheatmark's online bookstore, you can sell your book through Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, Buy.com, Powells.com, Alibris.com and AbeBooks.com.
This online publisher has several paid services that determine how the final version of your book looks and is presented to the public. There is a paid editorial evaluation that gives you a good starting point to determine how much editing your manuscript needs in order to publish the best possible book.
You can purchase a custom cover design to make your book stand out. For a fee, this publishing house also provides what it calls a positioning analysis of your work to find the right market for it online.
As an extra paid service, Wheatmark builds webpages for you and your book that include a Buy Now link to your chosen online retailer. This webpage can highlight testimonials about your book from readers, display excerpts to tempt buyers and announce when you will be doing book readings.
If you sell 2,000 books, you are automatically enrolled in Wheatmark's Great Expectations program, which gives you up to $5,000 in credit, based on what you paid in publishing and marketing fees. You can use this credit for services such as formatting your book for the Kindle eReader or for additional marketing and promotion.
In addition to FAQs, email support and a toll-free number, you get a free publishing guide before you start. Other free resources for potential customers are a Wheatmark newsletter and blog, as well as a guide called "The 7 Steps to Publishing Success." This starts you on the road to having confidence in what you can achieve as a self-published author. However, the company's otherwise attractive and literate website does not make it particularly easy to identify the total cost for services.
Wheatmark offers various services to help many different authors with their needs. The total costs are not easily found on its website, but the company produces professional-looking and appealing books, and it displays a keen understanding of the importance of social media and other modern marketing techniques.
Why Use Online Book Publishing Companies?
With new technology, online book publishing services now can format, print and publish books quickly and affordably. What is even better, a book can go from manuscript form to an eBook and then a handsome bound volume using print-on-demand (POD) publishing, a method most online publishers employ. Books are printed and shipped on demand, which eliminates the need for large print runs and costly warehouses stacked with books.
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By using online publishers to self-publish your book, you are usually allowed to retain all of the rights to your book. With traditional publishers, you often have to relinquish some or all of those rights. Even with the potential cost savings and copyright benefits of self-publishing, if done right, your book can still look as professional and polished as a traditionally published book.
Online book publishers offer a broad selling base, whether through their own online bookstores or through online giants such as Amazon, the Barnes & Noble website and iBookstore. With distribution channels that reach more than 25,000 retailers, today's POD publishers can sell to brick-and-mortar stores, libraries and online merchants. Read our articles about online book publishing here. If you are wanting to know more, here are articles on online book publishing services.
What to Look For in an Online Book Publishing Service
The best online book publishing services offer versatile and affordable publishing packages, marketing assistance, a broad selling reach, a wide selection of extra services beyond the publishing package, and plenty of customer support. These are the criteria you can use to evaluate which online book publishing service is right for you.
Publishing Packages
The best online publishing packages offer pre-publishing consultation, extensive publishing service options and promotional services after publishing. Most publishers have several packages available as well as add-on services for purchase. Publishers' websites have detailed information and free booklets on request. This gives you the tools you need to make informed choices about which package works best for you before you pay a cent. As you weigh your options, decide which features are relevant to your needs and avoid spending unnecessarily on ones that you won't use. If you change your mind, you can upgrade later.
The best publishers have a quick overall publishing time frame and give authors the most for their money. High-quality online publishers also provide promotional services, such as web design and providing copies of your book to reviewers, as part of the prepaid package to help you sell your published book.
Book Pricing & Royalties
This is one of the more complicated aspects of publishing your work. How prices are set and how much royalty you are paid vary by publisher and also depend on the retailer selling your book. Some publishers let you set your own prices, but they factor in costs for any price you set. The ability to set your own price may be included in the plan you choose, or you may have the option to purchase that ability. Each company has its own policies.
All publishers have a bookstore online to sell print and digital books. In most cases, direct sales provide you with a higher percentage of royalties than selling through other channels. Royalties may be a percentage of the cover price, the wholesale price or the net profit.
Distribution Channels
Online publishers help you sell your book through a combination of channels, including their online bookstores, wholesale distribution and major online book retailers. The best online publishers increase your sales potential by making your book available to as many readers as possible.
Publishers partner with major distributors to expand the reach of your content. Your publisher should help you understand your distribution options and give you an idea of how much revenue you can generate through each one. It's important to find out which distribution company your publishing company uses and how far its reach goes. For maximum distribution, look for companies that provide books to libraries, schools, and universities in addition to online and brick-and-mortar stores. Wider distribution comes at a price, but it is a great way to scale up your book's visibility quickly.
Marketing & Sales Tools
These days, publishing is accessible to just about everyone. Writing a book is only half of the equation; you need marketing to let people know about your book and grow your sales. Online book publishing services should offer a wide assortment of marketing services, both in publishing packages and as optional services to make sure you have the level of marketing assistance to meet your needs. Marketing starts with your book cover design, since it's the first thing people see when looking for new reading material. Publishers offer assistance with cover design as well as image choices and placement inside the book.
Publishers also offer website design and hosting, Google ads, printed promotional materials, and videos. Publicity services they provide include press releases and social media promotion. They may even offer full-scale campaigns with coordinated print, web and video promotion.
If you have marketing and design experience, you may not need these services. However, many companies include marketing services in their packages. It's important to know whether you can purchase only the publishing services you need so you are not paying for ones you don't.
Help & Support
Top online book publishing services offer several avenues of support, including toll-free phone and email support or an online form for question submissions. It is also helpful if a company hosts a FAQs page and an online meeting place where authors can share ideas and discuss publishing topics on a forum, discussion board or blog.
Live chat service is arguably the most convenient form of customer support, allowing you to acquire information before you spend money on a package. Not many online publishers offer this service, though. On the other hand, several online publishers go the extra mile and share free literature, blogs and newsletters to provide all the information you need to make informed decisions about services before purchasing them.
Popular Online Book Publishers
CreateSpace
Many authors use CreateSpace because it's part of one of the largest book retailers in the world, Amazon. There is no denying that Amazon has played a major role in the wide-scale adoption of eBooks. The reputation it has built gives authors confidence that it will bring the same level of service to publishing. It makes sense that Amazon would use its book-selling expertise to help authors reach their audience.
CreateSpace provides support to authors from start to finish. The company is available to answer questions before you select your services and throughout the entire process. It helps you choose what you need to get your book into the hands of readers.
Some other publishers offer their services as packages. With CreateSpace, you choose only the services you need. There are several other distribution options beyond putting your work on Amazon. CreateSpace works with the largest book distributors in the world. A solid reputation, flexible services and expansive distribution options make CreateSpace an attractive online publishing option.
AuthorHouse
It says a lot that AuthorHouse has the largest number of titles in print. This shows its ability to steer authors through the publishing process to a finished product. It has the processes in place to launch new writers and has been doing just that for quite some time. AuthorHouse is well established and has a streamlined operation that results in a shorter publishing time than you see with other publishers. Its representatives are with you every step of the way. They provide guidance, but you retain ultimate control over your work. You choose your cover, interior images and even price. Many authors appreciate the freedom to create their book according to their vision.
One of the many things that make AuthorHouse attractive is the optional Booksellers Return Program. This program gives it an advantage over other publishers. Booksellers are reluctant to carry books from unknown authors, so this gives retailers a risk-free way to stock your book, which is perfect for writers who are trying to get established.
Xlibris
The publishing process can seem daunting to the uninitiated, or even the initiated. Learning all you can about the process allows you to get the most out of your publishing experience. This level of support is how Xlibris excels. It provides a wealth of information to authors. All of its publishing packages come with a one-year membership to its Author Learning Center and its community of authors, agents and other literary professionals. The Author Learning Center offers many valuable resources for writers, including videos, podcasts, articles and webinars.
The Book Launch tool in the Author Learning Center helps you with step-by-step information about publishing and marketing tasks. You customize the tasks to fit your needs and use the tool to track their status. This tool includes a feature that enables you to create a group of writers from the community to provide advice and feedback on your manuscript. The Author Learning Center provides resources that help you keep learning and growing as an author, as well as a way to give back to other authors. Xlibris consultants are also with you throughout the publishing process, but the community it has established provides valuable resources and sets the company apart from other publishers.
Whether you are a first-time author or a previously published novelist, online book publishing companies offer a fast, often affordable way to get your book off your computer screen and into the hands of readers. These companies have many services that help you produce, distribute, market and sell your work.
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