You've decided to self-publish your book. Great move! Now you need to decide HOW you are going to publish.

There are a lot of companies out there advertising self-publishing services to authors. Some of them are reputable, but many are fly by night publishers looking to make a quick buck.

We've been around for over 10+ years with an incredible track record. BUT this post isn't just about us.

We are going to explore the best self publishing companies and what they offer so that you can make an informed decision.

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Ebook Distributors

Ebook distribution is quick and dirty. It's a great way to get your book out there FAST.

Another reason this is such a popular option is the low cost. Just like with anything low cost though this does affect the quality.

Here are the two main options:

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• Book retailers: Sell directly through book retailers, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. These are online bookstores where your book can be discovered and sold.
• ‍Aggregators: Draft2Digital is a good example and is a great way 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.

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Be cautious though as lots of these aggregators will take a percentage of your profit. There are better options below that don't take any of your profit.
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1. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

💰 Pricing: Free to upload
💸 Royalties: 70% on ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99 or 35% if priced below $2.99

Okay, we had to kick things off with the titan of all bookshops. Amazon have been enjoying over 91.5% of all self-published books in the U.S. in 2018 — and is of course the world's largest retailer of books. Amazon is always the first retailer people think about when they are considering publishing their book.

KDP is Amazon’s self-publishing platform (not to be confused with Amazon Publishing, their division that operates like a traditional publisher). Any author can self-publish using KDP, as long as they’re willing to upload their book files themselves.

Now this may sound straight forward but often it is anything but. We often hear from authors at this point. Usually they get stuck uploading their book due to the formatting requirements of the eBook, paperback and the cover.

I created a full video about typesetting aka book formatting which is usually where people get stuck when trying to use KDP.

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2. Apple Books

💰 Pricing: Free to upload
💸 Royalties: 70% on all ebooks regardless of price point
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Apple created its self-publishing arm in 2010. In 2012, the company announced that 400 million books were downloaded on Apple Books (it’s important to note that the number of downloads differs from the number of books sold, as The Digital Reader clarifies in this post).
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Apple Books still gets a fair amount of eye balls. After creating an iTunes Connect account, self-publishing authors can quite easily upload their titles to Apple Books, all without having to pay a fee!

You can probably start to see why people choose to use a self-publishing company that can do all of this for them. With over 40,000 outlets all over the world you need a partner who can really help with distribution.
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3. Barnes & Noble (B&N)

💰 Pricing: Free to upload
💸 Royalties: 70% on ebooks priced above $0.99
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B&N Press (formerly known as NOOK) is the self-publishing platform owned by the big-box bookseller, which has infamously struggled for market share against Amazon. Despite this they do still have a solid market share in North America.
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However, as far as interfaces are concerned, B&N Press is easy to use — and, similar to the other big retailers, it’s free to upload your book. Exclusivity is not required to publish with B&N Press, and it’s important to note that you can even offer your ebook for free on this platform.
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4. Kobo Writing Life

💰 Pricing: Free to upload
💸 Royalties: 70% on ebooks priced $2.99 and higher or 45% for books priced below $2.99
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Kobo Writing Life, owned by Canadian company Rakuten Kobo (also known as just Kobo), is a self-publishing platform that helps writers publish their ebooks to Kobo customers from more than 190 countries. This means it has a strong global reach. It needs to be included if you are launching your book internationally.
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They offer exclusive promotion opportunities, if you choose to distribute through Kobo and not an aggregator.

🪂 If you’re getting a headache just thinking about uploading your book to all of these different book retailers by yourself, then we can help. We publish your book to over 40,000+ retailers all over the world. We do this in eBook, paperback and hardback. On top of this you keep 100% of your royalties and ownership of your work. Thats why 4000+ authors have published with us over the last decade.

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5. Draft2Digital (D2D)

💰 Pricing: 10% of the book’s retail price per copy sold
📇 Distribution: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, OverDrive, Everand, Bibliotheca, and many more.
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If you do decide to go it alone and use an aggregator, D2D is the one that we recommend at here att Publishing Push.
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• They give authors Universal Links. As its name suggests, these links 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.
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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. PublishDrive

💰 Pricing: Subscription-based service (starting at $16.99 per month)
📇 Distribution: Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Everand, Bookmate and more.

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PublishDrive, which was founded in 2015, can distribute your writing to over 400 stores and 240,000 libraries. It’s got all the workings of the other aggregators: a modern interface and regular sales reports to keep you up-to-date on your profits. What sets PublishDrive apart from the pack are:

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• Its subscription-based service. PublishDrive lets authors keep 100% of their royalties. All the company charges is a flat monthly rate depending on how many books you want to publish with them. This is why they may be a better option that D2D above.
• 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. This can be really valuable if you have certain markets abroad you wish to target.

7. StreetLib

💰 Pricing: 10% of the retail price per copy sold
📇 Distribution: Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Everand, OverDrive and more.
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Another great international distributor, StreetLib gives you even more options if you’re aiming to reach an international audience. Its website is available in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil, and it offers author and publisher portals in over 21 countries across 6 continents, including the Philippines, Mexico, Egypt, and Nigeria, just to mention a few!
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Originally founded in Europe, StreetLib is certainly great for international distribution. It does of course cover the UK and USA.

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8. XinXii

💰 Pricing: 30% of net sales for books priced more than €2.94 euros (and its equivalent in U.S. dollars) or 60% of net sales for books priced between €0.99 euros and €1.98 euros (and its equivalent in U.S. dollars).

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📇 Distribution: Amazon, Hugendubel, Angus & Robertson, Thalia, Buecher, Whitcoulls, WHSmith, Indigo, Kobo, Livraria Cultura, Casa de Libro, Flipkart, and Everand, among others.

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XinXii isn’t actually Chinese — it’s based in Berlin (surprised?!). It offers authors foreign distribution channels that might not be readily available elsewhere. Note that it’s got a particularly strong presence in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Its customer support and user interface lets it down and is often what puts authors off using this when self-publishing.

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Author Services for Self-Publishing Authors

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Now, if you’re not too far into the publishing process and are still concerned with the editing, design, and formatting of your book, then perhaps the companies above don’t quite match what you’re looking for. Thankfully, there’s one place where you can access world-class talent to take care of all three — and you’re already there 😉

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9. Publishing Push

💰 Pricing: Based on services required.
🖋️Services: Editing, interior design, cover design, illustrations, marketing and more

A complete service for authors who want to create an exceptional book. We are here to hold your hand through the whole process so that your book launch is successful. We've been responsible for hundreds of bestselling books and thousands of successful books over our 10+ years in business.

Get in touch to find our how we can help you.

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Print-on-Demand (POD) Services for Self-Publishing Authors

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While plenty of self-publishing authors rely on the ebook market for most of their sales this is a big mistake. Lots of readers still prefer holding a book in their hands. Which leads us to Print on Demand services, which allow almost any indie author to put a paperback up for sale without breaking the bank.

Well it's not as easy as it sounds. You do still need expert formatting, editorial work, book cover design and a host of other professional services.

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Here’s a quick look at some of the major players in POD and the Pros and Cons.

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10. KDP Print

💰 Pricing: Varies depending on your book’s specs. Learn more here
📇 Distribution: Amazon and other retailers through Expanded Distribution

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Formerly known as CreateSpace, Amazon’s own POD service has the benefit of sharing KDP’s platform. Authors already selling ebooks on KDP can easily launch a print edition by uploading a formatted PDF and cover design with a spine and a back.

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With KDP’s Expanded Distribution option, authors can distribute their books to shops and libraries across the globe — though it’s important to note that many booksellers are not inclined to order through Amazon.

This can restrict your books potential - on top of this if you use Amazon's own ISBN's you may not sell any books outside Amazon.

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11. IngramSpark

💰 Pricing: Learn more here
📇 Distribution: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo, Foyles, and Waterstones, among others

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IngramSpark is owned by Ingram, the world’s biggest book wholesale distributor (which distributes print books and ebooks to over 40,000 outlets!).

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If your focus is on getting your book into brick-and-mortar stores, it’s worth setting your book up with this company (perhaps in addition to KDP Print, which you can use to sell your book on Amazon).

But there are some pitfalls with Ingram Spark. We have seen books get locked up here. We have seen royalties go missing and distribution fail so be wary. This needs an expert to truly set this up correctly.

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12. Blurb

💰 Pricing: Learn more here

📇 Distribution: Amazon, the Blurb bookstore, and over 39,000 other stores via Ingram

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Blurb is one of the most well-known and trusted POD services out there. We particularly recommend it for visual works, such as magazines and children’s books.

It's not suitable for novels or more serious non-fiction publication. You're all very restricted when it comes to distribution.

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