Which online self-publishing site is right for you?

How to decrease inventory and heighten mass distribution with online self-publishing companies

If you’re an unpublished (or published) author with a book in you, or even a publisher looking to outsource inventory, you might be interested in the new rage of online self-publishing companies. These are companies that will take your novel/handbook/book series and will do the dirty work for you, on-demand.

Does this mean that the publishing world is taking a hit? I don’t think so. Arguably some of the best material written still remains unpublished due to author funds, knowledge, and lack of publishing education. And if you’re already publishing your own books, but are looking to get down to zero-inventory, this is a complementary addition to your order flow.

There are two different types of online self-publishing companies. There are the “vanity press” publishers, the more expensive, up-front types that require a manuscript for application and a publishing package to be purchased for back-up inventory. Then there are the true “print on demand” publishers, the no-money-down-but-we’ll-take-a-percentage types. As an author myself, if I was new to the industry waiting to pump out a novel I’d had in my head for 10 years, I’d go with the no-money-down self-publishing companies.

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Less than a year ago, if you wanted to use an online publisher, you’d be taking your stakes with unknown publishers, claiming a mild guarantee of getting your book on Amazon and with only hints of suggestion to other offline distributors. Lulu.com was one of these publishers.

Lulu.com offers publishers an increasingly large list of formats for publishing products. Different book sizes and types as well as formats for product manuals, yearbooks, brochures, photo books, ring tones, e-books, video downloads and much more. They offer users an optional e-store as well as a very large online marketplace for free. They also offer tools, widgets and many more desirable promotional tools for selling your book or product. This is all of course, beneficial to them because they are making a percentage of your sales.

However, if you are looking to get distribution in places other than your online store, such as Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble you’ll need to buy a distribution service that they offer. This is so that (in order to keep the books out of your inventory) you grant Lulu.com the non-exclusive right to print books and fulfill orders for your book, which are placed with their wholesale and retail partners. For $50 they offer a “Published By You” service, which ultimately names you as the publisher and allows you to purchase your own ISBN numbers. For $99 it will be published under Lulu.com but you will not be required to buy your own ISBNs.

Up until a year ago, they were one of the leading online publishers with the best results for getting a listing in Amazon via a partnership.

However, in August of this year, Amazon.com kicked their own self-publishing business, CreateSpace (originally CustomFlix Labs, Inc. in 2002) into gear, leaving Lulu.com with a little competition. CreateSpace is where authors, filmmakers and musicians are able to offer their works to millions of customers on Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com and via their own free customizable eStore without any inventory, setup fees or minimum orders.

According to Amazon, the books made on CreateSpace are printed on demand, display “in stock” availability on Amazon.com and (unlike Lulu.com) can be shipped within 24 hours from when they are ordered. The books are also automatically eligible for Search Inside!™, Amazon Prime™, Super Saver Shipping™ and other Amazon.com programs.

The punch line is clearly this: Amazon makes a percentage of your sales. Amazon earns about 30% of revenue on Amazon.com orders, while eStore orders generate them about 20%.

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Steven Doerfler of Lugaru Software Ltd, with a bit of time on his hands (but obviously money in mind) adapted a previous Lulu.com calculator to a clever Lulu vs CreateSpace Royalty calculator. Certainly worth checking out of you’re looking to compare two of the leading online self-publishing companies. According to Steven, “CreateSpace’s pricing is almost always better than Lulu’s for books sold on Amazon (sometimes by a lot), slightly better for color or very short B&W books sold on storefronts, and worse on longer B&W books sold on storefronts.”

There are also many other notable online self-publishing companies, here is where I’ll name a few:

Dehanna Bailee’s Print-on-Demand Database also offers side-by-side comparisons, though is a little out-dated as of June 2007 and CreateSpace is not listed. Squidoo.com also has a very interesting article on the ins and outs of self-publishing.

There are a few nuances that come with online self-publishing companies, though. Nothing that you wouldn’t expect, but is often criticized by skeptics: there are up sells! Imagine that, offering more services for more money… we’ve never heard of that have we? Honestly, I think it’s great that Amazon, Lulu.com and all of the other online self-publishing companies offer services such as copywriting, design services, and mass distribution. How do you avoid getting suckered into it, though? Use your designers, use your copywriters; basically, use your own sources. It’s as easy as that.

Only you can determine if this is the best route for you or your company, but it’s an avenue worth looking into if you’re thinking of reducing inventory and gaining mass distribution on a smaller level. Or if you’re a pseudo J.K. Rowling waiting to get that first best seller out the door.