Review: Top Self-Publishing Firms

Top Self-Publishing Firms: How Writers Get Published, Sell More Books, and Rise to the Top and Make Money Working from Home
with the Best Print On Demand Self-Publishing Companies
Stacie Vander Pol
Copyright 2008
CreateSpace
ISBN:1440407541
Paperback, 156 pages, $16.95
Nonfiction

In my Self-Publishing Primer, I differentiate between subsidy publishing and self-publishing. So when Stacie Vander Pol asked me to review her book Top Self Publishing Firms: How Writers Get Published, Sell More Books, and Rise to the Top: and Make Money Working from Home with the Best Print On Demand Self-Publishing Companies, I warned her that I had a quibble with her definition of self-publishing. However, she suggested that we agree to disagree on the definitions and that I read the book for the information it provides.

Stacie’s goal is not to convince the reader to publish their book through a self-publishing (or subsidy publishing) company. The book is designed for writers who have already done their research on publishing options and decided this option is right for them. Her purpose is to help writers choosing to publish through one of these companies to find the best company for them, and her focus is on how successful the companies’ clients are in selling books.

Chapter 1 begins this way:

This book profiles the top twenty-six self-publishing firms based on their sales results. Other factors in self-publishing are important, but without sales none of them matter. Book sales will determine how much money you make, how seriously you are taken as a writer, and how much recognition your book receives.

She gives examples of the Amazon sales rank of books published by the companies she profiles, and she covers services provided in the publishing packages offered by these kinds of companies.  Most useful for a writer choosing a publishing company, however, are the comparison chart and the profiles of individual companies.

Specific details, such as available packages and costs, may change, so I recommend that you verify the information before choosing a company. However, Top Self Publishing Firms is a valuable resource because you will have a list of the companies that consistently have the best sales, and you will have complete contact information (including Web site URL) to make it easy for you to confirm current services offered and prices.

Before using this book, you need to determine if publishing through what Stacie calls a self-publishing company and I call a subsidy publishing company is the best choice for you. If you decide to publish through one of these companies, then this book can help you choose the right company.

Stacie will be here on Wednesday for an interview and to answer your questions. Be sure to come back then to learn more.