“Good Self-Publishing Companies for eBooks, Paperbacks, and Comics” by Joan Y. Edwards
Self Publishing has been an option since before 2004. After I exhausted 35 years searching for a publisher for Flip Flap Floodle I self-published it with Booksurge which Amazon bought and merged with CreateSpace which became KDP Print on Amazon. Ebooks began in late 1990s.
I am not an expert on this. I am telling you what I learned through searching for good ways to consider to self-publish one of my children’s picture books and chapter books with illustrations. I thought I would share information I found helpful. But please don’t take my word for it. Check the publishers’ websites that I mention or others that you find. Compare 2 or 3 and decide which one is best for you.
Depending upon the publisher, here’s what you might need:
A book with illustrations put in Word format (.doc or .docx). Some companies need it in pdf format. Others may have a template for you to copy and paste your text and illustrations into. If you already have an eBook, some self-publishers can take that and make a print book or publish it in their system to offer for sale.
If you are planning to self-publish, here are a few questions to ask a representative of your prospective company or find out on their website.
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How much do you charge for creating my book?
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Do you furnish an ISBN number free for my ebook and print book? If not, how much will it cost? Can I use it when if I offer it for sale on other sites? eBooks and print books must have an ISBN number. (Amazon doesn’t give eBooks ISBNs.)
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What size book do you want?
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What size do they print?
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Do you want it portrait mode or landscape mode?
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Do you want an eBook or a print book? or both?
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Where does the publisher distribute books published on their site?
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What format will your book have to be in to get it published as an eBook or in print?
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If you want an audible book, does the publisher create audible books?
I suggest contacting the publishers or visit their store and purchase one of their books in the format you plan to use so you can see the quality of the book.
What you’ll need for your book
Cover
Copyright page
Dedication Page
Table of Contents
Backmatter
For Paperback or eBooks
After the main story, put an about the author page and a marketing page with website, logo, and perhaps your favorite quote to inspire your readers, where to place review, other books by the author,
Reedsy offers many options to help you get your book edited and print ready. They partner with Blurb to create, print, and market your book. Reedsy also has many YouTube videos with excellent tips on writing. Their opinions seem to be in the writer’s best interest.
Amazon’s KDP has high ratings by authors in publishing both paperback and eBooks and distributing your book to their sites in many countries. They offer places for people to review your books. You can change your prices and Amazon offers you the opportunity to offer your eBooks for free for 90 days. They give you a free ISBN for paperbacks and hardbacks. They do not require an ISBN for their eBooks.
I was looking for a publisher who would distribute to different avenues besides Amazon in the USA. A self-publisher who might submit my book to different venues for me. I found Draft2Digital.
Draft2Digital seems to do an awesome job of not only creating an eBook or paperback book for you, they will provide ISBN numbers for you. They will also distribute your book to Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Ingram (which includes Barnes and Noble and other book stores who can purchase through them for their stores). They send you a check for your sales royalties. They keep 10% of your royalties (Check the details on their website). They can create your ebook from a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx). If you have an ebook already in ePub format, they can use that, too. For a print book and its cover, they can use PDF. For marketing, they offer a Universal Book Link helps readers buy your book on their retailer of choice. (I think this is awesome. One site, buyers click on the seller they want). I checked with Draft2Digital. They do not publish print books with fewer than 64 pages.
In my research, most lists of best self-publishers include the following ten companies. I put them in alphabetical order. I placed an asterisk by my favorite: Draft2Digital:
1. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Global, free ISBN for print books-they don’t require one for ebooks. eBook, paperback, hardback, audible.
2. Apple Books for Authors – global, no ISBN required for ebooks, eBooks, audible Books (no print books) 70% royalties, can offer free to anyone you want.
3. Barnes and Noble Press (used to be Nook Press), global, provides free ISBNs, eBooks, audible, paperback, and hardback (if you need help they’ve partnered with Reedsy)
4. Bookbaby, global, sell you ISBN for $49.00 each, eBooks, audible, paperback, hardback, you can buy ISBNs from them.
5. *Draft2Digital (United States has services that will sell your book other places), free ISBNs, eBooks, audible books, paperbacks
6. Ingram Spark – Global, free ISBNs, eBooks, audible books, paperbacks, hardbacks.
7. Kobo Global, does not require ISBN number for ebooks, Publish eBooks and audible books
8. Lulu global, I think you furnish your ISBNs. Not sure, eBooks, paperbacks, comics, magazines, cookbooks, photo books.
9. PublishDrive – global. You have to furnish your own ISBN number. They publish: eBooks, audible books, and paperback books.
10. Reedsy – Need to furnish your ISBN numbers, book editing, design, and marketing. They use Blurb to print and distribute ebooks and print books authors create on their site.
If you want to try a traditional publisher, here is my article, “50 Publishers Who Accept Unsolicited Submissions:”
https://joanyedwards.com/50-publishers-who-accept-unsolicited-manuscripts/
Thank you Donate PayPal Me and Pixabay for allowing me to use your image.
Comic Books
If you want to publish a comic book or a crossword or wordsearch puzzle book with a thinner cover, I found the following companies that print them and saddle-stitch them or if a low number of pages, staple them. They can saddles-stitch up to 80 pages, not sure that included the cover pages: You will have an outside front cover, an inside front cover, an inside back cover and and outside back cover for your comic book.
Saddle stitch binding requires that any publication has a minimum of eight pages, four pages per spread and up to 92 total pages. Saddle stitch documents need to be built in page multiples of 4 pages (8, 12, 16, etc.) because they are printed on sheets that are folded in half.
You can also get a comic paper back bound like graphic novels. You can publish them as eBooks and print format.
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Grekoprinting – Comix WellSpring. https://www.grekoprinting-comixwellspring.com/comics-saddle-stitch-staple-binding/ Comics WellSpring $66.25 for 25 = $2.65 each.
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Bookbaby Only bound paper back, graphic novel. https://www.bookbaby.com/book-printing/comic-book-printing
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LuLu Comic Books. I think it is free to get in print format. You can buy copies for yourself to sell or sell them online in their store. You receive royalties for books sold. Check with LuLu representative for details.
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Mixam Comic Books – 100 @ $120.50 $1.20 each.
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Morris Publishing – 25 comic books – $17.00
These companies change their preferences and offerings, please check with them for their latest publishing plans.
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Joan Y. Edwards, Author
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