Book sales are on an upward trend thanks to the massive explosion in e-commerce in 2020, during which Amazon and other online retailers saw incredible growth. People looking to take their employment into their own hands are building their own online businesses and getting creative with ways to make money online. But it helps to have a product in order to take advantage of the e-commerce boom. Thus, many folks are turning to self-publishing to start making money online with their own authored books.
Gone are the days when one had to hunt down an agent or submit to major publishers. Nowadays, an average person can write a book in a specific niche, get it edited and publish it through reputable self-publishing companies. It’s important to choose the right self-publishing company, though, if you decide to join the self-publishing world and really give your book a legitimate shot on the market.
Here are the top 5 self-publishing companies in 2021:
- MindStir Media is an award-winning self-publishing company, partnered with Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington. Each MindStir author works with a project manager as well as the owner of the company, J.J. Hebert, whose books have all spent time on Amazon Best Seller lists. Hebert mentors clients at MindStir Media, making this self-publishing company a unique option for new and seasoned writers alike. MindStir’s services include author mentoring, book design, editing, distribution, marketing and book publicity. This publisher also provides up to 100% royalties, and authors get to keep their rights.
- Xlibris has been in business for nearly 25 years. The company has assisted thousands of authors with self-publishing. They offer everything from cover design to distribution and marketing. Several of their titles have been acquired by traditional publishing houses.
- Infinity Publishing sells custom publishing to its clients throughout the world. Infinity has worked with 7,000+ authors since 1997. In addition to the self-publishing basics like design and editing, they also pride themselves in the global distribution that they provide for their titles.
- Archway Publishing provides their services in partnership with Author Solutions and Simon & Schuster. They offer a specialized approach through self-publishing packages. They render a concierge service for authors and give opportunities for discovery as an author. Simon & Schuster monitors Archway titles and has been known to acquire a small percentage of titles that do well sales-wise with Archway.
- FriesenPress is the world’s only employee-owned publishing services provider. Headquartered in Canada, FriesenPress’ mission is to “embrace each book as our own and empower authors to share their best stories with the world.” Their publishing service packages start at around $2,000 and consist of book design, printing and distribution.
In conclusion, there are self-publishing companies available to help a writer self-publish any type of book. Don’t let your content prevent you from moving forward with your book. Maybe you have a riveting life story to tell or you want to help the world through an inspirational tale. There are readers wanting to read what you write.
Even though the hope with this article is to help writers and people thinking of writing books, you should always do your due diligence before signing up with any self-publishing firm–or any company for that matter. All of the above companies charge for their self-publishing services and expertise. They will support you at every step of the book publishing process, but they all approach the process a bit differently.
There are other types of self-publishing companies, what they call do-it-yourself options, but we don’t recommend those for beginners. It makes sense to work with professionals if you want to produce a high-quality book with a chance of success. Good luck!