Best Self Publishing Companies 2019 | Which Companies to Avoid

About this video

Dale surveys what he calls the best self-publishing companies in 2019 and how to spot ones to avoid. He starts with Amazon KDP and ACX for audiobooks as the obvious default for beginners. His ‘big four’ Amazon alternatives are Apple Books, which he says pays 70% royalties without KDP’s $2.99-$9.99 window for that rate; Barnes & Noble Press, limited to US distribution; Rakuten Kobo, which he notes had developed a relationship with Walmart and recently took on audiobooks; and Google Play Books, at a 55% royalty but with better discoverability through Google search. Aggregators publish to many retailers for typically about a 10% fee: IngramSpark has the biggest distribution (even KDP uses it for expanded distribution), Lulu is improving but pays best through its own store, and his favorites from personal use are Draft2Digital, PublishDrive and Smashwords, praising Draft2Digital’s automated interior formatting. For audiobooks beyond ACX he names Author’s Republic and Findaway Voices, useful where ACX is unavailable outside the US, UK, Canada and Ireland, based on reports from students and viewers since he had not used them himself. Rather than naming companies to avoid, he gives red flags: never sign away your copyright or exclusive rights, citing an interviewed author whose vanity press went out of business, kept 100% of his rights, cut communication and kept profiting; beware lifetime exclusivity contracts, contrasting them with KDP Select’s 90-day terms; and never invest upfront money you cannot stand to lose, noting IngramSpark’s roughly $49 upload fee, $25 for updated content and bring-your-own ISBN, and BookBaby’s all-upfront model that then pays 100% royalties.

Key takeaways

• Start with Amazon KDP and ACX, but the big four alternatives are Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Press, Kobo and Google Play Books
• Apple Books pays 70% without a price window; Google Play pays 55% but offers search discoverability; Barnes & Noble Press is US-only
• Aggregators like IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, PublishDrive and Smashwords distribute widely for typically about a 10% fee
• Red flag: any deal taking your copyright or exclusive rights — a vanity press kept one author’s rights after going out of business
• Avoid lifetime exclusivity and never put up front money you cannot afford to lose permanently

Episode details: published July 18, 2019 · 12:15 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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