Publishing Service Index: January 2015

indexJan_2015
indexJan_2015This is the PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX for January 2015. We are a little late in presenting the latest ratings and it should be noted that it does not include the most recent review updates for Wingspan Press and Matador. The index also does not reflect the closure of DellArte Press this month (February). It does reflect some review updates and author feedback up until the end of January. We have two new reviewed service providers entering the index for the first time — Draft2Digital (D2D) and Authoright. D2D enters in a very healthy and respectable 18th position. As with all new entries, it will take a month or two for them to settle into their natural positions on the index. The TIPM Publishing Service Index only reflects comments and customer feedback once a company is floated onto the index.

 

There is little major change in the top positions for January and this is common after a lengthy holiday period in the publishing industry. The February index will see the departure of Authors OnLine (which closed last year) and the final index position for DellArte Press. Of course any new providers reviewed before the publication of the February index will be floated in and included for the first time.

 

TIPM continues to receive regular feedback on services through comments under our reviews, via our TIPM Facebook page, and directly to us. Your comments are always welcome and every comment and experience of a publishing service—positive or negative—is always reflected in every new index published through TIPM.

 

JAN POS DEC POS COMPANY/SERVICE PROVIDER PRIMARY COMPANY BASEMARKET SERVICE CLASS JAN INDEX VALUE INDEX POS MOVE
1 1 CreateSpace USA DIY/FSP 654.72 SAME
2 2 IngramSpark GLOBAL PRT/FUL 644.7 SAME
3 3 Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) GLOBAL DIY 625.2 SAME
4 4 Smashwords USA DIY 527.2 SAME
5 5 Lightning Source (Direct) GLOBAL PRT/FUL 526.62 SAME
6 6 Matador UK FSP 470.24 SAME
7 7 Mill City Press USA PUB/FSP 435.03 SAME
8 8 Lulu GLOBAL DIY/FSP 413.8 SAME
9 9 Blurb GLOBAL DIY 405.42 SAME
10 10 SilverWood Books USA FSP 395.89 SAME
11 11 BookLocker USA FSP 371.36 SAME
12 12 Bookbaby USA DIY/FSP 366.3 SAME
13 13 Kobo Writing Life GLOBAL DIY 348.1 SAME
14 15 Publish Green GLOBAL FSP 335.52 UP
15 14 Selfpublishing.com USA PRT/FUL 334.2 DOWN
16 16 Dog Ear Publishing USA FSP 327.52 SAME
17 17 York Publishing Services UK PRT/FULL 319.67 SAME
18 NEW Draft2Digital UK/USA DIY 318.41 NEW
19 18 Unbound UK PUB/CRW 318.3 DOWN
20 19 John Hunt Publishing GLOBAL PUB/FSP 307.26 DOWN
21 22 Thomson-Shore USA PRT/FSP 304.11 UP
22 20 Wingspan USA FSP 302.01 DOWN
23 21 CPI UK Antony Rowe EUROPE PRT 301.71 DOWN
24 25 eBookIT DIY/FSP 298.26 UP
25 23 Mijn Bestseller EUROPE DIY 298.15 DOWN
26 24 Aventine USA FSP 298 DOWN
27 28 VirtualBookVorm USA FSP 294.91 UP
28 26 Book Country GLOBAL FSP 292.96 DOWN
29 27 Checkpoint Press IRELAND PUB/FSP 291.34 DOWN
30 29 SelfPublishBooks/Lettertec IRELAND FSP 287.43 DOWN
31 30 Infinity Publishing USA FSP 287.04 DOWN
32 32 Wheatmark Publishing USA FSP 284.9 SAME
33 33 Apex Publishing UK PUB/FSP 284.38 SAME
34 31 Acorn Independent Press UK FSP 283.76 DOWN
35 36 iUniverse USA FSP 283.71 UP
36 35 Wasteland Press USA FSP 283.23 DOWN
37 37 Outskirts Press USA FSP 282.1 SAME
38 34 Grosvenor House Publishing UK FSP 281.27 DOWN
39 38 The Choir Press UK/USA FSP 281.23 DOWN
40 39 Cold River Studio USA FSP 280.63 DOWN
41 40 Tate Publishing USA PUB/FSP 277.22 DOWN
42 NEW Authoright UK/USA FSP 276.22 NEW
43 41 Xulon Press USA FSP 276.08 DOWN
44 42 Americas Press USA PRT 276.02 DOWN
45 43 Pumbo EUROPE DIY 274.71 DOWN
46 45 PubliBook EUROPE DIY 271.57 DOWN
47 44 FastPencil USA DIY 271.33 DOWN
48 46 Telemachus Press USA FSP 270.46 DOWN
49 47 Janus Publishing UK FSP 269.33 DOWN
50 48 Diadem Books UK/USA FSP 267.94 DOWN
51 50 Llumina Press USA PUB/FSP 266.65 DOWN
52 49 Kbuuk USA DIY 266.23 DOWN
53 51 Open Book Editions USA FSP 266.06 DOWN
54 52 Direct POD UK PRT 265.55 DOWN
55 53 Abbott Press USA PUB/FSP 265.43 DOWN
56 58 Eprint Ireland IRELAND PRT 265.24 UP
57 55 Pyjama Press UK/EUROPE FSP 265.03 DOWN
58 57 A.H. Stockwell UK FSP 264.02 DOWN
59 56 AuthorHouse GLOBAL FSP 263.76 DOWN
60 54 Book Guild Publishing UK FSP 263.21 DOWN
61 62 Pomegranate Press UK/USA FSP 262.29 UP
62 59 Original Writing IRELAND FSP 261.6 DOWN
63 60 True Directions USA PUB/FSP 261.25 DOWN
64 61 The Book Producers IRELAND FSP 260.46 DOWN
65 65 Austin MacAuley UK FSP 256.74 SAME
66 64 Better Book Company UK FSP 256.16 DOWN
67 66 Turning Stone Press USA FSP 255.75 DOWN
68 63 UKUnpublished UK FSP 254.59 DOWN
69 67 Archway Publishing GLOBAL PUB/FSP 253.82 DOWN
70 68 Xlibris GLOBAL FSP 252.54 DOWN
71 70 Arima UK FSP 248.43 DOWN
72 69 Balboa Press GLOBAL PUB/FSP 248.33 DOWN
73 71 Trafford Publishing USA FSP 247.9 DOWN
74 73 Gemini International IRELAND PRT 246.22 DOWN
75 72 WestBow Press USA PUB/FSP 242.97 DOWN
76 74 Epic Press UK FSP 242.24 DOWN
77 75 Chandler Book Design UK PRT 241.87 DOWN
78 76 Choice Publishing IRELAND FSP 240.75 DOWN
79 77 Dolman Scott/Oak Press UK FSP 238.66 DOWN
80 79 DellArte Press USA PUB/FSP 236.52 DOWN
81 80 Dorrance Press USA FSP 232.86 DOWN
82 78 Spire Publishing UK/USA FSP 228.45 DOWN
83 81 ShopMyBook (Unibook) GLOBAL PRT 228.1 DOWN
84 82 Spiderwize UK FSP 223.39 DOWN
85 85 PublishAmerica/America Star Books USA FSP 213.62 SAME
86 84 Pegasus Elliot MacKenzie UK PUB/FSP 210.02 DOWN
87 87 Dom Tom Publishing UK/USA FSP 208.02 SAME
88 86 Melrose Books UK FSP 206.69 DOWN
89 83 Olympia Publishers UK PUB/FSP 199.14 DOWN
90 88 Raider International Pub./Green Shore GLOBAL FSP 105.71 DOWN
91 89 Authors On Line UK FSP 102 DOWN
(KEY)
  • DIY – Do-it-yourself bespoke services
  • FSP – Full Service Provider (Packages & Bespoke) – May also include Partnership publishing programs
  • PUB – Also offers Mainstream Contracts or is a service imprint of a traditional publishing house
  • PRT – Printer (primarily a printer with some additional but limited services)
  • FULL – Fulfilment Services provided for distribution logistics, warehousing of stock (including supply to wholesaler and retailers)
  • CRW – Crowdsource

There is a much more detailed explanation of what the Publishing Service Index is and how authors can best use it in this post.

The most asked question we get at The Independent Publishing Magazine is often along the lines of; ‘What self-publishing service should I go with?‘; ‘Is so and so a good service to go with?‘; or ‘Is so and so a scam?

In some cases, that is an easy question to answer, cut and dry, but in other circumstances, the answer is entirely arbitrary. We are not here to review and run down a company’s name, nor are we here to endorse a company’s services. If we were only to review companies according to every point on an ideal dream list of what an author wants/should get, we would have very few reviews to share with you. In truth, no company has ever attained a 10/10, and only a few have recorded more than 08/10.

 

The reality is that some companies offering publishing services begin in a blaze of glory and we might rate them favourably at the time; others, frankly, are just poor, and they improve (sometimes in response to our reviews) to offer reasonable or better services. We are constantly updating our reviews, but this takes considerable time, and so do the initial reviews.

 

We get a vast amount of information from authors and the companies selling author solutions services every day – good and bad. We get a great deal of information from monitoring services week by week against the experiences of what authors report back to us. Simply put, and truthfully, we cannot reflect all of this information through the reviews. That is why the comments section under each company we review is so important. It is your recording and dealings with that specific company, and a positive or negative flag to subsequent authors considering using the same company.

 

So, how do we reflect the changing ups and downs with services?

 

We believe the PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX will help to guide authors to services on the up, and those, gradually on the down. If you like, what we present is a kind of stock exchange for companies supplying publisher services.

 

The PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX was first launched in June 2010.
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