This 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.