Following a March Chapter 11 filing for bankruptcy, the CJK Group has agreed to the purchase of the assets of Michigan-based printer and self-publishing service provider Thomson-Shore. The employee-owned company has been in existence for 47 years and over the past ten years has expanded far beyond printing services into an array of offset, print-on-demand, handcrafted books, pre-production, and distribution services for large traditional publishers, small…
Troubador Publishing Roll out the Festival Bookshop
For self-publishing authors, it’s the selling of their books that often proves to be hardest. Many self-publishing companies offer simple print ‘on demand’ distribution through online retailers; a few others offer distribution through ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers. But selling books to readers in a market that is increasingly competitive and dominated by the major publishers…
Publishing Service Index: November 2018 [with notes]
This is the last PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX for 2018. Our previous one was released earlier this year in April and I am switching to releasing it just twice a year (generally, Spring and Winter). The index continues to reflect closures of publishing service providers and our latest release sees the departure of one of the stalwarts of the self-publishing…
Amazon Confirms that CreateSpace and KDP Print will Merge into a Single Platform
Not in the least bit unexpected, Amazon has informed authors that its CreateSpace platform is set to merge with KDP Print soon. This has been on the horizon for more than 18 months since Amazon launched KDP Print in 2016. Authors have been receiving an alert notification on their CreateSpace dashboards over recent days and many…
Google Play Books Platform is Open Again to Indie Authors for Direct Uploads
The Google Publisher Program allowed independent authors and small presses to sell ebooks in the Google Play bookstore. When the program was active it become a cesspool of piracy. Fake authors would sell ebooks they never wrote and publishing companies would rename all of the main characters in Harry Potter or 50 Shades of Grey and…
Matador Announce Launch of Audiobook Publishing and Distribution Service for Indie Authors
Press Release Matador, one of the UK’s most widely recommended self-publishing service providers, is delighted to announce that they now offer a complete audiobook creation, publishing and distribution service for self-publishing authors. With an emphasis on top quality production values at a realistic and affordable cost, all the audiobooks will be narrated by professional actors…
Crowdfunding Publisher Unbound Makes Four Editors Redundant
As part of a strategic reorganisation, Crowdfunding publisher Unbound is making four of its editors redundant. The news was first confirmed by commissioning editor Simon Spanton this week via his Twitter account. Spanton tweeted: So; my dream job is not to be as long a dream as I hoped. Due to cost-cutting I am one…
Troubador Publishing Rolls Out its New Website
Troubador Publishing, one of the major publishing service providers for indie authors, has significantly redesigned its website with some impressive improvements. From the Press release: The redesigned Troubador Publishing Ltd website brings together all the imprints associated with Troubador for the first time, from the well-respected Matador imprint to the independently-minded Book Guild – while…
From PubIt! to Nook Press: It is Now Barnes & Noble Press
It started as PubIt! in 2010, and by late 2013 became Nook Press. Retailer Barnes & Noble has struggled with its online self-publishing platform for quite some time. Standby, we have another iteration and rebranding just announced to publishers and authors. Meet Barnes & Noble Press. The link explains what is ‘new’. But in the…
Amazon’s CreateSpace Lay Off More Staff in its Full Service Division
Amazon’s self-publishing service, CreateSpace, is laying off staff in its editing, marketing and design division in July because the company is getting out of the business of offering full service options to indie authors. The layoffs will mostly affect customer service positions. Amazon’s long-term plan looks to be to roll the operations of CreateSpace into Kindle…