6 Best Self-Publishing Companies To Know [2021]

Self-publishing is a fruitful space to be in. With digital being the norm, readers are prioritizing online books around the globe. After having your manuscript, cover design, and marketing plan handy, it’s time to find a distribution option that works for you.

With plenty of self-publishing companies to choose from, things can get overwhelming. As a team that helped indies publish over 100,000 books so far, we have insights to share. We go over our top six picks below.

Self-Publishing Companies: Go Digital & Global

It’s important to decide on publishing services that allow you to go digital and global. To maximize your selling potential, sell in every market you can. Good news: the demand for digital books is at an all-time high.

In 2020, indies made 85% more book sales via PublishDrive. The growth was apparent across digital stores, and countries:

In China (the largest market in the world), indies sold 201% more digital copies in 2020. It’s never been a better time to self-publish than now.

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What Are The Best Self-Publishing Companies?

We no longer need large traditional publishers to distribute books. Instead, self-publishing has become an accessible and liberating route for many. Here are the top self-publishing companies to know.

1. Amazon KDP

What to know:

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, with ‘Books’ being its 5th best category. It dominates the United States market, capturing 50% of book sales. With over 200 million people visiting the channel monthly, Amazon is the place to be.

Amazon’s Kindle is a leading e-reading device. The KDP Select program gets your book in Kindle stores in 13 countries, along with Amazon’s subscription program Kindle Unlimited. Do note that KDP Select requires exclusivity, which means you can only sell your book on Amazon for the first 90 days. (For reasons to “go wide” instead, see here.)

For a step-by-step guide on how to publish on KDP, go here.

 

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2. Apple Books

What to know:

As the second-largest ebook store after Amazon, we recommend publishing in Apple Books too. With the Apple Books app pre-installed on every Apple device, that’s a pool of over 1.4 billion users to discover. Don’t miss out on reaching a gigantic portion of book readers in over 50 countries.

PublishDrive gets you production, sales reporting, operational, and book marketing support for stores like Amazon and Apple. When it comes to special promos, we can suggest your title to Apple’s editorial team (we have a 90% approval rate). 

3. Google Play Books

What to know:

Google Play Books is another major publishing platform. Its store app is pre-installed on Android devices. That’s over 2.5 billion users. The Google Play Books Partner Program has stricter guidelines, which makes publishing a bit more complex. Going through an aggregator like PublishDrive speeds up the publishing process.

As the #1 search engine with billions of web pages, publishing with Google ranks you higher in search results. A dedicated Google books page can help you stand out as well.

For a thorough look at how to publish on Google, watch our video:

4. IngramSpark

What to know:

IngramSpark specializes in print books. Its impressive distribution network comprises over 39,000 stores like Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Barnes Noble Press, and Baker & Taylor. Print is still a widely popular format for all ages; the market was up 5.5% despite the pandemic in 2020. Print-on-demand offers a low-cost and low-risk path for publishing authors wanting to sell print copies.

If you want to reach print readers, IngramSpark is the way to go. But we know the costs to get started may deter you. If you go through PublishDrive, you get to skip IngramSpark’s pricing model and only pay a $10 fee to access their entire network. You also get better profit margins by keeping 100% royalties. See how pricing works with PublishDrive.

5. Kobo

What to know:

Rakuten Kobo is a Canadian company with a prominent global presence in over 190 countries. Ebooks appear in mainstream online bookstores beyond the U.S. It’s a rapidly growing channel, where ebook sales hiked by 60% in 2020 via PublishDrive.

Also, Kobo partners with Walmart where titles are pre-loaded to Kobo devices. Walmart is one of the largest and well-known retailers in the U.S. There are up to 100 million monthly visitors at Walmart.com. It’s a newer space for self-published books that you should definitely consider. 

6. PublishDrive

What to know:

Access The Best Self-Publishing Companies With PublishDrive

Here’s something cool: unlike other retailers and aggregators, PublishDrive connects you to channels like Amazon, Apple, Google, IngramSpark, Kobo, and thousands of other channels. (See our list of partners.) We combine the most cutting-edge publishing tools and solutions. With one dashboard, manage everything you need for your indie business.

Since 2015, we've helped indies maximize their royalties by going digital and global. In 2020, we helped over 18,000 authors get published (and boost sales by 85%). Plus, we’re one of the most affordable solutions in the game.