Self-publishing world

The number of books self-published in the U.S. saw more rapid growth in 2018, jumping 40% over 2017, according to Bowker's annual survey of the self-publishing market. In its report, "Self-Publishing in the United States, 2013-2018: Print and E-books," the total number of print and e-books that were self-published in 2018 was 1.68 million, up from 1.19 million in 2017.

When it comes to determining what the best service for print on demand books is, there's no easy answer. It depends on a number of factors, including: the type of book you're printing, your budget, your plans for online distribution, whether you want to distribute to brick-and-mortar bookstores, and the quality of the printers.

Last year, some of the best-selling books in the world were poetry books, created by Instagram Poets like Rupi Kaur, Atticus, Nayyirah Waheed, and Nikita Gill. These poets, whose work appears in visual form all over social media and garners hundreds of thousands of followers, often found success in choosing to self-publish poetry.  Read more

When you look around at the most beloved books of the past decade, the books that seem destined to be classics, one thing becomes clear:

Small presses are amazing.

Welcome to my annual publishing predictions post where I prognosticate about the future and share my views on the state of the indie nation.

Each year around this time I polish off my imaginary crystal ball and ask it what the heck is going to happen next.

My crystal ball was a bit surly this year. The first thing it told me was, "you don't want to know." Less than helpful.  Read more