The Other Ten Best Self Publishing Websites

On the list of the Ten Best Self-Publishing Websites one key group of sites was not included. While the focus was on websites that many self-publishers use on a regular bais, there are also the company and government websites that provide the backbone for the self-publishing industry.These websites are no less important.

Readers will note that book wholesalers, print-on-demand companies, online booksellers, publications, and publishing "regulators" are all included below. While there are only two entries within each category, readers should understand that this was purely a stylistic choice. Yes, there is a third and fourth entry available. However, the two listed give you an idea of where to start.

A best self-publishing website, by its nature, should allow you to do everything you need to do to self-publish entirely online. Where it is needed, the companies below do exactly that.

Ingram Book Company is the largest wholesaler in the country. Wholesalers are the folks who, if you have the desire, get your books into bookstores. A word of caution: Almost without exception, new self-publishers cannot get their books into Ingram. It just does not happen. The work-around for that is to get your book listed with Lightning Source. Ingram will fulfill orders using LSI (because it owns the company).

Baker & Taylor is a book wholesaler to retail establishments and to libraries. In particular, if you have a hope of getting your book purchased by libraries, or even better, by library systems, this is where you should go.

Out in the world, there are many print-on-demand companies. The two best, in the opinion of many, are listed below.

Lightning Source is owned by Ingram and provides print-on-demand services. The reason that Lightning Source is chosen by so many people for their POD needs is that Lightning Source has that back-door into Ingram and can provide books to Amazon.com.This means that, should you choose, you do not need to ship books to Amazon yourself. You can submit everything online.

Fidlar Doubleday is a company that is a significant player in print-on-demand. Many self-publishers have been quite happy with the company.It focuses solely on those short-runs of between twenty-five and a thousand copies.You can submit everything online.

Amazon is the world's largest bookseller. Just ask them! While it is not always friendly to the small publisher (see this lawsuit), it is a seller that cannot be avoided. There are many self-publishers that do all of their selling through Amazon. Their goal is to drive traffic in that direction. It is an approach that can work surprisingly well.

Barnes & Noble is an increasing alternative to Amazon. Like its competitor, B & N can get books from Lightning Source as well. There is a thought in self-publishing that it would be a good thing for this company to continue to grow its online presence (and give Amazon a run for its money).

ForeWord Magazine is a book reviewer for independently published books. You would not want to miss the opportunity to get one of your books reviewed here because it can directly result in book sales. Nicely, ForeWord Magazine also gives back to the industry and is a supporter of organizations and conferences. The website has reviews of many books.

Publishers Weekly can seem like over-kill to some in the self-publishing industry because its focus is clearly on the tradition publishing folks. That being said, this is also where your competition's books are discussed. In addition, this is where you discover trends. Don't want to pay for the rather expensive subscription, there is much free content on its website.

Bowker provides many services, but the primary one is the issuing of ISBN numbers. Each book that you publish needs to have a distinct number. In addition, each version (hard, soft, electronic, etc.) needs its own number. Buy a bunch. They go fast. Note: You must get the ISBN number from Bowker. No one can sell you one.

Library of Congress has a couple programs that assign numbers to books that are likely to be purchased by libraries. The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) helps in cataloging your book. After publishing three books, you can also apply for the Cataloging-In-Publication program that provides additional information for the copyright page of your book. CIP data in a book can help with sales.