UPDATED: 04/15/2016

SUMMARY (see details about each firm below)

• BookLocker: $675 (Deduct $200 if submitting your own cover.)
• Lulu: $1,089
• Infinity Publishing: $1,097 (includes 5 “free” copies)
• CreateSpace: $1,151 (Deduct $299 if submitting your own cover. Add $500 if you want more than one image or color on your cover.)
• Trafford: $1,474
• Xlibris: $1,723
• iUniverse: $1,899 (includes 3 “free” copies)
• Bookbaby: $1,904
• Outskirts Press: $2,095 (includes 10 “free” copies)
• Dog Ear Publishing: $2,198 (includes 5 “free” copies)
• Llumina Publishing: $2,245 (includes 10 “free” copies)
• AuthorHouse: $2,799 (includes 3 “free” copies)
• Xulon Press: $2,845 (includes 5 “free” copies)

CLICK HERE to see details on each firm (including links to complaints about some).

NOTE: All publishers listed offer distribution through Ingram (the world’s largest book distributor), as well as inclusion of their titles in the major online (Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.) and physical bookstore systems. However, some of these publishers, like CreateSpace, may limit where they sell ebooks. CreateSpace has the worst ebook distribution (only one store), which means their authors lose out on ebook sales through BarnesandNoble.com, Apple and Kobo.

**Prices include print publication services and distribution (editing costs are excluded), as well as basic ebook formatting and distribution. Prices also include the cost of production files for those publishers who offer that, but many now don’t. Some don’t give or even sell production files to authors when those authors leave their service. For example, CreateSpace does not give production files to authors under any circumstances, even if the author has paid them thousands to produce those files. Other POD publishers do the same, or charge authors extra for copies of files they already PAID the publisher to produce! This is a ridiculous and extremely greedy practice! In the list below, BookLocker.com and Dog Ear give production files to authors on request at no extra charge. Other publishers either charge hundreds for them, or flat refuse to give or sell them to authors at all. This essentially forces the author to stay with that publisher unless they want to pay publishing/formatting/design fees all over again to someone else if they are unhappy with their publisher. We call this a forced marriage.

NOTE: All publishers listed offer distribution through Ingram (the world’s largest book distributor), as well as inclusion of their titles in the major online (Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.) and physical bookstore systems. However, some of these publishers, like CreateSpace, may limit where they sell ebooks. CreateSpace has the worst ebook distribution (only one store), which means their authors lose out on ebook sales through BarnesandNoble.com, Apple and Kobo.

NOTE: Many companies offer perks that others don’t and some try to upsell authors on extraneous services during the publishing process. Study each publisher and contract carefully before making your choice.

RELATED:

POD SECRETS REVEALED Series

MORE CREATESPACE COMPLAINTS (Part III)

Lots of Imprints and Lots of Complaints! Could You Unwittingly Crawl into Bed with Author Solutions?

More Lulu Complaints – Thinking Of Using Lulu To Publish Your Book? You Might Want To Read These Authors’ Complaints First!

Complaints about AuthorHouse, Complaints about Xlibris, Complaints about iUniverse, Complaints about Trafford, etc., etc.

Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.

BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."

Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.

PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!

Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.

Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)

See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.

ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy

BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks

ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750

ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahoy/

Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/

Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE