Why Use Online Book Publishing Services?

There was once a time when only a handful of book publishing companies held the fate of your book's future. Now, with the latest technology, online book publishing services can format, publish and print books quickly and affordably.

These companies can do so because of a printing method called print-on-demand (POD) publishing, where books are printed and shipped as they are ordered, eliminating the need for the large print runs and warehousing costs that come with traditional publishing methods.

Another way online book publishing services differ from traditional publishers is the number of rights you have to give up to have your book published. With POD publishing, you keep all of your rights to the book, whereas with traditional publishers, you are typically required to give up at least a portion of them.

In addition, because POD book publishing uses the latest technology, the finished products are not only as nice as traditionally published books, but there is less waste in production, giving you a greater royalty earning capacity.

Online book publishers also offer a broad selling base, whether it's through their own online bookstore or through online giants such as Amazon.com, Borders.com, Booksamillion.com and Walmart.com. And through distribution channels that reach over 25,000 retailers, today's POD publishers can sell to brick-and-mortar stores, libraries and other online merchants.

But, perhaps the best advantage that comes with using an online book publishing service is the greater chance your book will be excepted and published. Although online publishing services do not accept everything that's submitted to them, the POD business model simply allows for a much broader-base of quality books to be printed.

In this site you'll find articles on book publishing, recent news stories and comprehensive reviews for online book publishing services to help you make an informed decision on which service is right for you. At TopTenREVIEWS - We do the research so you don't have to.T

What to Look for in an Online Book Publishing Service

The best online book publishing services offer well-rounded and affordable publishing packages, a broad bookselling reach, a wide selection of services you can pay for beyond the price of the publishing package and plenty of help support. Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate each online book publishing service:

• Publishing Package – The best online publishing packages offer pre-publishing, publishing and promotional services, have a quick, overall publishing timeframe and give authors the most for their money.
• Book Selling Reach – Capable online publishers are able to help their published authors sell books through a combination of selling methods, including an onsite bookstore, wholesale distribution channels (i.e. Ingram Book Group, Baker & Taylor, Inc.) and through other major online book retailers.
• Additional Paid Services – Online book publishing services should offer a wide assortment of paid publishing and marketing services, beyond that offered in their publishing packages. A few of these include:
  • Copyediting services
  • Copyright registration services
  • OCR text scanning or data entry services
  • Ghost writing services
  • Art services for cover design
  • Art services for illustration design
  • Expedited publishing services
  • Press release writing and distribution services
  • Co-op discounted advertising services
  • Promotional materials creation services
  • News clipping services
• Help/Support – Top online book publishing services should offer several avenues for support, including toll-free phone and email support or an online form for question submission. It is also helpful if they host a FAQs page and an online 'meeting place' where authors can share ideas and discuss publishing topics via online forum, discussion board or blog.

So whether you're a first-time author or a previously-published novelist that's tired of signing away your rights, online book publishing services offer a fast and inexpensive way to get your book off your computer and into the hands of your readers.

To read our top-ranked book publishing review, click here.