Virtualbookworm Publishing Reviewer's Comments

Our #4 online book publishing service is Virtualbookworm.com. With a low price tag, large publishing package and exceptional help support, Virtualbookworm's Level B, paperback package follows closely behind our award winners. However, it's this service's smaller book selling reach—more specifically, its smaller number of titles printed—that kept it from winning one of our top three spots.

Publishing Package:  

Virtualbookworm.com is one of the faster online book publishing services, taking an average of only four to six weeks for complete book publishing. As for royalties, you get a 50 percent of the net price (retail price, minus any discounts and printing costs and then divide by two), regardless of whether your book is sold directly through the book publisher or through a third party.

With the Level B paperback package, Virtualbookworm is one of only a handful of services that offer a free editorial evaluation. You also get manuscript formatting, barcode creation and assigning of both an ISBN number and a Library of Congress Control number. In addition, you also get an original cover design, interior image placement, author discounts and three, free author copies of your book.

Through the site, and a free, monthly newsletter, authors receive access to articles on writing and book marketing and information about writer's conferences, seminars and writing contests.

Although this service offers almost every publishing service we looked for, it doesn't offer a single promotional service as part of the Level B package.

Bookselling Reach:  

This is the area where this publishing company struggles. Although it uses both Baker & Taylor, Inc. and Ingram Book Group for retail distribution, its meager, 650-plus total number of titles printed and its overall book-selling capability need some improvement before this service can rank any higher with us.

Additional Paid Services:  

If you're willing to pay extra, Virtualbookworm offers a wide selection of additional services, including copyediting, art creation for both cover designs and illustrations, hardcover and color printing, ebook formatting and ghost writing. You can also pay to have a CD ROM archive of your finished book created.

Paid promotional services available through this service include press release writing and distribution, public appearance arrangements and co-op discount advertising through The New York Times Book Review and Radio Television Interview Report. Other paid services include the creation of full-color posters, single-sheet flyers, business cards, bookmarks and postcards for use in book promotion. Virtualbookworm.com also offers web domain registration, website design, banner advertisement and live-link, web-button design services.

Help/Support:  

Virtualbookworm supports its authors through toll-free phone support, a knowledge base of FAQs, an online form for submitting questions and requests and hosts both a bulletin board and a blog for its authors' use-in all, offering more support than any other service we reviewed.

Summary:  

With a strong publishing package, a long list of additional paid extras and some of the best help support around, Virtualbookworm.com is a tip-top publishing service. The only problem we found with this service is that it just doesn't have the book selling reach offered by our top-ranked products.