Top 10 eBook self-publishing platforms
October 13, 2024 | Editor: Laura Candler
eBook self-publishing platforms enable authors to publish and sell their books digitally without the need for traditional publishing houses.
1
Publish your books independently with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) on the Amazon Kindle Store. Make changes to your book at any time. Publish once and reach readers worldwide. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes. Your book appears on Amazon within 24 hours. Make your book available on Kindle devices and on free Kindle apps.
2
Do you have a story to tell? Are you an author with a bestseller just waiting to be discovered? Want to reach out to millions of readers in over 190 countries? Do you own the digital rights to your work? Then have we got the tool for you! Kobo Writing Life is the one-stop, do-it-yourself publishing portal.
3
Self-Publishing platforms that provides tools and services that let authors focus on writing while we take care of layout, publishing, distribution, print-on-demand paperbacks, and more.
4
An unlimited, ever-growing library of free books and stories all in the palm of your hand! On Wattpad, millions of people are discovering great fiction, sharing stories with friends and following their favorite authors chapter-by-chapter.
5
Publish your books on Google Play and reach billions of readers around the world. Books on Google Play can be discovered and previewed on the world's most popular search engine through Google Books. The Play Books Partner Center makes it easy to upload content, set prices, and choose the countries where you want to sell your books.
6
Share your story with the world. Get the knowledge, tools, and inspiration to help the world read or listen to yours. Turn your book into an audiobook with digital narration.
7
Lulu pioneered the self-publishing industry and paved the way for people around the world to publish books and bring them to market, while allowing authors to retain full control of their work. Operating a global network, Lulu provides worldwide distribution so that authors can reach readers just about anywhere via print, e-readers and tablet devices. As the leading independent self-publishing company, Lulu has enabled people in more than 225 countries and territories to self-publish nearly two million publications, including 1.5 million books.
8
Welcome to Barnes & Noble Press—a free, fast, and easy-to-use self-publishing service that enables you to publish and sell directly to our millions of readers. We've taken all the great aspects of NOOK Press and created one unified experience to make publishing your print or eBook as seamless as possible. Whether you're a seasoned or first-time author, or you simply want to print a beautiful book for personal use, Barnes & Noble Press helps you create your book, your way. We're here to help independent authors and content creators succeed by using the expertise and resources of Barnes & Noble.
9
Inkitt is the world’s first reader-powered publisher, providing a platform to discover hidden talents and turn them into globally successful authors. Write captivating stories, read enchanting novels, and we’ll publish the books our readers love most on our sister app, GALATEA and other formats.
10
Online eBook Platform for self-publishing authors, publishers and readers, allows to list your books in the Media365 global catalog and reach over 1 million readers.
11
Smashwords is the world's largest distributor of indie ebooks. We make it fast, free and easy for any author or publisher, anywhere in the world, to publish and distribute ebooks to the major retailers. We provide free tools for marketing, distribution, metadata management and sales reporting. At Smashwords, our authors and publishers have complete control over the sampling, pricing and marketing of their written works.
12
With over 15 million publications, Issuu is the fastest growing digital publishing platform in the world. Millions of avid readers come here every day to read the free publications created by enthusiastic publishers from all over the globe with topics in fashion, lifestyle, art, sports and global affairs to mention a few. And that's not all. We've also got a prominent range of independent publishers utilizing the Issuu network to reach new fans every day.
13
Publishing service for indie authors that connects them to 400+ retail sites and thousands of digital libraries. Convert your manuscript for free. Distribute your ebooks for no upfront cost. Get into hundreds of stores and thousands of libraries worldwide. Your book could be in the stores within days.
14
FastPencil enables authors to independently create books online, collaborate, publish and distribute from one engaging, simple, cost-effective solution. Plus, you only pay when you publish and buy books! Write, design, publish & sell books and ebooks on Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Ingram, Kindle, Nook and more...
15
Booklocker.com is an online bookstore that sells print and ebooks on all subjects - from everyday to unusual and eclectic - by new authors. While firms like Author Solutions (owner of AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford and more) are squeezing authors out of thousands to tens of thousands of dollars (which we’re betting most authors will never recover in resulting book sales), BookLocker is going in the opposite direction – offering new publishing packages for any budget. By popular demand, we have launched a no-setup-fee D.I.Y. Publishing Program where authors can submit pre-formatted PDF files and pay no setup fees.
16
Leanpub is the best way in the world to write a book. This is especially true if you're publishing an in-progress computer programming book, but you'll find all kinds of books here. Leanpub empowers authors to support their favorite causes directly, by automatically sharing their royalties via our Leanpub for Causes program.
17
Pressbooks is the versatile, user-friendly publishing platform educators rely on to create, adapt, and share accessible, interactive, web-first books.
Latest news about eBook self-publishing platforms
03.03.24. Self-publishing platform Lulu integrates with website builder Wix
In the vast and often baffling galaxy of book selling, directly connecting with your audience is not just a good idea; it’s the secret sauce of revenue growth and loyal readership. With traditional retailers behaving more erratically than a Vogon poetry recital, Lulu Direct has rather cunningly engineered a way to bypass the whole bewildering mess. It links your very own ecommerce realm directly to Lulu’s intergalactic print-on-demand network. Now, thanks to the brilliant new integration with Wix, you can effortlessly plug your Wix site into Lulu Direct, allowing for direct book sales that you can track and manage with more ease than Marvin experiencing a rare good mood. True, Wix may not boast Shopify’s vast plugin constellation or WordPress’s endless tweakability, but its simplicity makes it ideal for navigating the dark and treacherous waters of website creation without needing a Babel fish.
2023. Wattpad Premium subscribers now have access to 5 free monthly Wattpad Originals
Imagine, if you will, a grand and slightly eccentric narrative experiment devised by Wattpad, now called "Premium Picks." Under the great umbrella of its freemium model, Wattpad offers Premium and Premium+ subscribers a rather splendid deal: five of their Wattpad Originals, gratis, each and every month. Gone are the days of individual content payments—this is a curated buffet, handpicked by Wattpad’s team of literary connoisseurs, blending celebrated blockbusters with unsung gems from both literary legends and bright-eyed up-and-comers. The catch? Well, not so much a catch as a clever ticking clock: these tales are freely available until the first of the next month. After that, should you wish to resume your journey through an unfinished story, your wallet may politely nudge you. To keep things lively, Wattpad has thoughtfully added a countdown timer to the Premium Picks screen and a system of cheery app nudges, lest you miss the arrival of the next story feast.
2023. Kindle Direct Publishing Launches ebooks to audiobooks using AI Voices
In a move that can only be described as a cocktail of ambition, technology, and a dash of synthetic wizardry, Kindle Direct Publishing has launched a beta program in the United States, likely in the hopes of helping authors save money—or at the very least, keep their hard-won royalties from evaporating in the sonic void of audiobook production costs. This experiment, a blend of virtual voice narration and synthetic speech that could make even a toaster sound intelligent, enables authors to transform their cherished ebooks into fully narrated audiobooks. The beta program will, of course, expand as Amazon irons out the inevitable quirks of talking computers and extends its reach beyond U.S. borders. Authors jumping on board will choose an eligible ebook, indulge in the alchemical task of sampling synthetic voices (preferably before they develop opinions), and preview their creation before hitting publish. With prices ranging from a modest $3.99 to a princely $14.99, they’ll pocket a 40% royalty—hopefully enough to keep the lights on in the intergalactic author’s lounge.
2023. AnyBook wants to become the Netflix of the publishing world
rephrase in Douglas Adams style (one paragraph) and keep tags: The new startup AnyBook aspires to become the "Netflix" of the publishing industry. This startup is developing a tailored, AI-driven community library to enhance the reader's experience. Using their algorithm, the platform will analyze readers' habits and offer a selection of books tailored to their interests. This service will include a book kiosk feature for organizations, aligning book choices with readers' preferences. AnyBook will continuously assess book popularity and analyze reader feedback. Moreover, it will serve as a hub for sharing reviews, recommendations and content. AnyBook will empower companies, urban spaces and schools to provide relevant books to their employees and community members.
2023. Amazon limits self-published ebooks to only 3 a day because of AI
In a move that would likely be approved by the Intergalactic Bureau of Moderation (if such an entity existed, which fortunately it doesn’t), Amazon has decided to grapple with the tidal wave of AI-generated books by implementing a rather humbling new rule: self-published authors may now only upload a maximum of three ebooks per day. This restraint isn’t without reason. You see, Amazon recently found itself in a spot of cosmic disarray when its bestseller lists became rather uncomfortably thick with ebooks crafted by, of all things, AI language models like ChatGPT. The machines, in their infinite yet deeply flawed wisdom, produced works that led readers on baffling journeys through pages of nonsense—much to the outrage of many. Earlier this year, things got stranger still: AI books outnumbered those written by their organic counterparts, with some titles offering the unwitting reader guidance on such innocent topics as mushroom foraging. Unfortunately, these guides, lacking the knowledge only a genuine fungi fan could possess, made errors of the type one should only make if hoping to achieve permanent oblivion. When asked by numerous media outlets to comment on this peculiar infestation, Amazon promptly deleted the offending titles, preferring not to explore the risk of unintentionally cultivating an interplanetary mushroom crisis.
2023. Amazon released AI guidelines for Kindle Direct Publishing
In an effort to tackle what can only be described as an intergalactic flood of AI-generated books elbowing their way onto Amazon’s virtual shelves and sneakily cozying up to the Kindle Bestseller's list, Amazon KDP has unveiled a set of guidelines with the kind of fanfare usually reserved for the unveiling of a new starship model. These rules, in their infinite wisdom, now require authors to fess up if their literary offspring happen to feature AI-generated anything—be it imagery, prose, or the odd translation mishap. The great galactic catch is that this applies not only to new books but also to any tweaked and re-released editions, even if the tweaking involved a bit of AI wizardry. However, if an author merely uses AI as a well-mannered assistant to polish their prose rather than conjure it from thin air, they’re off the hook—mostly. Everyone, AI-inclined or not, must still adhere to Amazon’s all-important content guidelines. The mission? To restore a semblance of order and elevate the literary galaxy’s standards, ensuring readers aren’t accidentally downloading the next "AI tries to write Shakespeare and somehow invents Vogon poetry" disaster.
2023. Wattpad has launched Publishing Scheduler
If you happen to be an author on the Wattpad self-publishing platform—and let’s face it, statistically speaking, there’s a fairly decent chance you are—you may have pondered the idea of pre-scheduling your Story Parts, imagining a world where your readers blissfully glide from one chapter to the next without that nagging interval of suspense and impatience. Well, rejoice! The fine folks at Wattpad have engineered exactly that with their rather magnificently titled "Wattpad Publishing Scheduler." This sparkling new feature exists solely to alleviate the burden of manual uploads while ensuring your readers remain thoroughly hooked, even if you’re off on a much-deserved holiday or hopelessly lost in a spiraling subplot. Currently available only on the web version (the mobile app is eagerly catching up, apparently), this scheduler lives in your "My Stories" section, dutifully allowing you to set release dates with a flick of a finger. It's a cunning tool for authors to keep readers happily engaged while retaining just a bit more of that precious resource called ‘free time.'
2023. Kindle Direct Publishing has updated category selection
In a move that some might find ever-so-slightly reminiscent of a Vogon bureaucrat’s notion of efficiency, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) has cheerfully re-engineered the book categorization process—because why shouldn’t things be a bit more confusing? Previously, authors enjoyed the bewildering luxury of selecting multiple categories for their literary masterpieces. Now, in the spirit of simplifying complexity, Amazon has kindly limited this choice to three. Yes, just three. Which, in a galaxy of countless books, raises the delightful specter of your magnum opus vanishing into the nebulous mists of "other titles." But wait, there’s more! Amazon has also reserved the thrilling right to reshuffle your book’s categories whenever it deems necessary, all in the name of a "positive customer experience." So, to avoid Amazon making these mystifying decisions for you, it would be wise to dash over to your KDP dashboard and personally select these elusive three categories. Failing that, Amazon will helpfully assign two categories it finds relevant, with a certain unspoken shrug of inevitability. Yes, authors, now is the time to grasp the reins of categorization destiny, lest your literary gem drift into the void, classified by algorithms with all the empathy of an automated tea dispenser.
2023. Wattpad improves its Creator Program for writers
In a universe where aspiring storytellers endlessly tap away at keyboards while dreaming of literary grandeur, Wattpad—that behemoth of online storytelling realms—has decided it’s time to recalibrate its creator-centric apparatus, making it a tad more welcoming for those who type in the shadows. Now, the Wattpad Creators program (in its second, somewhat heroic year), first hatched twelve months prior, exists to lavish writers with an array of small, often useful benefits, opportunities, and forms of practical aid—all tailored to coax outstanding tales from even the most hesitant of scribes. It’s all in the name of nurturing their uniquely baffling "Engaged Reader" metric and bestowing them with the sort of accolades they rightly imagine themselves deserving of. Formerly an exclusive club, accessible only by invitation, this revamped iteration promises a bit more democratic sparkle. Realizing that not every author can simply dash off to posh workshops or exotic retreats, Wattpad aims to replicate a similar experience in its virtual realm, delivering community, camaraderie, and a sprinkling of wisdom to boot.
2023. PublishDrive adds Sales Events to help authors market their books
PublishDrive, in a move that would make even the most perplexing galactic bureaucracy look like a beginner's guide, has rolled out a series of sparkling enhancements to its self-publishing platform for authors. The menu now glides with upgraded elegance, while an integrated tutorial patiently whispers directions for navigating its labyrinth of features. Sales analytics and reports, once resembling something best left to advanced mathematicians or clairvoyants, now present themselves with a clarity that even a Vogon could admire. The Help Center, too, has been infused with the sort of intelligence that allows it to anticipate what you actually need, rather than presenting you with a long, irrelevant list of things you don’t. But the pièce de résistance is the Sales Events feature, a tool so cunning it practically writes your marketing plan for you. With a flick of the proverbial wrist, authors can book promotions across a dizzying array of vendors, setting discounts and price tweaks that promise to make their books irresistible to readers and entirely noticeable by their wallets.
2023. Kindle Direct Publishing to increase printing costs for authors
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is implementing modifications to printing expenses in order to reflect the current expenses associated with materials and labor. Consequently, there will be a change in the minimum list price for your paperback and hardcover print books. Although it is not mandatory, it is advisable to adjust your list prices for print books in order to preserve your current royalties once the revised printing costs take effect. Any modifications made to an existing print book after June 20 must adhere to the new minimum list price.
2023. 6 steps to start selling your first fiction book on Self-publishing platform
Imagine, that you’ve written a brilliant novel—perhaps an epic space adventure featuring a wobbly-legged robot with a penchant for sarcasm, or maybe a post-apocalyptic romp through a world where household appliances have taken over. Either way, you’re convinced it’s positively marvelous and that the universe should know. But how do you actually make money from this scribbled masterwork? Fortunately for you, it’s not like it was 20 years ago when the only route was convincing a publisher—often a person named Nigel with a perpetually unimpressed expression—to plough through your manuscript, after which you waited for approximately seven galactic cycles, just to get rejected in a letter that began with "Dear Author, Thank you, but..." These days, thankfully, there are self-publishing platforms where you can seize destiny by the scruff and throw your book directly at readers' faces. Here’s how you can go from obscure scribbler to obscure-but-published scribbler in six easy steps. ***
2023. Pressbooks partners with EBSCO to improve discoverability for books in Pressbooks Directory
In a universe not entirely unlike our own—though possibly with slightly more paperwork—Pressbooks has teamed up with the ever-intriguing EBSCO, presumably to ensure that open-access books published through Pressbooks don’t languish unnoticed in the digital equivalent of a sock drawer. This integration, a splendidly unpronounceable collaboration, allows these noble works to frolic freely through EBSCO’s Faculty Select and EDS services. By diligently dispatching regular metadata updates to EBSCO’s sprawling Directory, Pressbooks demonstrates its relentless enthusiasm for helping both authors and institutional publishers shine their collective light into the murky corners of discoverability. The ultimate goal of this whimsical partnership is nothing less than to sprinkle the joy of free learning materials across educators, students, and other bewildered seekers of knowledge, boldly increasing the adoption of openly licensed content and—just possibly—saving the galaxy from mediocrity, one metadata update at a time.
2022. Lulu unveiles Cover Designer
In a galaxy not so far away, the folks at Lulu, the self-publishing platform with a penchant for simplifying the literary cosmos, have unleashed a shiny new gadget for crafting book covers. While seasoned designers and those who treat design software like a second language might still cozy up to a trusty book cover template, Lulu's cover wizard—erm, designer—is here to beam up anyone crafting books as heartfelt gifts, bespoke limited editions, or test runs for beta readers. This clever contraption takes the hassle out of calculating spine widths and positions (because, honestly, who wants to do that?) and works seamlessly with all Lulu trim sizes, though its paperback game is particularly strong. Users can play with templates, upload images, tinker with text boxes, shape-shift elements to their liking, and even generate an ISBN barcode with a few clicks. It’s practically a universal translator for book covers, ensuring anyone can boldly go where no amateur designer has gone before!
2022. Self-Publishing service Draft2Digital to acquire competitor Smashwords
In the grand and occasionally bewildering universe of self-publishing, where words float about looking for a proper place to land, Draft2Digital, a dazzling trailblazer in the realm of ebook creation, has decided to acquire its erstwhile rival, Smashwords. This cosmic alignment of publishing forces promises to bestow wondrous benefits upon the authors of both systems. Draft2Digital’s scribes will gain access to the Smashwords Store and a cache of glittering treasures like Smashwords Coupons, Author Interviews, and the much-whispered-about, almost magical, Smashwords Presales tool, perfect for those nail-biting book launches. Meanwhile, Smashwords’ loyal denizens can revel in new tools of publishing wizardry, including D2D Print, a print-on-demand marvel, and a host of time-saving gadgets like automated end-matter and improved metadata management (for when your book desperately needs to be found by someone who isn’t your mum). Libraries, retailers, and readers everywhere can expect a bonanza of improved discoverability and shiny new books to devour, while the Smashwords Store itself will see upgrades that’ll make browsing an experience as delightful as finding a towel in a moment of galactic peril.
2021. Inkitt wants to turn its data-driven, self-publishing platform into a multi-media powerhouse
Inkitt, the free, popular platform where anyone can write and publish stories — which Inkitt then analyzes using data science to determine which stories to develop further for its separate paid app, Galatea — has secured $59 million in funding. The investment will be used by Berlin-based Inkitt to further develop its algorithms and technology. This is crucial because the curation of stories — including deciding which ones transition from the free app to the paid app as longer works and functioning as an “editor” through A/B testing of different story directions — is driven by these algorithms, not by human input.
2021. Pressbooks adds Directory collections
The Pressbooks Directory, much like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (but with fewer jokes about towels), has been delightfully revamped to improve its usability and general aesthetic charm. Among its shiny new features are human-curated collections—delightfully themed assemblages of open educational resources (OER) designed to guide the bewildered, inspire the ambitious, and subtly nudge humanity toward a more open educational universe. These collections aren’t just pretty stacks of knowledge; they’re shining examples of what excellent OER can be, from straightforward textbooks to whiz-bang interactive tools brimming with multimedia, student feedback loops, and built-in assessments. They serve as templates for crafting new open textbooks, arguments for investing in OER, and proof that educational resources can be both practical and rather exciting, provided one isn’t too bogged down by Vogon-like bureaucracy.
2021. Amazon is launching Kindle Vella, mobile first serialized fiction self-publish platform
Amazon, in its infinite cosmic ingenuity, is unfurling a shiny new contraption within the iOS Kindle app called Kindle Vella, and it promises to land sometime in the next few months (which is just ambiguous enough to be either thrilling or maddening, depending on your temperament). This peculiar device is designed as a galactic playground for authors to share their tales in bite-sized, serialized morsels—one plucky chapter at a time. Writers can unleash their 600–5,000-word creations via the familiar Kindle Direct Publishing platform, the same trusty vehicle they've always driven, albeit now with a shinier dashboard. Readers, for their part, will dive into these sagas using "tokens," which sound suspiciously like the digital equivalent of loose change you'd fish out of a parallel-universe sofa. Oh, and the first few episodes are on the house—so you can sniff around a new story, decide if it's your cup of interstellar tea, and then pony up the tokens to keep unraveling the plot.
2021. Amazon stops accepting MOBI books from authors
For years, Amazon has had specific formats accepted for upload on Kindle Direct Publishing—namely MOBI files, PDFs and Word documents. PDFs can be problematic, as the conversion to a reflowable ebook format can become distorted. Now, for similar reasons, Amazon will no longer accept MOBI files starting June 28th. Instead, authors can still upload their Word documents in both .doc and .docx formats, or an EPUB version of their file. For some authors, this is not an issue. Many authors don't bother with file conversion and simply upload their manuscripts as Word documents. However, some authors who have relied on this process will need to adjust to this new requirement.
2020. iBooks Author is being discontinued
Apple has revealed that iBooks Author will be phased out in July. The app will also be removed from various platforms, including the Mac App Store. Books previously published with iBooks Author will continue to be available. Moving forward, Apple is promoting two methods for distributing digital content. The first is direct EPUB or audiobook uploads through iTunes Connect. Apple has established a comprehensive publishing portal that covers all the details on publishing with them. The second method is Pages, their free word processing application.