What publishing brand should I use when I self-publish my book?

This is a complex question, and like many of the choices you have when it comes to self-publishing, the decision really comes down to have much time you have, and how much you know about the process. If the answer is ‘little’ and ‘nothing’, then the best choice would be to let PublishMyBook.Online look after the entire publishing process for you.

As a publishing brand, we have published more than 500 books—by authors worldwide—with sales of over 260,000 units. We are a small business, but we punch above our weight.

PublishMyBook.Online can simplify the whole process for you and can act as the “aggregator”, which means an intermediary that brings things together. We work directly with the vendors, so we know their individual requirements. We can offer you an aggregator publishing contract, which will allow us to publish your book and distribute it to the major online vendors. We publish directly to our publishing accounts set up with the vendors, so we will be listed as the “publisher”. We can use your business name in the meta-data for “publisher” instead if you would like.

Using a self-publishing service brand vs your own brand

While on some vendors, the aggregator’s brand will be seen, others allow the input of a publisher in the meta-data, and will only display that. For example, my book Talon is listed on Amazon with the publisher meta-data of our traditional imprint Tigerace Books. If you scroll down to the ‘Publishing Details’ section on Amazon (this is the publishing meta-data) you will not see ‘Australian eBook Publisher’ or ‘PublishMyBook.Online’. The same ebook, released on Apple is also shown with the ‘Publisher’ as Tigerace Books, but ‘sold by’ Greenslade Creations, which is the business name set-up with Apple.

Publisher brand meta-data imprint Tigerace Books

The point is it is your choice what brand to put in your ebook’s meta-data and on the back and/or spine of your printed book and in the publishing details of all editions.

Having the PublishMyBook.Online brand on your printed book or ebook may help it to seem more authentic. If you walk into a bookstore with a book authored by J. Smith that has ‘J. Smith Publishing’ on the spine, it is a dead give away that it is home-made. When you use PublishMyBook.Online, however, it may appeal to booksellers to know that your book has got the professional touch.

Publishing direct to vendors yourself

Sometimes when you choose to set up your own publishing brand, it follows that your new venture should have a direct relationship with the print-on-demand service and the ebook vendors you want to use to sell your book. This need not be the case, but if you decide that’s what’s best for you, we can still support you by providing project management, publishing consultation, cover design, editing, formatting, book design, ebook conversion and quality assurance (testing) and book marketing.

If you do decide you want to learn to publish your book yourself, there is a lot involved. You will need to consider which vendors you will set up accounts with, what formats they use, and what additional hardware or software you might need. For example, you can only do business with Apple iBookstore using an Apple Mac desktop computer. Additionally, you will need to think about pricing, legal issues, registrations, file management, and banking and tax implications. If you do not have strong computer skills, you may struggle to list your book with the book vendors you want, and manage the sales data and updates after the fact.

Whatever you decide, we will do our utmost to support you and offer the bits and pieces that you need to get the job done with whatever brand you deem best.

Publishing brand as marketing tool

Which brand to use on your self-published book is also a question of marketing. If you plan to build relationships with reviewers, booksellers, social media icons and readers, it is often best to do so as the publisher, not as the author. Building a publishing brand, therefore, is much like building the brand of any new small business. You will need the guidance of a small business mentor, a small-business marketing consultant, a graphic designer and a good tax accountant.

Fortunately, we can help you through all of this with our personalised publishing consultancy service. We also offer ebook publishing services. Contact us for more information.