Subsidy Publishing Articles

When I first started researching companies who provide author solutions services some years ago, Virtualbookworm was one high on the radar. About four or five years ago, had you dropped ‘self-publishing’ as a keyword into a Google search or visited many self-publishing resources looking for information on self-publishing, you can bet VBW would have been pretty high up there in prominence. Try the same now and you will have to do far more extensive searches before you come across the name, VBM.

Instinctively, when I came across VBM a few years ago, I held off reviewing them. In many ways, […]

Please note that this article is from 2011, and since 2020, Infinity has been bought out by FastPencil. If you are an author looking for help and support on your Infinity contract, please read our article here.

There is one factor which singles out Infinity Publishing from many other author solutions services. From the very beginning, in 1997, Infinity Publishing did all their POD printing in-house and offered authors a non-exclusive contract. They describe what they do as ‘originated book publishing’, but the self-publishing industry and the world at large doesn’t really need another way to describe an author solutions […]

Dog Ear Publishing is a US author solutions service located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Formed in 2004 by co-owners, Ray Robinson, Miles Nelson and Alan Harris, all three have had varied careers in the book world, from Waldenbooks, Pearson Education Publishers, as well as backgrounds in book packaging and the graphic design and print industries. This mix of both production and publication certainly provides the kind of firm foundation for an author solutions service many other companies do not possess.

“All too often, authors are lured by a low up front cost – but, it’s not the publishing fees that ruin

BookLocker is run by Angela and Richard Hoy and they take a highly writer centered approach to POD publishing. Angela also runs Writersweekly, a marketing magazine for authors, and is also a former TV reporter and successful self-published writer.

Most POD publishers have little or no manuscript screening process, but BookLocker does, and their aim is to continue to publish quality books at a low cost-efficient price to every author who signs a contract with them. BookLocker is highly driven by book sales and a glance at the homepage below directs traffic to 30+ advertised titles. Author services are only […]

Amazon.com Titles – 103

Amazon .co.uk Titles – 338

Arima Publishing services are based in Suffolk, England and are very much a UK self publishing service provider. They offer authors ‘global publishing services’. Arima follow the business strategy which most UK based companies take; call it as it is. Arima, to be fair, make no pretensions about being a grandiose publishing company.

“However, whilst print-on-demand has many advantages it does not necessarily suit all types of book. Currently, the process available does not allow for internal colour; pictures and diagrams are limited to black and grey scale. Also, because all

Acorn Independent Press is a limited UK company based in Bromley and it was co-founded in 2010 by brother and sister team, Leila and Ali Dewji. I came across this company at a very early stage last May and passed up on even contemplating an overview of the services offered. It was clear to me that many aspects of the company’s foundation and online presence still needed to be worked on. A year has passed and I feel it is now time to take a close look at what Acorn Independent Press has to offer self-published authors.

Firstly, the development […]

Most of the author solution services I review here are companies I have been familiar with over the past three to four years since I began my research on fee-charging publishing services in the industry. Though, I have known some companies a great deal longer.

“Even at the age of fifteen, I was already very familiar with those vanity publishing ads in the Sunday newspapers. I remember writing off to Vantage Press for their brochure — getting it a few days later in the post and spending many nights in bed browsing through it and dreaming away about my future