5 Reasons I Started a Publishing Company
And Why It Doesn’t Feel Like I Did —
I started a publishing company.
As small as my indie company may be, it’s legitimate.
I weighed the pros and cons and decided to go through the trouble of forming an LLC, taking care of my accounting records, and coming up with a trade name.
I didn’t have to do this but I chose to for a few different reasons.
Let’s take a look at them.
Legitimacy
If you’ve dipped your toes into the self publishing world then you know just how easy it is for almost anyone to publish their books.
This is in part due to the rise of KDP (formerly CreateSpace), IngramSpark, and other print-on-demand services.
The problem is that many self publishers don’t have the design experience, patience, or skill to format a book and create a good book cover; yet they try to do all of this on their own anyway.
While their intentions are usually good, the prevalence of subpar products in the industry has created a lasting stigma around self published books.
On the bright side, forming an indie publishing company counteracts this stigma by providing a sense of legitimacy.
Instead of seeing “Independently Published” in your books and on website listings, your customers will see the name of your company instead.
Anonymity
I’m a very cautious person and I try to limit what I put out into the world.
So before I started my little publishing endeavor, I decided that I wanted to stay relatively anonymous.
Forming a business entity allowed me to do that.
While it’s not always possible to stay entirely anonymous when you own a business (this depends on your local laws), it does allow me to keep my name off of the books that I publish, and it keeps my name out of the listing data.
ISBN Purchases
This one ties in with my anonymity reasoning.
When you purchase ISBNs in the US, you have to create an account with Bowker Identifier Services.
You can open that account using your own name or a company’s name.
Just remember that whatever you choose is tied to the ISBNs that you buy.
Your decision will almost certainly show up in the book’s metadata and book listings on websites.
I didn’t want my name plastered everywhere, so I went with forming a company instead.
Expanded Market Growth Potential
Right now, it’s just me and I’m only printing through KDP.
But by forming my own company and buying my own ISBNs I left the door open to grow my business.
In the future I could print with IngramSpark in addition to KDP, and I could even try to network with local booksellers and act as a direct distributor.
I could even build my business in ways that don’t just focus on self publishing.
The possibilities are endless, really.
The Ability to Help Others
Finally, with my own publishing company there is the huge potential that I can help other authors.
I have plenty of friends and family that have been writing for years but have never taken self publishing seriously because the process was so intimidating.
After going through this whole process, I can publish their books for them so they can keep working on their passion — writing.
Still, after going through this whole long experience and even after publishing a book, there is definitely a sense of imposter syndrome lingering around me right now. I don’t feel like a publisher.
I just feel like me.
Because at the end of the day, that’s all it is.
They handed me a paper that says, “You’re a business now”; but it’s still just me hustling away on my laptop, creating content like a madwoman. I just have more reporting responsibilities now.
I know this feeling will go away. I’ve been here before.
It just takes time, experience, and hustle.
Oh Hey, It’s Ray is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and former real estate agent. She lives happily with her husband and two children in the Pacific Northwest. See more from Ray at her YouTube channel and on Ohheyitsray.com