SELF-PUBLISHING 101: What is iUniverse?

At iUniverse you can, in its own words, “self publish your book with help from industry-leading insiders.” Offering “the range of professional editorial, marketing and self-publishing services authors expect from a traditional publisher,” iUniverse promises that “your book will be at its best when the time comes to compete in the marketplace.” As of January 2011, iUniverse has “helped more than 30,000 authors publish their books professionally and affordably.”

iUniverse offers a variety of publishing packages, a la carte services, and an online bookstore where your book can be sold.

You begin by selecting one of six self-publishing packages. (The descriptions and prices of services are as of February 16, 2011.) The least expensive is the $599 “Select” package, while the most expensive is the $5,897 “Book Launch Premier Pro” package. Here’s what these two packages offer:

• Select – one-on-one author support, non-exclusive contracts, volume book discount for authors (which means you can purchase your own books at a discount), a custom cover, an ISBN, worldwide book distribution, digital formatting distribution (e-book), five complimentary author copies of the soft cover book and insertion of up to 25 black and white images in the book.
• Book Launch Premier Pro – everything in the Select package, plus a number of additional services including an editorial evaluation of your manuscript, inclusion in the Barnes & Noble “See Inside” feature, cover copy polish, setting up of your author website, inclusion in Google and Amazon.com search according to your keywords, and Social Media Marketing Setup Service. For their Social Media Marketing service, iUniverse “populates” a WordPress blog, Facebook page identifying you as an author, LinkedIn and MySpace pages for your book, a Squidoo Lens on your books, and more.

iUniverse also offers a number of a la carte services, including:

• Editorial Evaluation – a review of your manuscript that “will not only provide you with a general overview of your manuscript, but also educate you through constructive comments on how to write a better book.” This evaluation is included with most of their packages, and available for purchase separately for $599.
• Line editing – editing to “check the manuscript for more pervasive errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The editor will also address syntax and word choice and make light recommendations for improving the overall readability of the work.” The charge for this is $0.29 per word, with a minimum of 5,000 words.
• Cover Revisions – touching up photos, blending together several images, removing elements from an image, and otherwise improving your cover images. This costs $70.
• Single Book Email Campaign 2,000,000 – creating “a customized e-mail for your book” and sending it to two million “opted-in-e-mail recipients.” This fee for this is $3,996.
• Online + Broadcast Interview – which includes an online interview on played iUniverse Radio, and a digital copy of the radio interview which you can post or play on your website, blog and other Internet venues. This costs $3,299,
• Infomercial – the inclusion of your Author Video or Premium Book Trailer in iUniverse’s “Undiscovered Voices” infomercial. Over a six-week period, the infomercial will be played “30 times during a mix of overnight, early morning and weekend time spots. Airing on local network affiliates and independent stations, it will reach a total of at least one million views across five geographically diverse cities.” The charge for this service is $6,999.

As for ownership of your work and the number of books you must order, iUniverse states in its “Guide to Publishing” that it has:

• “royalty rates that are higher than those offered by many traditional publishers”
• “no minimum order for books”
• “non-exclusive agreements, which allow you to retain copyright of the work”

We at Taylor-Fox can help you create your business book, health book, memoir, biography, inspirational book or other book and get it ready for publication. We’ve helped scores of people achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let us help you! Call us at 818-594-0379.

Note: All the information in this blog entry came from the company website. Before signing on with iUniverse or any other firm, read the contract carefully and check review sites to see if there are any problems or special issues regarding this firm. I’ll deal with these issues in future blogs.