"Self-publishing company" covers two very different businesses. One kind is a platform: it lists and prints your book, and takes a share when a copy sells. The other kind is a service: it charges you to do the work, whether or not a single copy sells.
Both can be legitimate. The trouble starts when a service presents itself as a publisher, bundles everything into a package, and makes most of its money from the author.
What are the best self-publishing companies?
The platforms most self-publishers use cost nothing to join:
| Company | What it does | Upfront cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon KDP | Kindle ebooks and print-on-demand paperbacks on Amazon | Free | Amazon sales, which is most self-published sales |
| IngramSpark | Print-on-demand with distribution to bookshops and libraries | Small fee, often waived | Getting stocked outside Amazon |
| Lulu | Print-on-demand with the widest range of formats and bindings | Free | Selling direct from your own site |
| Draft2Digital | Distributes ebooks to Apple Books, Kobo and other stores | Free, takes a share of sales | Reaching every store with one upload |
KDP plus IngramSpark is the standard pairing for print, and KDP plus an aggregator for ebooks. Print on demand books compares the print side, and Draft2Digital vs KDP the ebook side.
What do self-publishing services cost?
Services are what you pay for when you don't do a job yourself. Fair market ranges:
| Service | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Copy edit | $400–$1,500 |
| Proofread | $200–$700 |
| Cover design | $150–$800 |
| Interior typesetting | $0–$800 |
| Ebook conversion | $0–$300 |
Hired one at a time from freelancers, each of these is a normal cost. What it actually costs to self-publish has the full menu and three realistic budgets.
Which self-publishing companies should you avoid?
Avoid any company where the money flows from you to them first, and keep flowing. The warning signs:
- A package price for "publishing". Uploading to KDP is free. A fee for the act of publishing is a fee for nothing.
- They keep rights you don't need to give. Read what the contract grants: a platform needs a non-exclusive right to sell, not your copyright or your film rights.
- You have to buy copies. A minimum order of your own books is how some services profit before any reader does.
- Low royalties on their own storefront. If the company sets a high retail price and pays you a small share, the book won't sell and you won't earn.
- Marketing upsells. Press releases, "Hollywood pitches" and book fair listings sold after you sign rarely sell books.
- They contacted you first. Legitimate platforms don't cold-call authors.
- You can't leave easily. You should be able to unpublish and take your files with you.
None of these needs a company's name to spot. Read the contract and the fee list, and ask who earns when nobody buys the book.
Do you need a self-publishing company at all?
For the publishing itself, no. You need:
- A finished, edited manuscript. How to edit your own book covers what you can do before paying anyone.
- Files the stores accept: an EPUB for ebooks and a print-ready PDF for paperbacks.
- A cover. This is the one service most books should pay for.
- Accounts on the free platforms.
How to self-publish a book walks through the whole sequence, and How to publish a book for free shows the zero-cost route.
Where does bukpress fit?
bukpress is a tool, not a publishing company. You write in Markdown and it produces a designed PDF and, on the Pro plan, an EPUB from the same file. It takes no rights, no royalties and no share of sales.
Plans: a free plan with 20 exports a month and books up to 40 pages, Essentials at $9 a month ($90 a year), and Pro at $24 a month ($240 a year). No watermark on any plan. Its pages are A4, so for a trade paperback you will still use a print-on-demand service's own trim sizes.
Common questions
What is the best self-publishing company?
For most authors, Amazon KDP, because that is where most self-published books sell. Add IngramSpark for bookshops and an aggregator such as Draft2Digital for the other ebook stores.
Are self-publishing companies worth it?
Platforms are, because they cost nothing up front. Paid packages usually aren't: hiring an editor and a cover designer separately costs less and gets you better work.
How do I know if a self-publishing company is a scam?
Check who earns first. A large upfront package, required copy purchases, rights grabs and cold contact are the common signs.
Do self-publishing companies take royalties?
Platforms take a share of each sale and pay you the rest. Some service companies take a share too, on top of their fees, which is the arrangement to avoid.
Can I self-publish without paying anything?
Yes. KDP, Lulu and Draft2Digital are free to use, and you can produce the files yourself. Paying for editing and a cover is optional but usually worth it.