Technologi

Many believe independent presses or small presses are an interchangeable title for printing various original works, which is often true. Almost one half of all publishers of books and nearly a third of magazines are produced by this type of industry press around the world. They are often referred to as indie publishing companies and they only print limited-edition books, mostly poetry anthologies, genre fiction and niche fiction and non-fiction books of various styles. They could also run small prints of specialty magazines.

An independent press, in order to be eligible for small status, must meet certain criteria. An important one is not to be associated with a larger parent company. Those in charge of the press, either an individual or small group of investors or publishers, make all the decisions regarding where money, time and energy will be spent. Although this is not a new concept, dating back to the late nineteenth century and the Kelmscott Press as the first independent publisher, they got their start through William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Morris was a writer, artist and textile designer.

Over time, a shift occurred in the independent publisher community. This shift didn't happen overnight, however as technology grew the transformation from large publishers to smaller ones emerged. This gives authors more control over their content, something larger presses won't budge on.

Another reason authors look to independent publishers is the fact they put more confidence in their projects. Pouring upfront funds into a book, using their professional services and helping a book to market, the right market is part of the perks. This way, a writer only needs to write, not print or do anything else to insure success.

An independent book publisher will not lose an author's unique voice when sending it to be edited and printed. Furthermore, a writer is free to do as they please with the finished product. This means they have the right to sell their book to a larger publisher or a movie house if they so choose.

Independent publishers are not going to offer the benefits to an author as self-publishing will, the small presses offer so much more. The vanity publisher will request writers to put money up for a set amount of books or purchase so many books from the first run. In contrast, small presses have a much looser contract. They will pay royalties to the author for the use of their book as they do not own the copyright.

The definition of an independent publisher is one which grosses no more than $50 million per year. This amount is after discounts and returns and is on an average of 10 or fewer titles in a year. There are a couple presses that succeed in printing a couple more each year, but that doesn't disqualify them for small press status.

Printers do exactly that, they print a book any author writes. Their distribution is limited and offered as a print on demand (POD). Essentially, this type of company are not selective and nearly all writers who can pay the fee to become a published author get their words in print. For your book to stand out, search for indie publishing companies.