How’s the self-publishing industry doing these days? Pretty well, it seems safe to say.
Recent numbers taken from ISBN data show that there were 391,000 self-published books released in 2012, representing a jump of 59 percent from the previous year. Perhaps even more impressive, that number is up 422 percent from 2007. The numbers are provided by Bowker, which provides bibliographic information management solutions.
Authors As Business Owners
In a press release announcing the new findings, Bowker Director of Identifier Services Beat Barblan said the self-publishing industry is a new world where authors are more than simply writers.
“The most successful self-publishers don’t view themselves as writers only, but as business owners,” Barblan said. “They invest in their businesses, hiring experts to fill skill gaps and that’s building a thriving new service infrastructure in publishing.”
We couldn’t agree more, and we’re glad to see the self-publishing industry growing at such an impressive rate. Moreover, we’re certainly proud to be one of the experts Barblan mentions, providing book printing services for authors that want to self-publish their books.
Other Findings of the Report
In addition to looking at the number of self-published books in 2012, the report also documented the types of titles that self-publishing authors are producing. The most common genre is fiction, though spiritual works, biographies and children’s books also are common.
We look forward to seeing if these trends continue in 2013. Judging by the amount of books we’ve printed so far this year, we’d guess that it’s highly likely we’ll see a continued upswing in the number of self-published titles.
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