Self publishing authors are often left with the question of where to go to investigate self-publishing options from impartial, unbiased sources. Therefore, over the previous and upcoming posts I have been, and will be, discussing five 3rd party self publishing review sources.
I already discussed the Self Publishing Review site run by Henry Baum, Top Self Publishing Firms written by Stacie Vander Pol, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, written by Mark Levine, and Top Consumer Reviews.
This next source is a large, highly regarded review website called TopTen Reviews. They don’t just specialize in self publishing reviews. They specialize in reviewing just about everything. But I will focus on their “2011 Online Book Publishing Comparisons.” Here, they have put the top ten self-publishing firms (in their mind) side by side for a comparison of price vs. value. Outskirts Press is ranked #3 and receives their Bronze Award, with the following summary:
“Outskirts Press takes a well-balanced, affordable approach to book publishing-offering a fairly robust publishing package, a decent bookselling reach, strong help support and the freedom to set your own royalty rates. Outskirts has a variety of options and a versatile solution for most authors needs.”
What’s interesting here is that the #1 and #2 self publishing firms appearing above Outskirts Press on this list are both owned by the same company (and basically offer the same exact thing). More interesting still, both the #1 and #2 firms are among the “Publishers to Avoid” in the previous self publishing review source I discussed, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.
In fact, only one other publisher other than Outskirts Press appears on BOTH the TopTen Review list AND either the “Outstanding Category” or “Pretty Good” category in The Fine Print of Self-Publishing. And where does that other publisher appear on Top Consumer Review’s Top 8 list of self publishing companies (where Outskirts ranks #2)? It doesn’t.
And that brings us to perhaps the most important step of analyzing self-publishing reviews, and I’ll discuss that next time.
As I mentioned at the top of this posting, the comments from our authors hold the most value for us, and I’d like to share one we received below:
“I can’t recommend Outskirts Press enough. It’s the marketing phase of my book that has really opened my eyes. The publishing phase is only one step with a book, but what happens later, is another. Since I am a new author, I only began to see the bigger picture at the marketing point. Upon thoroughly enjoying my first seminar conference call with enormous marketing information and feedback from some well-seasoned authors, I see that my Diamond package–which includes a press release and an e-book option, is valued well beyond the great price I paid. I ended up with great quality and a cover that I am extremely happy with. I can’t say enough about the friendly and accommodating representation of my finished product. Outskirts Press has lots to offer with prices and options that can’t be beat!” – Christine Rhay
President of Outskirts Press 