Self Publishing 101 with Claire Jones

There are a whole range of publishing platforms available to those of us who wish to self-publish our book(s). Simply search “Self Publishing Platforms” online and you will find a list of articles touting: “The 17 BEST Self-Publishing Companies of 2023”, “8 Best Free Self-Publishing Sites”, “The 15 Best Self Publishing Companies to Support Your Writing Career”, or “10 Best Self-Publishing Companies You Should Know”. 

Each of them explains their rigorous “vetting” process and subsequent “qualified” picks, and, while the same platforms do show up on some of these lists, the rankings are never predictable.

So who really knows which one is the best? 

It really boils down to how much you want to spend, where and how you want the book distributed, how you want to treat your copyright permissions, and what kind of backend reporting system you want.

I’m not going to list the various features of each of the platforms (that’s what those “Best Of” articles are for). What I will do is tell you why I chose the platforms I did.