Dreamed of starting your own book publishing company but have no idea how? Here is the solution to your query of how to create a publishing company.
Every reader or writer dreams of publishing their own book or work someday. It is a distant goal that we hope to reach one day. It takes weeks, months, and years for us to finally have that book on the shelf. It is a long, tiring, and tedious process that we hesitate and, if challenging, to go through. All in all, we also see many potential writers not being given a chance to unleash their artistic style to the world.
With this, one thinks: why not start my own publishing company? I have the resources, the talent, and the ability to recognize a best-selling book from afar. Why not do it now?
Starting a publishing company might seem daunting, but it is like any other business venture. All you need is dedication, motivation, and a plan of action. There are numerous things you need to keep in check, but once you are through with them, you can begin with your venture. Here in this article, we will explore all the possibilities, from start to finish. We shall be exploring the hows, whats, and whys. From how to start to how much money it takes to the end result.
Tune in and find out how to start a publishing company that would soar in the sky!
What is a publishing company?
If you are a writer or reader, chances are you are already aware of what a publishing company is, but let us briefly define it as well. A publishing company is dedicated to reaching out to writers, creating and distributing multiple copies of their work to the general public. These copies are in the form of fiction books, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, and even manuals.
With a set of experienced editors and expert intel, a book publishing company helps writers with a creative streak to reach an audience. Without such experts and innovative ideas, a publishing company cannot flourish, publish content, or reach out to an audience.
What are publishing houses?
Another name for a publishing company is a publishing house. Ever heard the name Penguin Books? That is a vast and very prominent example of a publishing house. Publishing houses are just publishing companies with a more fancy and homely name. The work, thus, is similar to publishing companies.
A publishing house is responsible for selecting manuscripts that they believe have the potential to become the next best-seller. After choosing the manuscript, designing, editing, proofreading, and publishing are under the control of these publishing houses. You can also benefit from publisher houses as they take care of selling, marketing, and promoting your manuscript as well.
How to start a publishing company?
Now that we know what a publishing company and house are, let us get on with the central theme of the document: how to start a publishing company. Let’s explore the steps and tricks one by one.
We have listed some of the basic steps you need on your checklist. Grab a pen and make that checklist! Your journey to start a publishing company has just begun.
Set goals
The first thing with every venture is to set goals. What do we want, and where do we want to go? This question determines our purposes. It is what drives our business and our future plans. Setting realistic and reliable goals is the first and most crucial step when starting your own publishing company.
To determine your goals, you need to ask yourself these questions.
- Why are you starting a publishing company? What is the motive and inspiration?
- What kind of content do you want to publish? Is it books, newspapers, or magazines? Will they be fiction or nonfiction?
- How much do you hope to yield from the business?
- Who is your target audience?
- Where do you see your business in a year, 3 years, or 10 years?
- What can be the most significant possible challenge? And how do you plan to deal with them?
Expanding on the question of who your target audience is, one needs to clarify their niche. Your target audience includes both the writer and the reader. For the writer, you need to target individuals who are passionate about writing and publishing their work. They should also be flexible to suggestions and have a team-working streak within them.
Writers who are able to work in a team are essential because a publishing company can then communicate better. If the writer is rigid and does not want to even change their work, the chances of successful publishing are limited. A publishing company should work with writers who would be ready to hear suggestions and make changes that would lead them to a best-seller.
For readers, a target niche can be limitless. You have readers who enjoy a good magazine every once in a while or a young-adult novel every now and then. Either way, the market of your choice is limitless.
Choose a business structure
Now that we have established our goals, we can start with a business structure that keeps the matter going. A business structure mainly relays information about what type of business plan you want. Your publishing company can be in the form of a sole proprietorship to an LLC. We shall name the most common business structures for your ease.
- Sole proprietorship: A business structure where one person operates, owns, and handles the publishing company. The company and the owner are considered one single entity.
- Corporation: A corporation is when a group of people or organizations manage the publishing company as a single party. They take collective decisions and implement them for the company.
- Partnership: When 2 or more parties are bound together by a contract. They agree to manage and operate a publishing business, taking and implementing collective decisions and policies.
- LLC: LLC is the most common and the most profitable business structure for a publishing company. An LLC protects the assets of the corporation and provides excellent tax benefits that are not attainable in a partnership and SP.
Pick a name
Picking a name for your publishing company makes all the difference. It is what attracts people and what makes them reach for another cover with your publishing company’s name on it. When it comes to picking a name, it should be a catchy brand name as well. Branding is what makes your business more attractive. To reach out to your market and niche, you need to pick a catchy brand name.
Your brand name should reflect your intended genre and target market. It should also convey your mission statement. Another thing you need to do is choose a name that is not too long or a tongue-twister. It should capture the readers’ and the writers’ attention. Instead of using a word that might leave them stumbling, use a phrase that would be familiar, real, and true.
As stated earlier, your publishing company’s name should convey your mission statement. But it shouldn’t be your mission statement. Keep it short, fun, and relatable. One last tip: never add inc. to your name. It does not give a good operation.
Once you have chosen the name, make sure it isn’t trademarked. If it is, you need to select another name. It is a long process but worth it. Lastly, get your name registered and acquire an EIN, which is an Employer Identification Number.
Set up a business bank account
Now that you have your EIN and publishing company named and finalized, open a business bank account. When you open a business account for your company, you can separate your business and personal finances. A business account helps you to add a professional streak to your publishing company.
Create a website
For a publishing company, you need a website. A website does three things:
- Makes it easier for people to search for your company.
- Creates an excellent public image.
- Provides samples of what you have worked on.
You need to choose a domain that makes great permission, is not faulty, and captures the interest of people. WordPress is good and all, but publishingcompanyname.wordpress.com just doesn’t give the same professional air as publishingcompanyname.com.
Make an About Us section and make it about your company. Make the company’s own public identity and profile, which would inform people about the company and not about you. Your website should have a logo, a professional email address, and a contact me page that can keep you in check.
Grow your team
Your publishing company cannot exist alone. It needs a team, a family, and a group of people who can move the company forward. You need to find experienced people, which include editors, cover design, interior formatting, web design, and marketing. With the world entering freelancing, you can opt for freelancer creative editors, writers, and web designers who can help you grow your business.
Start publishing
Now with the help of your team, you can start publishing the work and manuscripts of writers and authors. You need to put the available resources: editors, illustrators, cover designers, and interior formatting. After you are done with this set:
- Either publish it online in the form of an e-book, or
- Send it for printing to create soft-cover and hard-cover books
Market and sell
Lastly, the most essential point is to publicize the work. This is part of the publishing process that reaches out to the audience and gets the writer’s work published. Opt for a marketing professional who knows all the nooks and crannies of where people are looking for books.
Research how other books of the same genre are marketing, use that as a skeleton technique, and apply it to your marketing strategy. Social media marketing is growing now as well. You can start there and publish it for the general audience so that it is reachable to everyone. Another way to market would be to send PR packages to book reviewers so that they might provide insight as well.
The requirements of starting a publishing company
There aren’t any specific publishing details that you need in order to start a publishing company. As stated before, you can start a publishing company with motivation, determination, and a plan of action.
However, there are some things that you might require and can aid you in the process. You need to be able to spot talent from afar. Having talented writers sign with your publishing company can help you soar. Moreover, you need to select stories, subjects, and topics that the general public would enjoy.
Profit and cost of a publishing company
A publishing company makes money from a surplus of book sales. From this, a set percentage is paid to authors and other contributors in the form of royalties. Here, we shall look at how much a publishing company makes, what is its profit, and how much it costs to create one.
How much money does a publishing company make?
The owner of the publishing company can make between $130,000 and $270,000. The amount of money a publishing company makes depends on how large or small the company is. As a result, an average publishing company makes almost $30 million per year. This makes it extraordinarily profitable and gives everyone a chance to bear the fruits.
If you are new and have just started your publishing company, you cannot reach $28-$30 million in just a year. It is determined by your productivity, organization skills, and how you manage your business. The publishing company makes money through the vast sales of books. A certain amount of the sales is paid to the writer in the form of royalties.
How much does it cost to start a publishing company?
You can start your publishing company even from your home. Therefore, the cost is potentially small. However, you would need to invest in creating a campaign where you can advertise your company. This takes less than $10,000, which should include social media, media, and other banner campaigns.
How does publishing work?
If you are starting a publishing company, you need to know how publishing works. What are the steps, and how can an idea turn into a good book? There are certain things you need to take care of when publishing a book. Without these steps, you cannot move forward to grow your publishing company.
Here is how it happens.
- You look for a talented author who wants to get their work published.
- Appoint editors from your publishing company to look through the content
- Editors work with the author.
- Choose the production team to prepare for the release of the book.
- The design team in the publishing company will design the cover
- Sales teams help connect with the bookshops and audiobooks with the release of the audio version.
- Find the perfect marketing plan
- Publish and publicize
Pros and cons of starting a publishing company
Like all business ventures and styles, there are certain advantages and disadvantages that we need to assess. If you want to start a publishing company, you need to know the pros and cons. Let’s list them all.
Pros
There are many advantages of starting a publishing company which we will list here.
- A publishing company sounds professional as compared to self-publishing.
- Deals with bookstores to get them on the shelf. More readers buy it.
- Publishing-related expenses from non-writing income provide tax benefits.
- With an LLC company, you are protected from liability.
- Gives you creative control, which helps you take the lead with design and the team.
- Grow your brand and reach internationally.
- Help authors with talent who are not recognized elsewhere.
- You are your own boss and have a chance to reach out to more people with your business plan
- More opportunities and fantastic exposure while reaching out to interested individuals.
- Have more creative control as well as management control.
Cons
- Extra work and effort dealing with new authors and clients
- Need to be highly active and aware of all the affairs in the company
- Challenging to adopt all the roles of the company.
- Might have to deal with demanding clients and authors who are not open to changes
Hierarchy of a publishing company
As with every company, a publishing company also requires a hierarchy. It is vital for someone who is starting a publishing company to know the basic hierarchy so that delegating tasks and recruiting individuals is easier. Even though your role is defined, there are specific roles that require elaboration.
- Publisher: This is you, the one who started the publishing company. You have to play your part in recruiting, firing, and other significant decisions in the company. Even dictating the policy of the company is under the domain of the Publisher. You also have to collaborate with department heads to ensure productivity and help resolve any issues that might disrupt the company.
- Production and Design: The production team works alongside designers who corroborate all the details with the author. They are given the responsibility to convert the manuscript into a printed book. Alongside designing the cover of the book to make it attractive.
- Marketing and sales: Intriguing the world with the next big book, the publicity and marketing teams are responsible for gathering people under their wing. They introduce campaigns and plans that excite fans and readers. They work alongside the sales team, who know the target audience and how to reach out to them. From bookshops to online platforms, sales work to put that book on the shelf.
- Distribution: The distribution teams play very closely with the sales department and help to dispatch books. Their job is to ensure that no reader is left without a copy of their favorite book.
- Editor-in-Chief: The most essential individual following the Publisher is the Editor-in-Chief. They are the head of editors and proofreaders and make final decisions on their part. The content of the manuscripts and books of the publishing company fall under their domain, as well as determining the budget for the release. They are also given the responsibility for hitting other editors or proofreaders by the Publisher.
- Editor and Proofreader: Editors and proofreaders come after the Editor-in-Chief, respectively. Let’s look at the role of the editor first. The editor focuses on the editing of the books and other publishing works. They work with the author and conclude a proper storyline. On the other hand, the proofreader corrects grammatical errors, pinpoints spelling mistakes, rectifies the sentence structure, and ensures adequate punctuation.
- Literary agent: Alongside handling the publication of books, the literary agent also interacts and links the writer with the publishing company. They initiate the meet-up, curate contracts, and review the manuscripts before connecting them with an editor. For each genre, there is a different literary agent who specializes in that field. There are horror, fiction, science, women’s fiction, educational, romantic, and even fantasy literary agents.
- Creative expert: Lastly, we have the creative expert who handles the creative aspect of the book. This is the person who manages the design, illustration, and cover of the book. Other than the ones mentioned above, there are several creative experts who take their roles: graphic designer, photoshop expert, photo editor, page designer, concept designer, and visual expert.
Conclusion
Every reader and writer dreams of publishing their work. They want the world to read their work, understand their perspective, and feel the thrill of every word. Along the way, they also dream of having their own publishing company. Every business venture requires commitment and dedication, which is precisely what you need for a publishing company. Giving other great writers the chance to unleash their creative streak, a publishing company may seem like a hassle. But with growing technology, the chances of starting a successful company focused on publishing books in any format is not taxing at all. With the growing talent of writers and authors’ books, there aren’t many publishing companies to do the job. Take that step and make your mark. It takes a little courage and lots of dedication.
