Self-Publishing Grew 40 Percent in 2018, New Report Reveals
ANN ARBOR, MI, October 15, 2019 – According to the latest report from ProQuest affiliate Bowker, self-publishing grew at a rate of 40 percent in 2018 – and shows no signs of slowing down.
Bowker’s annual study, “Self-Publishing in the United States, 2013-2018,” highlights self-publishing trends based on the number of ISBNs registered in the Bowker Books In Print® database. A book’s ISBN is a 13-digit product identifier used by libraries, booksellers, publishers and internet retailers for ordering, listing, sales records and inventory.
The combined total of self-published print books and ebooks with registered ISBNs grew from almost 1.2 million in 2017 to more than 1.6 million in 2018. The vast majority of those books came from the top three independent publishing platforms.
“The self-publishing landscape continues to improve, creating more and more opportunities for authors to manage their own path through the process,” said Beat Barblan, Vice President of Publishing and Data Services at Bowker and chairman of the board of the International ISBN Agency. “As more authors take advantage of the abundant tools now available to publish, distribute and market their own books, we expect that self-publishing will continue to grow at a steady pace.”
You can view the full report here.
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