Could You Be a Publisher?

New small publishers popping up every day. In fact, I just got off the phone with someone who wants to start their own music publishing business. Theses companies are not true small presses, but Kitchen Table publishers. They work from home, releasing books and distributing them through the channels that normal publishers use. There is money to be made, but only for ambitious people.

It is easy to start a publishing company. First, you need the software to create covers and book blocks. The basics are Word and Adobe PDF, plus a graphics art program. A better idea may be to hire someone to create covers for the first while.

Next, you need a website and a shopping cart. The shopping cart software is vital. A cheap or poor system will result in abandoned shopping carts and frustrated customers.



This is the cheapest way to get into the publishing business. Is it the best? That depends on the publisher and how savvy they are. Elora's cave started this way and turned into a $1m a year publisher.