Author Solutions
Encyclopedia
Author Solutions, Inc. is the parent company of the self-publishing companies/imprints AuthorHouse
, iUniverse
, Xlibris
, and Wordclay. These publishers include the largest and second largest print-on-demand (POD) book publishers in the United States. It is owned by Bertram Capital Management.
Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana
, ASI reports publishing more than 80,000 titles using its POD technology that allows books to be printed individually. In April 2008, ASI Marketing Director Keith Ogorek said that 1 out of every 17 books published in the United States is from AuthorHouse.
In 2008, online retailer Amazon
announced that it would no longer sell print on demand books on its website unless they were either published by their own POD subsidiary, BookSurge, or unless additional fees were paid. Author Solutions raised questions about the legality of the move but eventually agreed to these demands.
, Harpercollins
fantasy novelist Victoria Strauss
criticized Author Solutions as a dishonest vanity press service, parading as a 'self publishing service' to distance itself from the social stigma of being an oldstyle vanity publisher and attempting to blur the definition between independent publisher and vanity press.
AuthorHouse
AuthorHouse, formerly known as 1stBooks, is a self-publishing company based in the United States. AuthorHouse uses print on demand business model and technology.-History:...
, iUniverse
IUniverse
iUniverse, founded in October 1999, is a self-publishing company, co-located with AuthorHouse in Bloomington, Indiana. Publishers Weekly notes iUniverse has partnerships with The Writers' Club and the Writer's Digest .-History:iUniverse initially focused on business-to-consumer print-on-demand...
, Xlibris
Xlibris
Xlibris is a Bloomington, Indiana-based self-publishing and on-demand printing services provider founded in 1997., The New York Times stated it to be the foremost on-demand publisher. The founder and chief executive is John Feldcamp.- Overview :...
, and Wordclay. These publishers include the largest and second largest print-on-demand (POD) book publishers in the United States. It is owned by Bertram Capital Management.
Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
, ASI reports publishing more than 80,000 titles using its POD technology that allows books to be printed individually. In April 2008, ASI Marketing Director Keith Ogorek said that 1 out of every 17 books published in the United States is from AuthorHouse.
In 2008, online retailer Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
announced that it would no longer sell print on demand books on its website unless they were either published by their own POD subsidiary, BookSurge, or unless additional fees were paid. Author Solutions raised questions about the legality of the move but eventually agreed to these demands.
Criticism
In December 2009, writing in an article for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association of AmericaScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or SFWA is a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. It was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. and it retains the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the SFFWA...
, Harpercollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
fantasy novelist Victoria Strauss
Victoria Strauss
Victoria Strauss is the author of eight fantasy novels for adults and young adults, including the Stone duology and the Way of Arata duology...
criticized Author Solutions as a dishonest vanity press service, parading as a 'self publishing service' to distance itself from the social stigma of being an oldstyle vanity publisher and attempting to blur the definition between independent publisher and vanity press.