Small Publishing Companies

1. Vanity presses: These types of presses charge the author money in order to be published usually in an anthology format. The Internet abounds with poetry vanity presses, which seem to publish just about anything for a price. This has led to a stigma associated with any type of publishing company that charges the author for the right to be published.

2. Pay per book presses: Many would say that this is just another way of saying vanity press. However, these types of presses don't actually pretend to enjoy or value a person's work. They merely publish a book for everyone that orders it. For many, publishers like Lulu are the only way to get their book to a desired market without spending a small fortune.

3. Comic book presses: Comic book presses are a dime a dozen and for every one that goes out of business another small comic book publishing company comes to take its place. For some reason people have a hard time taking comic books seriously. This may be due to the idea of a monthly format. Bookstores tend to stray away from selling comic books, but lines such as Borders Books have dabbled in the Graphic Novel format. There is a lot of room for growth in this sector, especially comic books published online.

4. Online presses: These types of presses distribute their content online. They generally are able to charge far less and still see a profit. However these types of presses too, often have a hard time being taken seriously by readers, who are often looking for something they can hold and take around with them. The potential for the growth of online presses is staggering though. As children grow up more and more surrounded by computers many will grow accustomed to reading from a computer.

5. Zine presses: This is probably the hardest type of small press from which to turn a profit. Zine presses are almost always labors of love and those who invest in them are nearly always more interested in entertainment for its own sake than for any financial gain. Many Zine presses gain cult followings when they are able to appeal to a special niche.

6. Collectible book presses: These presses specialize in quality hardcover books and often run reprints with appealing covers and such. Their books are considered collectible because of the high quality and low volume of their production. Sometimes these books can become quite valuable with time.

The World Needs More Small Publishing Companies In the global market and over the Internet there is a demand for books that appeal to special niches. Large publishing companies usually look for books that appeal to a wide audience so small publishing companies are needed to fill in the gap and entertain the minorities of people who are unsatisfied with books geared toward a general audience.