The Best of Publishing Start-Ups – A link list
2013 was definitely the first “year of the startups” in book publishing, and it seems that this trend is holding up even now - although the speed of growth in the sector seemed to slow down in 2017. Now, in 2021, the effects of the pandemic on publishing start-ups are still unclear, with e-book sales rising in many countries.
I began developing this list back in 2013, on the basis of some research I had done for my MBA thesis “New business models in book publishing: An analysis of start-ups and their strategies.” - and I keep working on it - although now less and less intensively, I must admit, as my interests have shifted towards other topics (like how to support innovation in the cultural and creative sectors). A big thank you at this point to Michael Bhaskar, whose list of digital publishing start-ups proved very useful. If you’re interested in the topic, please also have a look at Thad McIlroy’s report about book publishing startups in the US from 2017 (which Thad promised to update some time soon with new data).
For the list I use a broad definition of “start-up” which is based on two ideas – firstly, that a start-up is “an organization built to search for a repeatable and scalable business model,”[1] and secondly that start-ups are players trying to invent the future, instead of predicting it.
I’ve added keywords as appropriate, but the overall subdivision of the list is only tentative since categories become blurred in the new publishing ecosystem. I hope to improve the list as time goes on – with your help. Please join in the process, add your ideas and let me know what you think. A big thank you to regular contributors of this list!
Belgium-based consultant specialized in the creative sectors:
communication/ events, strategy, project & business development, sustainability, EU-funding
Categories
I) SOCIAL READING/COMMUNITIES/DISCOVERABILTY/RECOMMENDATIONS
II) SELF-PUBLISHING/PRINT-ON-DEMAND (POD)
III) CROWDFUNDING
IV) CROWDSOURCING
V) DISTRIBUTION (ETAILERS, ECOMMERCE, SERVICE PROVIDERS,
VII) PUBLISHING TOOLS AND SERVICES (CMS, DATA ANALYSIS,
VIII) SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
IX) ENHANCED MULTIMEDIA BOOKS: TECHNOLOGY, INTERACTIVE GAMES,
DIGITAL ADAPTATIONS & DEVELOPMENT, DESIGN/PUBLISHING PARTNERS
(ENHANCED & MULTIMEDIA BOOKS, MOBILE & DIGITAL FIRST etc.)
XI) MEDIA CONVERGENCE: JOURNALISM AND BOOKS
I) SOCIAL READING/COMMUNITIES/DISCOVERABILITY/RECOMMENDATIONS |
Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
24Symbols | community, social reading, recommendation | |
Autharium Labs | http://www.Autharium.com/default.aspx | print and ebook platform, all-in-one, community, collaboration, authors, publishers, editors, cover designers |
ABC Tales | authors, readers, literature, poetry, community, social reading, recommendation | |
Anobii | community, social reading, recommendation, apps, discoverability | |
Bilbary | ebook, lending, subscription, paid by readers, etailer, library, Adobe Digital Editions, log in required, community, interoperable/ but not with Kindle, content partners: authors, publishers, agents | |
Blinkist | short form/ abstracts, fiction, non-fiction, audio, text, subscription | |
Bookish | discoverability, community, rating, recommendations, text mining, etailer, cooperation of 3 US publishers, acquired by Zola Books in 2014 | |
Bookship | https://www.bookshipapp.com | Social Reading, mobile, app, book clubs |
Bibly | Mobile library by scanning bookshelf picture, Personalized recommendation | |
Bookglutton | ||
Booklamp | search engine, discoverability, “neutral” recommendations, “story DNA[c]” | |
Bookrix | online community, social reading, online reading, free ebooks, recommendations and reviews, user-generated content, book marketing/promotion platform | |
Bublish | http://bublish.com/ | social book discoverability, social reading, authors meet readers |
Copia | social reading, community, etailer, ecommerce, target groups: pupils, students, teachers | |
Dailylit | social reading, community, forum, sold to Plympton in 2013. See http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/13/plympton-acquires-dailylit/. | |
Entreescritores.com | http://www.entreescritores.com | Reviews, self-publishing, new authors. Social network where writers can be published with the support of readers. In 2014 5 books get published by editorials. |
EDIA | Automated metadata tagging for readability, topics, keywords | |
Ether | social reading, mobile, platform | |
Fictfact | organizes series (fiction), social reading | |
Flipintu | social reading, recommendations for all kinds of digital content (book and press publishing, apps etc.), founded by Ulrich Coenen, Ralph Möllers und Harald Henzler, market research tools for publishers; Germany | |
Hyperink | reading recommendations, curated | |
Jottify | social reading, authors, readers, community | |
LibraryThing | community of 1.6 million, target group: readers, social reading: tagging, cataloguing, rating, trending, statistics, freemium, Amazon & libraries as partners | |
NetGalley | discoverability, ebooks, books, reviews, curated, professional readers, community of 80,000, marketing services for publishers, English-speaking world/UK | |
ReadMill | social reading community (Germany) acquired by Dropbox and closed in July 2014, http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/27/readmill-acqui-hired/ | |
Readfy | ebook subscription model, freemium model, more than 50.000 ebooks free to read, advertiser-supported, market-research for publishers (future service), app-based (Android, Apple), Düsseldorf/ Germany | |
Read Social | social reading, across reading apps, books, magazines | |
Small Demons |
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The Hawaii Project | https://www.thehawaiiproject.com | Personalized Book Recommendations |
ValoBox | Online reading, pay as you read, pay per chapter, read on PC tablet smartphone, cloud/ streaming, social retail model rewards readers for promotion via social media, market research/reading analytics, royalties for publishers up to 85% | |
Wattpad | Community of 45 million members, more than 200 mio uploads, self-publishing, social reading and writing/ blogging, Wattpad Stars (most successful authors), in-story ad revenue (since 2016), branded stories, content producers (film & TV series, Philippines, in cooperation with TV5 Manila), international (USA, Philippines, Turkey strongest) founded in 2006, Canada | |
MangoReader |
| Interactive story reading and writing app. Over 1100 stories in more than 26 international languages. royalties for publishers up to 70%, 120000 downloads till date. |
II) SELF-PUBLISHING/PRINT-ON-DEMAND (POD) |
Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
Archway Publishing | Simon & Schuster | |
Author Solutions
| acquired by Penguin, then Penguin Random House sold Author Solutions in December 2015. See http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/69062-author-solutions-sold-to-private-equity-firm.html | |
Bibliocrunch: | matchmaking services: authors & professional service providers, publishing | |
Blackbird Digital Books | fiction, non-fiction, one of the first digital-only ebook and POD publishers in the UK | |
Bookbaby | self-publishing, etailer, publisher | |
BundleRabbit | DIY multi-author ebook bundling | |
Creatavist | apps, ebooks, web | |
Cuttings.me | social media, authors’ marketing | |
Draft2Digital | https://www.draft2digital.com | digital distribution, aggregator, POD |
Epubli | self-publishing, POD, Germany & UK | |
Exact Editions | https://www.exacteditions.com/ | books, magazines, print to web, searchable |
eXPublica | app publishing, self-publishing, animations, interactive, magazines, cook books, comics, children’s books | |
El Balazo Media | publishes digital and print books, short stories, poetry, essays, and other interesting content | |
Issuu | publishing and distribution, private and professional publishers, web | |
Leanpub | publish works-in-progress, freemium | |
Lulu | self publishing, POD, global, freemium, paid content, services for authors, etailer, ebooks, books: calendars, photo books, travel etc. | |
Moglue | apps, self-publishing, subscription | |
On Demand Books | hardware and software for POD, Espresso Book Machine | |
Paperight | copyshops, POD, digital lists, global/ South Africa | |
Pressbooks | open source software, Wordpress, books-from-blogs, webbooks, ebooks, pdfs | |
Peecho | self publishing, books, magazines, POD, print button, print link, free service, print from your own website, takes care of shipping wordwide and customer service | |
PublishDrive | digital distribution, aggregator, analyse, online marketing, | |
Red Lemonade | self-publishing, beta, paid content, quality, editing, design, Richard Nash, USA; since 2011 fully volunteer driven | |
Reedsy | Reedsy connects authors and publishers with the world’s best publishing professionals to turn their manuscripts into beautiful, high-quality books. Reedsy’s community includes the likes of Stephen King’s designer, Neil Gaiman’s editors or Dan Brown’s publicist. The company also offers a free book production tool to typeset print-on-demand books and a free publishing school with over 15,000 students. | |
Scribd | private and professional publishers, web | |
Smashwords | self-publishing, commission from books sold, no paid services for authors | |
Snapplify | app publishing, software, platform, for self-publishers and professional publishers, etailer, distributor, publishing services provider | |
Widbook | platform where new authors and readers find the opportunity to create, explore and collaborate | |
Varytale | interactive ebooks, self-publishing, etailer, publisher, free content, freemium: credits, services for authors defunct | |
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III) CROWDFUNDING/ CROWD-INVESTMENT |
Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
Bookabook | http://bookabook.it/ | Crowdfunding, pre-order, books only, curated, publisher, ebooks and print books, marketing services (community building) for other publishers, national distribution, Italy |
Companisto | http://www.companisto.com | crowd-investment, start-ups (not only for publishing), Germany/ Europe |
Inkshares | https://www.inkshares.com | Crowdfunding, self-publishing, curation, editing, marketing, rights & licences, Reader-driven book publisher, USA |
Kickstarter | crowdfunding platform for creative projects | |
Ulule | https://de.ulule.com/ | First European crowdfunding platform, creative, innovative and social projects, 5% commission, founded in 2010, Paris |
Kraut-publishers | German crowdfunding platform for books only | |
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ | Crowdfunding, funding for ongoing content creation, donations, creators: youtube, musicians, webcomics, writers etc., founded in 2013, USA |
Publishizer | https://publishizer.com/ | Crowdfunding, reader driven literary platform, book projects only, service: professional publishers queried when 250 pre-orders within 30 days reached. Publishizer keeps a flat 30% campaign fee, capped at $1500, USA
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Pubslush | http://www.pubslush.com/ | social entrepreneurship, crowdfunding, books only closed down in 2015 see http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2015/pubslush-closes-colborne-communications-founds-publaunch/ |
Unbound | crowdfunding, books only, curated, founded by authors, UK | |
Unglue It | crowdfunding, digitize out-of-print editions | |
Patreon | crowdfunding, youtube, podcasts, webcomics, content creators, creative projects, founded in 2013, San Francisco, USA | |
Startnext | crowdfunding platform for creative projects | |
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IV) CROWDSOURCING |
Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
Against all odds productions | journalism, photography, crowdsourcing, big data, data analysis, branded content, corporate publishing | |
Cloudary | online literature, self-publishing, rating, community, etailer, China | |
diesel ebook store | indie etailer, crowdsourcing | |
Neobooks | DroemerKnaur, self-publishing, authors, community, paid content, marketing research, selection, rating, crowdsourcing, Germany | |
Net Minds |
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Popo | online literature, self-publishing, rating, community, etailer, Taiwan | |
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V) DISTRIBUTION (ETAILERS, ECOMMERCE, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SEARCH & RECOMMENDATION, ETC.)
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Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
Bardowl | Audiobooks, streamed, flatrate closed in January 2015, see http://www.thebookseller.com/news/audiobook-service-bardowl-close for more information | |
Booxtream | digital distribution, watermarking, security, social bookmarking, personalisation | |
Contentment | magazine, academic, etext books, interactive | |
Digibook4all | white label, apps, service provider for publishers, booksellers | |
Joy Sprouts | children aged 2 – 6, interactive market place, educational content, curated | |
Luzme | watchlist for ebook prices, ebook search site | |
Magzter | magazine, distribution, global | |
Mofibo | https://mofibo.com/ | subscription service for ebooks and audiobooks, fixed price per month, expert recommendations, automatic recommendations based on reading habits, available: Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, founded in Denmark 2013, bought by audiobook streaming service Storytel |
Paper C | text snippets, pay-per-download, freemium | |
PublishDrive | digital distribution, aggregator, analyse, online marketing, | |
Shelfie | Digital bundling deals (ebooks/ audiobooks versions of print books), recommendations/ book discovery service, network, consumer data, over 450 000 ebooks from 1800 publishers, in-app purchases/ freemium, Vancouver (Canada), founded in 2013 | |
Skoobe | subscription, rent, e-books, clowd, streaming, freemium | |
Snippy | short stories, recommendations, apps, backlist, Germany | |
Tigerfish | etailer for children’s books, curated market palce | |
Total Boox | pay for what you read
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VI) INDIVIDUALISATION/ PERSONALIZATION
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Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
Bindworx | etailer, personalization: compilations/ mash-ups | |
Offbeat Guides | travel guides[e] | |
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VII) PUBLISHING TOOLS AND SERVICES (CMS, DATA ANALYSIS, METADATA PROVIDERS, RIGHTS/ PRODUCTION/ MARKETING/ DISTRIBUTION SERVICES etc.)
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Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
Above the treeline | interactive electronic catalog product, Edelweiss, adopted as an industry standard in the US. | |
Bibliocloud | Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), publishing management system, cloud based, generates AIs, catalogues, ONIX, royalties, orders, schedules & other reports, updates metadata, grabs mentions, book reviews and ratings from the web, founded spring 2015 (UK) | |
Bookigee | publishing service provider, data analysis, for authors and publishers (USA) [f] | |
Cambridge Publishing Solutions | http://www.WeAreFutureproofs.com | on-screen book-proofing platform designed by editors for editors *HOT SPOT exhibitor* |
Digital Media Initiatives/ Antrik ExPress Publishing | http://www.dmiepub.com/ | based in India; production, conversion, distribution, ebooks, EPUB, PDF, KINDLE, white label ebook store, Adobe Content Store, DRM |
Ganxy | manages promotional campaigns for digital content & customer data [g] | |
Inkling | digital only, textbooks, interactive, multimedia, social ereading, community, science, self-study tools, ipad, phone, web, quality, high priced, paid content | |
Publishing Data Networks | http://www.publishingdata.net/en/ | market analysis, data analysis (reviews, sales, marketing data), founder: Sebastian Posth, in cooperation with Harenberg Kommunikation Verlag/ SPIEGEL, Germany |
Quill & Narrative Science | data analysis, storytelling via data, knowledge, marketing tools, optimization of ebook distribution | |
Readbox | software as a service (SaaS), marketing, distribution, reporting, administration, print-on-demand (PoD, epub), consulting services | |
Sourcefabric | publishing tools, CMS for journalism | |
Textovia | full service provider for digital publishing: production (including collaborative CMS, formatting), open source software, distribution, Munich/ Germany | |
Txtr | ereader, etailer, interoperable, 25 countries, services for publishers, sales reporting, digital marketing, invoicing, partner: mobile operators, hardware, publisher, USP: distribution closed/ insolvency, January 2015, http://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2015/01/germanys-txtr-files-insolvency/ | |
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VIII) SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
BookLamp | discoverability, data, non-profit, Kids & YA, literacy, libraries & schools as partners, academic roots out of business | |
Dreaming Methods | non-profit, multimedia, interactive, high quality, digital art, donations | |
Karisma Kidz | charity, events, products, children | |
Open Book Publishers | Academic publishing | |
Uncuva (Mobcast Services Limited) | mobile, social entrepreneurship/literacy, etailer, digital, software platform | |
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IX) MULTIMEDIA, INTERACTIVE & ENHANCED CONTENT/ PUBLISHING PARTNERS: TECHNOLOGY, INTERACTIVE GAMES, DIGITAL ADAPTATIONS & DEVELOPMENT, DESIGN, IMMERSIVITY
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Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
App Generation | app publishing, games etc. | |
Booktrack | soundtracks for books (ebooks, audiobooks), listen to or create yourself (from pre-installed soundscapes), freemium (professional services cost), sales via booktrack only (sounds under copyright, licenced only to users) targeting schools and end-users, cooperation with Hachette Audiobooks/ downpour, founded in 2011, New Zealand | |
Boookapp | Augmented Reality, App Publishing, Animation, Children's Books | |
Cine-Books | films based on books, enhanced books, film, audio, photography, backlist titles | |
Citia | http://citia.com/about.html | software development, publishing tools, reading experience, mobile |
Digital Leaf | digital adaptions, childrens‘ stories, UK | |
Docmine | videobooks, immersive storytelling, video, pictures, non-fiction/ documentaries, app design services, founded in 2008, spin-off Condor Films (Germany, Switzerland) | |
Failbetter | immersive fiction, enhanced e-books, interactive, digital adaptations, games, development, design | |
iBeaken | stories about artefacts, QR code | |
Inkle | creative design studio, enhanced books, interactive games | |
La Factoria | project management, animation, programming, web and interface design, authoring | |
Manuvo | app publishing, digital publishing, design centered | |
Multiactiva | create, produce, transform, publish and communicate contents, educational content | |
NanaPocket | Brazil, educational content, small children, 3D | |
ReadMyStori | www.readmystori.com | Marketing platform for Authors and smaller Publishers. Capture analytics with demographics for informed decision. Founded by Shailesh Gogate, india |
Read Forward | app development, design, Epub3, digital textbooks, service provider for publishers | |
Scratch | B2C, SaaS, create games, interactive stories, animations project by Lifelong Kindergarten (LLK) group at the MIT Media Lab. | |
Somethin Else | content packager, content design, radio, BBC, film, tv, games, research, design consultancy UK | |
Starlight Runner | transmedia storytelling, consulting, packager, multimedia, books, games, video, marketing, social media | |
TheStoryMechanics | interactive stories, digital adaptations, games, development | |
Touchpress | multimedia, interactive, apps, BBC, cooperation with Faber & Faber et al | |
Xentral Methods | service provider for publishers: e-books, digital rights Management (DRM), platforms etc. | |
Vook | ebook packager, multimedia, services for authors and publishers | |
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X) MULTIMEDIA, INTERACTIVE & ENHANCED CONTENT/ EBOOKS/PUBLISHERS
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Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
40 K Books | short-form, non-fiction, fiction, original, quality, translations, world rights | |
Bookalope | AI-assisted manuscript analysis, cleanup, conversion from (flat) Word / invalid EPUB / InDesign (experimental) to fully accessible EPUB / print-ready PDF / design-ready & structured InDesign / workflow-ready XML | |
Bedford Square Books | Backlist, ebook conversion, ebooks, print on demand, agent-turned-publisher | |
Canelo | digital only, non-fiction, fiction, ebooks, apps, Web, publishing services, founder: Michael Bhaskar, founded in January 2015, UK | |
Contoplanet | Apple/ iphone, ipad; Children’s and YA, record your voice/ personalization, choose language | |
Culturbooks | ebooks, fiction, short & long format, originals, out-of-print titles, licencing, english & german, founded end of 2013 by Jan Karsten & author Zoë Beck, Hamburg/ Germany | |
Dead Ink Books | ebooks, print books, fiction, poetry, publishing services | |
Diversion Books | ebooks, enhanced books, backlist, audio, agent-turned-publisher | |
Enhanced Editions |
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Juggernaut | mobile publishing, print publishing, platform, freemium business model, beta-status (Oktober 2015), India | |
Nosy Crow | multimedia, interactive, childrens’ books, UK, ebooks, touchscreen devices | |
Now and Then Reader | e-books, non-fiction, short-form, digital only, serious reading, quality, history, politics, education | |
Moonbot Studios | film, games, ex Pixar, multimedia storytelling | |
Open Road Media | digital only, backlist conversion, services for publishers, marketing, conversion, social media, video, USA | |
Orb Entertainment | YA, fiction, comics, graphic novels, ebooks, games, quality, services for publishers/ digitization, consulting, UK | |
Plympton | original serialized fiction |
XI) Media Convergence: Journalism and Book Publishing/ Non-Fiction |
Name | Link | Comments/keywords |
Atavist | Publisher, publishing platform, software as a service (SaaS), non-fiction, narrative, storytelling, longform journalism, USA | |
Atavist Books | https://atavist.com/atavistbooks | Book publisher, using Atavist software, USA closed end of 2014 |
Blinkist | http://www.blinkist.com | App, shortreads, non-fiction |
Byliner | Byliner Originals, as well as discovery platform for long-form non-fiction; recommendations; more than 30,000 pieces; searchable by author, publication or topic; writers can create their own pages and interact with audiences | |
Fingerbooks | Beta version, Italian | |
Hyperink | self publishing, matchmaking, experts, publisher, create books from blogs, aggregator, curator, non-fiction, short-form, convergence journalism/non-fiction | |
Inquire Magazine | Investigative journalism, longreads, fotojournalism | |
Matter | In-depth journalism, long-form, non-fiction, magazine, ebook publisher; bought by Medium/ 2012 | |
Medium | Publishing tool, medium, platform, professional writers, magazine | |
Periodical | software/ publishing tool for apps, websites, newsletters, journals, magazines.... | |
Read Petite | Digital streaming service, short-form fiction, non-fiction, journalism, UK, launch: autumn 2013 | |
Star Dispatches | Ebook subscription, Toronto Star, long-form journalism | |
TED Books | http://www.ted.com/read/ted-books | A non-fiction flash publishing imprint with an editorial vision matching the TED lecture series. All titles under 20,000 words. |
TRVL Travel magazine | Singles, iPad only, content for free, investors, advertising, tv & books planned | |
Zite | Recommendations, journalism, news | |
Read for later, read offline, and read across platforms |
[1] Steve Blank, “What’s a start-up? First Principles," Steve Blank (blog), 25January, 2010, http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/, accessed April 2013.
[a]closed end of 2013, new sister start-up: Readups.com
[b]Hmmm
[c]acquired by Apple, July 2014, https://gigaom.com/2014/07/26/apple-acquires-booklamp-which-was-once-a-great-book-recommendation-site/
[d]defunct
[e]closed
[f]Probably closed (domain expired)
[g]Probably closed (site is down)