iUniverse

IUniverse
Parent company Author Solutions
Founded 1999
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location Bloomington, Indiana
Publication types Books
Official website www.iuniverse.com

iUniverse, founded in October 1999, is a self-publishing company in Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.[1]

History

iUniverse focuses on print-on-demand self-publishing and a service the company refers to as "assisted self-publishing" which critics say is indicative of vanity press[2][3] since authors are asked to pay from US$400[4] to $15,000 for additional services.[5] Soon after they were founded, Barnes & Noble purchased a 49% stake in the company. As part of the agreement, Barnes & Noble offered select iUniverse titles both in their online bookstore and at their physical stores.[6]

In 2004, Amy Fisher's memoir,If I Knew Then, about serving seven years in prison on first-degree aggravated assault charges for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco, became the best-selling book in iUniverse's history, selling more than 32,000 copies up to 2004.[7] According to a 2005 Publishers Weekly article, out of the more than 18,000 titles published by iUniverse until 2004, only 83 had sold at least 500 copies and only 14 titles had been sold through physical Barnes & Noble stores.[7]

In September 2007, iUniverse was purchased by Author Solutions, the parent company of hedge fund-owned rival AuthorHouse.[8] In 2008, iUniverse operations moved from Lincoln, Nebraska to Bloomington, Indiana where Author Solution's headquarters are located.[1]

Industry recognition

iUniverse has been recognized by both industry groups and independent publishing watchdogs. In 2003, iUniverse received the Editors' Choice designation from PC Magazine in a comparison of six print-on-demand companies.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Kevin Abourezk, "iUniverse to move to Indiana"Lincoln Journal Star, January 22, 2008
  2. ↑ Shey, Brittanie (October 12, 2011), Oprah of the Piney Woods, retrieved November 30, 2016, Another set of these pages is at a vanity press called iUniverse, being proofread at Sager's expense.
  3. ↑ Coker, Mark (January 7, 2015), "2014 Book Publishing Industry Predictions — Increased Competition Between Traditional Publishers and Indie Authors", Huffington Post, retrieved November 30, 2016, The vanity approach to self-publishing, as witnessed by Pearson/Penguin’s acquisition of Author Solutions (operates AuthorHouse, iUniverse, BookTango, Trafford, Xlibris, Palibrio, others...), has shown itself to harm the brands of all traditional publishers
  4. ↑ Sarkar, Samita (2016), "On Vanity Presses, True Self-Publishing, and One Author's Tenacity", Huffington Post, retrieved November 30, 2016
  5. ↑ Tugend, Alina (July 29, 2011), "Proliferate, Easing the Bar to Entry", The New York Times, retrieved November 30, 2016
  6. ↑ Clampet, Elizabeth (November 2, 1999). "Barnes & Noble Takes Stake in iUniverse". internetnews.com. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  7. 1 2 Staff (May 16, 2005). "iUniverse by the Numbers". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008.
  8. ↑ Milliot, Jim (September 9, 2007), "AuthorHouse acquires iUniverse", Publishers Weekly, archived from the original on May 4, 2009
  9. ↑ PC Magazins May 27, 2003, issue.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.