In its latest annual report, Bowker reports on CreateSpace’s increasing dominance in self-published print titles and declines for Author Solutions
You may have noticed recent headlines claiming that self-publishing output exceeded 1 million titles in 2017. Those figures come from Bowker, the agency that issues ISBN numbers in the US. Bowker now releases an annual report on the self-publishing activity they are able to capture via ISBN use. (More on that in a moment.)
But the number of titles published isn’t really as interesting as the more detailed information they release. For instance, last year we noted that CreateSpace is completely dominating self-publishing output. And this year is no different.
As of last month, CreateSpace and KDP Print have merged (see our coverage here). For all intents and purposes, you can consider them one and the same for this report, where CreateSpace now has more than 85 percent of the total self-published print market, up from 80 percent last year. By the numbers that Bowker can count, that’s 751,924 CreateSpace print ISBNs out of 879,587 print ISBNs in all. CreateSpace’s output, as measured by Bowker, jumped by an eye-popping 50 percent in 2017, with other major service providers for print declining.
We do offer two important caveats here:
- First, ISBN figures are not market-size figures. Many authors self-publish without obtaining an ISBN, and all Bowker can count is ISBNs. Still, Bowker’s report is important because it’s one of the few consistent and reliable data points we have. What’s more, it breaks out the number of ISBNs used by specific self-publishing service providers—and that is where the real story gets told.
- Second, Bowker cannot see IngramSpark’s output. Authors must buy and use their own ISBNs with IngramSpark print and ebook distribution. We mention this because it’s likely that IngramSpark is a key competitor to Amazon’s CreateSpace, but ISBNs generated through IngramSpark are not being counted by the Bowker protocol. Instead, those fall under the “small publisher” designation.
Author Solutions imprints were again substantially down in 2017, continuing a steady nosedive in presence and influence. Combining ebooks and print, Bowker registered a 14 percent decrease in output from 15 Author Solutions imprints in 2017 and a 48 percent decrease from 2012 through 2017. Author Solutions companies WestBow Press and Xlibris saw especially steep downturns of 24 percent and 17.5 percent respectively.
In terms of ebook counts, we’re always on less stable ground, as indie authors do not need an ISBN to publish and sell their ebooks at Amazon. (In print, ISBNs are often key to being found by bookstores, libraries, and other outlets.) For what it’s worth, Bowker sees an overall decline of 13 percent in ebook ISBNs in 2017. Smashwords saw a 2017 drop of 16.5 percent in ebook ISBNs after recording a 15 percent drop in 2016. BookBaby reported a 17 percent decline in ebook ISBNs.
Bottom line: According to Bowker’s ISBN counts, CreateSpace, Smashwords, and Lulu represent 88 percent of all self-published print and ebook titles in 2017. Notably, the category of small publishers—which includes authors who purchase their own ISBNs—grew just 4 percent in the last year. Small publishers accounted for about 5.5 percent of total ISBNs issued.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
