For some time, we’ve heard murmurs of library-based self-publishing, usually as a good idea unexecuted. Now, we’re seeing a formal effort through SELF-e, the eighteen-month-old indie-ebooks-in-libraries program in the US. SELF-e is a product of Library Journal and BiblioBoard, which powers the backend that many libraries use for patrons to borrow ebooks.
In a surprise announcement, SELF-e has revealed it has teamed up with Pressbooks, the highly regarded Montreal-based self-publishing software suite created by entrepreneur Hugh McGuire. Their partnership, called Pressbooks Public, is in immediate beta at several select library systems, including the Los Angeles Public Library, to dovetail with NaNoWriMo.
Two major advantages are predicted by SELF-e and Pressbooks with this liaison: (1) authors can produce and distribute high-quality formatted files for both ebooks and print-on-demand with their local libraries as their platforms, and (2) libraries have a way to facilitate the work of their local writing communities.
Rollout of the full version of Pressbooks Public is expected in the second week of January, when the American Library Association has its Midwinter conference in Boston.
The service will be free for authors, who may distribute the various formats/files to any retailers they wish, with the ability to update those files as needed, according to BiblioBoard’s Mitchell Davis.
Bottom line: The existing SELF-e program isn’t without controversy. It’s free to independent authors and small publishers who want to submit their ebooks to the US library system, but it pays no royalties for checkouts from participating libraries. Through Pressbooks Public, submission to the library system will be seamless. And, full disclosure: [Former Hot Sheet co-publisher] Porter Anderson is a paid consultant with Library Journal’s SELF-e program.
Editor’s note: SELF-e was eventually subsumed by Pressbooks Public, becoming part of the Indie Author Project.
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.
