Thinking of setting up your own imprint...?
The publishing industry has changed dramatically over the last 40 years. If you read the Publisher’s Weekly history of self-publishing, there are famous examples of authors printing and publishing their own books as far back as the 1800s. Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol’ was one that barely made any money to begin with, but went on to become well known globally after being recreated for television and film.
As self-publishing authors and traditionally published authors alike will experience, you need a recognisable brand to make your books stand out. Many authors believe that their brand will be built by the publishing house, if only they can get a traditional publishing offer. Yet in reality, you’re still responsible for becoming more visible, engaging readers and growing your personal author brand. If you’ve got to build the brand yourself, are there some advantages to creating and setting up your own imprint for publishing your books?
What is an imprint?
It’s the brand name under which your books are published, listed at the front of the book and on your book’s sales pages as the publisher. If you look closely at a book’s spine, the publishing imprint will appear as a visual icon at the bottom. One such well-known icon is the Penguin Random House penguin. For business books, the author may use the company name as the imprint and the company logo icon. For books published by hybrid publishers (where the authors pay for assistance in publishing) you may have the option to use their imprint (ours is the SilverWood Books’ tree) or set up your own. For independent authors, there are still options for you. Some self-publishing platforms such as Amazon and Ingram offer authors a free ISBN registered to Amazon or Ingram's company name in the USA. However, this is rarely ideal for most authors, and comes with drawbacks, so please do your research before opting for this. Owning your own ISBN, registered in your own country to your own publishing company name, is the ideal way forward for most authors.
Advantages of creating your own imprint
Self-publishing under your own imprint has the following benefits:
- It means you are the publisher of record for your book. You own your personal allocation of ISBNs and control all the publishing rights and information related to your books.
- You can carry out any necessary information updates without having to pay a third party.
- You can separate the publishing from your own name: helpful if you want to publish some of your books under a different pseudonym.
- You can publish different genres of books or poems or playscripts, all under the imprint.
- You can create your profile directly with book distributors such as IngramSpark and Amazon to give you global reach for the books and have full access to their sales data and dashboards to manage your pricing and track book sales.
- Your readers will begin to recognise your publishing imprint; Louise Hay started off with one or two books and now Hay House is one of the most famous imprints for spiritual, well-being and self-help books.
- You can grow your publishing business by writing new books yourself every year or by serving other authors, helping them to publish and distribute their books.
- You can amplify your own marketing by having the publishing imprint as a Business Page on social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, X and Facebook) as well as an Author Page with your name.
Be aware: if you choose to self-publish through Amazon only, your books will likely never reach the shelves of bookshops because they almost certainly will not stock books printed by their largest competitor. Whereas, with a publishing imprint, you can begin to build relationships and talk to bookshops about stocking your book. Local events with bookshops and libraries are a great way to raise your profile and sell more copies at the events.
Author Stephen Condor says, "Creating my own publishing identity helps establish a brand for readers to know it’s a serious piece of work. It’s also a commitment to myself that I’ll write more in the series after 'Chris on a Bike’. The self-publishing world is a huge morass of work and it’s difficult for readers to separate the wheat from the chaff. It’s very hard for new writers to cut through and no surprise that celebrities’ books sell because readers stick to what they know. However, a publishing imprint gives you the opportunity to establish a reputation."
Tips for setting up your publishing imprint:
Like naming a company, your publishing imprint can have any name but it should be something that’s easy to say and memorable. What to remember when setting up your publishing imprint:
- Choose a name that doesn’t conflict with existing companies by checking Companies House registrations and searching online for other publishers.
- Decide whether you’ll buy the URL for a website under the publishing name or your name as the author.
- Go for words that are not too long or difficult to say on the phone if you’re speaking to podcast hosts or radio/media contacts.
- Think about a clever alliteration or a meaningful word. There aren’t many companies that can get away with picking a company name like Apple, however, as proven by them it can be done.
- Visual imagery - it’s important to choose an icon that fits on the spine of your book cover design and colours or contrast to stand out.
Once you have a publishing imprint, you can develop a design style so that your book covers uniquely stand out on bookshelves (See our article on the principles of great cover design) yet offer consistent representation of your brand. Your brand needs to reflect your writing.
Stephen offers some great advice, "I wanted a more playful publishing imprint and chose a cat logo because I write humorous books. I can also publish my plays under the Fynley Publishing name. Your imprint has got to reflect you as a writer, so if you’re writing self-help, you might choose something more serious."
One risk of creating your own imprint is quality. We recommend authors do invest in professional typesetting and interior design as well as cover design. Creating a publishing imprint and ensuring your books are produced to a high standard will help when speaking to bookshops. Self-published books stand out in a negative way when they don’t have an imprint icon at the base of the spine because the design looks 'unfinished’ in comparison to traditionally published books. As bookshops are entirely concerned with quality and appeal to readers, this detail may affect their willingness to stock a book and they may already entirely focus on sales from mainstream authors. On the other hand, some bookshops are incredibly supportive of local authors because they see the opportunity to run community events. Whatever you choose for your imprint, do think about the appeal to your readers and check whether another publisher is already using that name.
Author Alex Hebdon who is releasing his non-fiction book 'It May Harm Your Defence’ in October 2024 says, "I googled every idea I thought of, because I didn’t want my imprint to conflict with an existing publisher. Some names came up from Companies House in the UK but I checked internationally, in case my book does sell overseas. We both love animals but a lot of publishing companies are already named after them. I chose Patterdale Publishing because I thought a dog would work well as an icon and I liked the alliterative phrase. I remembered how a Patterdale terrier had caught my attention when I briefly worked as a dog warden and it also links to the Lake District where my wife lived and worked. It felt like a good balance."
First-time authors may find it daunting to set up a company as well as publish their book. However, if you focus on your goal and find the right team to support you, you can learn everything you need to create a successful small imprint.
Alex says, "I knew I wanted to self-publish my book because the case featured in my book is fresh in local people’s minds. I thought that it would take too long to find an agent and secure a traditional publisher. It was a bit overwhelming when I learned I would need to buy my own ISBNs and set up Patterdale Publishing. However, I chose SilverWood to assist because after Helen’s kind and knowledgeable responses to my emails, I felt it was the best fit for me. Choosing SilverWood turned out to be the best value for money too because she is so patient and has given me a lot of one-to-one advice during the process of publishing and setting up the imprint. I’ve learned so much."
Want to know more?
• Read more about Stephen Condor's self-publishing experience here.
• Alex Hebdon's 'It May Harm Your Defence' is here.
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“If you’re thinking of self-publishing, I hope you don't go at it alone. With a team like SilverWood behind you, you have the support you need to publish the best work you believe in.”
