The Insider's Guide to Self-Publishing:

Infinity Publishing

Infinity Publishing is one of our toughest publishing competitors. They are the company you should use if you don't choose Dog Ear Publishing.

On to our discussion of self publishing company Infinity Publishing.

I typically use the same specs for each self publishing company competitive review - information and self publishing costs are derived from the Infinity Publishing web site and contract.

However, I've had to change our comparison product just a little bit - of all odd things, Infinity Publishing only has 3 trim sizes - and only 1 'trade' trim size of 5.5X8.5. This can be a significant a limitation for authors with higher page count books could have the page count reduced by utilizing a larger (6x9, 6.14x9.21, etc) trim size. It also affects authors of non-fiction product who are looking to create textbooks, workbooks or other product that benefits from a trim size other than Infinity Publishing's only 5.5X8.5.

- 5.5X8.5 trim size, 150 pages, one color interior, 4 color cover, 5 interior images
- Paperback or hardcover
- ISBN and bar code included, Library of Congress Control number
- Custom cover and interior - not just choices from existing templates
- PDF or laser proofs delivered to author,
- 100 additional paperback units purchased
- Available at Amazon and most major online retailers
- Available through major distributors like Ingram and Baker and Taylor
- Available for order at over 25,000 retail bookstores.

(click here to see the Dog Ear breakdown - our total cost for this package and options is $1,327, our per unit book printing price is $4.28, and you get 10 free author copies of your book.)

Infinity Publishing

Infinity Publishing - presents a very strong way for authors to enter the publishing world. A strong player at the less-expensive end of the self-publishing industry. Infinity Publishing has a single publishing package priced at $499.

For $499 you will be required to perform all the design and composition services the interior of your book - they do provide good instructions, though. You only get something called 'Basic' distribution (which means your book cannot be in Ingram, Baker&Taylor, Barnes & Noble, etc.)

To get a full suite of publishing options and broad distribution you'll have to add a number of elements to your publishing package - but all are quite reasonable. There isn't a package that offers the identical items as Dog Ear Publishing - so I had to add what Infinity Publishing calls 'enhancements'. I started with the $4997 package and added Extended Distribution' (Ingram, Baker&Taylor, Barnes & Noble, etc). There really isn't anything additional to add - Infinity Publishing keeps things very simple.

Infinity Publishing is based out of West Conshohocken, PA. Infinity Publishing allows you to set your own profit and has a very nice profit and pricing calculator. Infinity Publishing allows you to choose the price you will charge for your book, as long as it is above their minimum retail. Infinity Publishing only offers one of the standard trade trim sizes (5.5X8.5) and two color-book / non-standard trim sizes (8X8 and 8.5X11).

Standard Paperback Publishing - $499
Add Extended Distribution - $149
Custom Cover and Interior - No, on the interior, Yes on the cover
Library of Congress Control Number - NA
Proofs - NA (not applicable - digital proofs are free)
Printing Services - $6.45 / unit X 100 units = $645 (printing this book at Dog Ear is only $4.28 per unit)

Total Expenditure- Infinity Publishing: $1,293
($34 LESS EXPENSIVE than Dog Ear at this point)

Fortunately (for us at Dog Ear) - the story doesn't end there... read on to see why Dog Ear is still the better choice for publishing your book. As you move beyond just the initial ordering of 100 books, the pricing swings quickly back in favor of Dog Ear Publishing. One item NOT discussed above (though it is just below) is the fact that your per-book profit (called a "royalty" at Infinity Publishing) is DRAMATICALLY higher at Dog Ear - right from day one.

BOOK DESIGN and PRODUCTION- Comparison

Dog Ear builds a unique design for both the cover and interior for every book. The design is custom (literally from the ground up) for each and every book - no 'templates' are ever used. Dog Ear provides a Design Sample using your manuscript and allows you complete freedom to revise what our team has built.

No other publishing services company provides this service FREE OF CHARGE - only Dog Ear.

Infinity Publishing doesn't do this - your book goes straight to complete layout using the file you supplied.

Every one of Dog Ear Publishing's books are designed and built by professionals with long histories and lots of experience - from the traditional publishing industry. Your book is being built by the same staff that creates books for Harper Collins, Prentice Hall, Simon & Schuster, Wiley, Penguin and many other of the worlds most successful publishers.

BOOK PRINTING PRICES (author copies) - Comparison

Infinity Publishing charges a significant amount more than Dog Ear to print author copies - as noted above. It is very odd to me that they pay royalty monies on books you purchase... which means you pay a higher price for your books, then wait for a 'rebate' to come a few months later. Why not get the lower price up front?

Infinity Publishing will require a 'minimum' retail price for your book - the book in our example would require AT LEAST a $11.95 retail price. This is a good retail price for a 150 page paperback.

AUTHOR PROFIT - Comparison

Author profit is the great weakness of the Infinity Publishing programs in comparison to Dog Ear Publishing

Your author profit when selling through Infinity Publishing's distribution (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Ingram, etc) is 15% of the NET sale. This is actually a terrible author profit percent

Infinity Publishing Author Profit: $1.07

Your per unit author profit from each sale is nearly $2 MORE for each book with Dog Ear.

Dog Ear Author Profit: $2.89

Imagine what these numbers do to your profit over the life of your book. It would be extremely challenging to recover any profit from your book.