People who are new to publishing find out quickly that there are a great many vendors who are eager to separate them from their money. Choosing the right ones can make the difference between success and failure. On this page, we list only information sources, goods, and services with which we've had favorable first-hand experience. We hope that fellow publishers will find the information to be useful.

Small-Press/Independent Publisher Organizations

If you join just one organization, we believe every independent publisher should belong to IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Organization, formerly PMA) and/or one of its many local affiliates. We have been members since the mid '80s and its programs have been essential to our publishing success. Upper Access Publisher Steve Carlson proudly serves on the IBPA board of directors.

We are also members of SPAN, whose rolls consist more of newer self-publishers, but we still find its newsletter and benefits to be well worth the membership fee. And don't ignore your local and regional groups. Many are PMA affiliates, so local dues may be offset by a reduction in PMA dues. If you live in New England, we hope you'll join us as members of IPNE, a rapidly growing organization with a great many benefits and low dues.

Links are as follows:

The Independent Book Publishers Association (PMA)

Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN)

Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE)

Book Fulfillment Services

At Upper Access, we know quite a bit about fulfillment—having run a service for over ten years. When we decided to focus on our other pursuits, we evaluated all of our fulfillment "competitors" and determined that Book Clearing House was the best. It still is.

Google Book Search

This is in a category by itself. It is somewhat controversial among some publishers, but at Upper Access, our experience has been completely positive. People search a subject via Google, and find that it's covered in a book we publish. It's usually a book they wouldn't have known about otherwise. Google takes them right to a page where they can find out more about the book, and they can click to order it on our Web site. What's not to like? This is tremendous publicity for our books, and it costs us nothing. For more details, check Google's writeup of Upper Access as a Google Partner Success Story!

Trade Distributors

For small presses, it is increasingly difficult to distribute nationally to bookstores without a trade distributor. There may be any number of excellent ones, and certain distributors may be best for certain types of titles. The ones with which we have had direct, positive experience, are the following:

Midpoint Trade Books is now handling most of our trade sales in the U.S. We are extremely pleased with the work they do.

Beagle Bay is an outstanding smaller distributor. Check its current line of books and policies to see if your book would fit.

Book Clearing House, listed above as a fulfillment house, also serves as a trade distributor for selected publishers.

Printers

For a lengthy list of reputable printers, check Pete Masterson's site, listed above. Here are the printers we've chosen, after careful shopping, for our own projects.

Book Printers

Bang Printing. Sales Rep, Todd Vanek, 800-328-0450.

Central Plains. (CP has changed ownership since last time we used their services, but they remain on our short list for quotes.)

Data Reproductions. Sales Rep, Nick Janosi, 734-426-1229.

Other Printers

Fidlar Doubleday has the cutting edge technology for digital printing. We have uses them several times to print our galleys, and would use them for any book to be printed on in an extremely short run. That said, there are new players all the time and constant changes in the field of digital printing, so be sure to also get quotes from others.

SeparaColor seems to consistently offer the best prices on full-color printing of brochures and fliers, and their service is excellent.

Boxes and Packaging

G & A Precycling is a small company that saves discontinued boxes and other packaging materials from the shredder and resells them at a deep discount. By buying packaging from G & A, you can save money while helping to protect the environment.

Free Postage Chart

Ever since the 1980s, we've printed our own postage charts to hang in our packing room. This is a time-saver, since we don't have to leaf through the rate charts for every package. We're always happy to share with others. Click here for the current version.

Business Software

As business practices become increasingly electronic, it has become essential to use business software that is specific to the publishing industry. To find out more about the Publishers' Assistant and Couplet software programs, click here for the software page on this Web site, or click here to visit our other Web site devoted to users of the program. The small-press version of Publishers' Assistant now costs just $295, and, unlike other low-cost business programs, Publishers' Assistant will grow with your company, with features you'll need as your business expands. And Couplet is now considered essential, even by publishers who use other business programs, to provide title data to their business partners.

Publicity and Consulting Services

Upper Access Consulting is available, on a very limited basis, for consulting services on production and marketing of your new books. We focus on helping publishers to manage their own book releases and promotions. Regardless of whether you wish to use any of our services, click here for a free guide that you may find useful.

And . . .

The Onion provides a little welcome diversion when, after a long day of work, an 18-wheeler full of Ingram returns pulls into the driveway.

Independent Book Publishers Association

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