AuthorHouse: The Newest "Indie Publisher"???

I had another subject planned for this morning's post, but saw an item in yesterday's Publishers Lunch that changed my mind.

IMHO, the self-publishing industry includes some of the most creative marketing in publishing. Every few years, the industry changes its designation.

This habit probably started in an effort to get away from the derogatory "vanity press" moniker. In the past three years, the self-publishing industry has co-opted the POD (print-on-demand) technology to call themselves "POD publishers." Recently they tested out "hybrid publishing."

The latest is inspired. AuthorHouse--home of iUniverse and Xlibris--issued a press release yesterday in which they renamed themselves as an "indie publisher."

Here's the press release:

Author Solutions Leads 'The Next Indie Revolution'

Indie Book Publishing, Like Indie Film and Music, Makes the Dream Available to Everyone

BLOOMINGTON, Ind., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Author Solutions (ASI), the world leader in indie book publishing - the fastest-growing segment of book publishing, has released a white paper outlining "the next indie revolution" - indie book publishing. The white paper:

• compares the emergence of indie book publishing with that of indie films and indie music.
• summarizes the advantages available to authors who publish with an indie book publisher.
• outlines the new criteria for determining a book's quality - letting the reader decide.

EDITOR'S NOTE: ASI's white paper about the indie book publishing revolution is available . . . [here]

"While traditional publishing has been struggling, indie book publishing is expanding at an astonishing rate. As the leader of the new indie revolution, ASI is telling every author that you can publish your book now - no more rejections, no more obstacles - publish your book and get it out to the marketplace," said Keith Ogorek, ASI vice president of marketing.

ASI, through its leading self publishing imprints AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Xlibris, and Wordclay, brought to market more than 19,000 titles in 2008 - six times the number of titles published by leading consumer publisher Random House. The 12 percent increase in titles published year-over-year resulted in ASI brands bringing to market about one out of every 20 new U.S. book titles in 2008.

For more information about Author Solutions, to download ASI's white paper about the next indie revolution or to begin publishing a book today, log on to authorsolutions.com, or call 877-655-1722.