Self-publishing aggregator PublishDrive is looking to triple book sales this year by boosting print-on-demand after getting new investment from Lead Ventures.
PublishDrive has seen sales through its platform grow by 85% in 2020 and double that in 2021.
The company says the new drive to scale its business includes:
- Expanding print-on-demand operations across stores and markets
- Expanding audiobook operations across stores and markets
- Expanding ebook operations across stores and markets
- Integrating more tech (like AI) to speed up the publishing process
- Offering more book marketing opportunities
- Continuing to fine-tune the platform based on user feedback
PublishDrive CEO Kinga Jentetics says, ‘We want to triple book sales by the end of this year. We can do that by strengthening print-on-demand, especially. Print is still the largest segment, owning about 70% of the book industry, and last year, print sales went up by 9% in the U.S. By digitalizing, print distribution will become widely accessible for debut authors to veterans and everyone in between.’
The platform handles over 100,000 titles in 100 countries, reaching more than 400 bookstores and 240,000 libraries.
In 2018, PublishDrive moved from a royalty-share business model to paying full net royalties with tiered subscription pricing for authors Payment levels range from $9.99 a month for up to two books, to $99.99 monthly for up to 48 books.