Self-published books triple in production since 2006

The production of self-published books has almost tripled since 2006, according to a new study released by Bowker.

“Self-publishing is now supported by a sophisticated and highly accessible support structure,” Beat Barblan, director of identifier services for Bowker, said in a statement. “This is no longer just vanity presses at work – self-publishing is out of the dark corners and making its way into the mainstream.”

The number of books – including both print and e-books – published by the author has increased by 287 percent since 2006. When it comes to print books alone, self-published books made up 43 percent of the titles published in 2011. Altogether, more than 235,000 print and e-book self-published titles came out last year.

With self-published books making up 43 percent of the print titles released in 2011, they helped drive the first growth in print production since 2007, according to the Bowker data.

What happens to all these self-published books, one may wonder? Do they mostly end up in boxes in the authors' garages? Not necessarily. Self-published author M. Leighton’s e-book “Down to You” made it to No. 8 on The New York Times e-book fiction bestseller list for the week of Oct. 28, while Teresa Mummert’s “White Trash Beautiful,” also self-published, made it to No. 27 on Oct. 14. Earlier this fall, Kelly Favor’s self-released e-book “His Every Touch” was No. 26 on the Oct. 7 list, while “Let Me Be The One” by Bella Andre, also self-published, was No. 20 the week of Sept. 23.  "Easy" by Tammara Webber was at No. 35 the same week.