Virtual Bookworm gets the top ranking here because it provides a full service package for one of the most competitive fees around while offering a good contract, good royalties, good distribution, a good breakeven point, competitive printing costs and full control over several key aspects of your book, such as retail price and bookstore's discount.

This is a fairly well established company, one that has been around for a while, with a pretty solid reputation and it does not discriminate based on place of residence.**

CreateSpace gets the second place in this comparison because, due to the fact that it belongs to amazon.com, it can offer a deal no other publisher can match when it comes to dollars and cents and the fact that authors who can supply their own ready to print layout and cover can theoretically publish for less than $100.00 doesn't hurt matters either.

On the downside their contract does include an extremely dangerous clause, one that may well be a deal-breaker.**

While their set-up fee is more expensive than that of Virtual Bookworm, they restrict their services to the residents of a handful of countries and there is a small problem with their contract (it is unclear whether or not authors can opt out of their eBook publishing services), Booklocker gets the third place in this comparison because it provides a full service package for a reasonable fee, with good royalties and good distribution. This one too is a well established company that has been around for a while and has a fairly solid reputation.**

While there are some problems that arise --both in terms of costs and format-- if you want external distribution, to say nothing of a number of important unanswered questions in their site and what may well be a very significant problem lurking within their publishing agreement, Lulu gets the fourth place in this comparison (in a tie with WingSpan Press) because it offers what is probably the best deal for those authors looking for a 'one stop shop' that covers both print and electronic publishing (though it is important to note that when taken separately they are not the best choice in either of these fields).

As is the case with CreateSpace, the fact that authors who can supply their own ready to print layout and cover can theoretically publish for less than $100.00 doesn't hurt matters either.**

While including a fifth publisher in what is supposed to be a 'top 4' section may seem like cheating, WingSpan Press gets the fourth place in this comparison (in a tie with Lulu) because --in spite of the fact that their basic package is far less comprehensive and considerably more expensive than that of Virtual Bookworm, they have a few too many things that are deemed as 'extras' for my liking and they don't offer direct sales channel-- they do represent a reasonably competitve option for those authors looking for a full service publisher that doesn't screen manuscripts.**

Even though their set-up fee seems like a reasonable one, an expensive retail price combined with low royalties, an unknown discount, undisclosed terms and a bundled eBook publishing package that is far from favorable make this a company you may want to avoid.**

Even though their set-up fee is a reasonable one, an expensive retail price combined with low royalties, low discount, undisclosed terms and a bundled eBook publishing package that is far from favorable make this a company you may want to avoid.**

Even though their set-up fee seems reasonable enough, the number of unknown factors combined with low royalties, undisclosed terms and a bundled eBook publishing package that is far from favorable make this a company you may want to avoid.**

While I hesitate to describe a $1,999.00 set-up fee as 'artificially low' this is precisely what we have here and the fact that they claim royalties of '100% of net receipts' by bundling their profit into what they deem their 'printing costs' when that printing is actually outsourced smacks of dishonesty. In the real world this '100%' translates into the lowest figure of the whole comparison. The fact that their contract is not available online may also serve to mask some additional problems.**

The most expensive set-up fee of the whole comparison, a rather amateurish website that is all but impossible to navigate and a contract featuring a clause aimed at preventing disgruntled authors from voicing their grievances while leaving other critical aspects up in the air (to say nothing of the fact that once your book is published you are apparently on your own), all combine to make this one a publisher to avoid. On a positive note, their discount and royalties are great.**

Even though their set-up fee seems to be a reasonable one, their basic package is too bare-bones to be truly viable. In addition to that an expensive retail price combined with low royalties, undisclosed terms and (in their more expensive pckages) a bundled eBook publishing package that is far from favorable make this a company you may want to avoid.**

A fee well above the $1,000.00 mark and the fact that direct distribution is a $249.00 extra combine to make this publisher a less than appealing option.**

Even though these days most POD publishers offer eBook publishing as an option, you may be better off considering both of these things separately... and as a result you may also want to steer clear of those publishers that bundle their eBook services with their publishing packages.

There are two main reasons for this. The first one is that both kinds of publishing are different and call for different business models. The second one is that self-publishing an electronic version is a lot easier than self-publishing a printed one and even where going at it completely alone is not an option (as is the case with Apple's iBookstore), there are outfits out there that are geared specifically towards this end and offer you what are in essence much better deals.

What follows is a small collection of links you may find useful when it comes to getting your eBook out into the big bad world... and keep in mind that some of these service providers allow you to mix-n-match, so you can combine them to get the best results.

On the legal (down)side of things, beware of the fact that most of the services listed below reserve the right to revise the terms of their user agreements whenever and however they see fit and that does represent problem.