Publishing Business

17 Tips For Starting A Successful Publishing Business (2024)

Pat Walls

•

Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own publishing business? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting a publishing business:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a publishing business?
-> Pros and cons of a publishing business

Need inspiration?

-> Other publishing business success stories
-> Marketing ideas for a publishing business
-> Publishing business slogans
-> Publishing business names

Other resources

-> Profitability of a publishing business

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a publishing business:

#1: Jeremy Hendon, founder of Nourishing Brands:

We chatted with with Jeremy, founder of Nourishing Brands ($600K/month). In our interview, Jeremy says:

Jumping on a trend definitely helps, but you often need to be in the thick of things to see those trends coming.

Additionally:

Say “no” very fast to most projects, so that you can stay focused on the most important things.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Ricardo Fayet, founder of Reedsy:

We chatted with with Ricardo, founder of Reedsy ($2M/month). In our interview, Ricardo says:

There are two keys to growth: having a strong product that people want (and will enjoy using) and finding the right marketing channel(s).

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Morgan Gist MacDonald, founder of Paper Raven Books:

We chatted with with Morgan, founder of Paper Raven Books ($100K/month). In our interview, Morgan says:

It’s not a great idea to build something and then sell it. It’s much better to sell something, first, and then build it.

Additionally:

Create the customer experience that’s going to get results for your customers, and then you’ll be able to find more, just like them.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Rob Price, founder of Gatekeeper Press:

We chatted with with Rob, founder of Gatekeeper Press ($/month). In our interview, Rob says:

Run a business that cares about the satisfaction of every single customer. Every single customer.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Tucker Max, founder of Scribe Media:

We chatted with with Tucker, founder of Scribe Media ($1.3M/month). In our interview, Tucker says:

You have to really understand who your customer is. They’re not just buying what you think you’re selling, they’re buying a solution to a problem. Not having a deep understanding of that was a big weakness of mine at the beginning.

Additionally:

It was not easy to accept that we had to be replaced as CEO & COO. We had to swallow our pride. But what made it possible was that, from day one, we always promised each other we'd do the right thing for the tribe.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Adam Witty, founder of Forbes Books:

We chatted with with Adam, founder of Forbes Books ($1.5M/month). In our interview, Adam says:

Your job as CEO is not to grow a company; your job is to grow people who grow the company.

Additionally:

Launching a business is all about selling. Until you make the cash register ring and a customer gives you their precious dollars, you don’t have a business.

Further:

Make sure everyone is in alignment. Everyone in the company, from the intern all the way up to the CEO, should know what the company’s strategic plan is and how what they do each day helps the company achieve that plan.

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Ricardo Fayet, founder of Reedsy:

We chatted with with Ricardo, founder of Reedsy ($2M/month). In our interview, Ricardo says:

Our biggest missed opportunity was not thinking about SEO on the Reedsy blog until a year or two after we’d started it. We were effectively wasting time and money producing blog posts that very few people would read.

Additionally:

You don’t want to rely on third-party software. Our email open rate increased by over 30% since dropping MailChimp, and our blog is 2x faster since dropping WordPress.

Further:

Establish some thought leadership in your niche before launching your first product. We struggled to get Reedsy recognized in the beginning because we had little experience and visibility in the industry.

Read the full interview ➜

#8: Stuart Hochwert, founder of Prime Publishing LLC:

We chatted with with Stuart, founder of Prime Publishing LLC ($600K/month). In our interview, Stuart says:

There is no substitute for hard work. The harder you work the “luckier” you will get. In my opinion, it will be hard to be successful without hard work and long hours.

Additionally:

What is working today might not work tomorrow. You need to move fast.

Read the full interview ➜

#9: Tucker Max, founder of Scribe Media:

We chatted with with Tucker, founder of Scribe Media ($1.3M/month). In our interview, Tucker says:

Every interaction we have with our clients has a major impact on our reputation and our growth. And remember, it takes years to build up a reputation, but only minutes to ruin one.