Indie Publishing Under An LLC

While traditional publishing remains the main focus for authors looking to get their books out into the hands of readers, indie publishing has taken off in recent years. Whether the writer aspires to make millions off of their book, or they just want a singular copy for themselves, traditional publishing may not be the best route. Indie publishing had advantages that traditional publishing doesn’t.

What Is An LLC?

An LLC is a Limited Liability Corporation. You may be wondering what it has to do with publishing your book. While you can self-publish without one, an LLC offers several protections for your work. For example, your work would technically be published through a publisher, separating your work from the sea of indie books being published every day.

When your book is protected by an LLC, that means that any legal issues that arise would go after the publisher, and not you. You and your assets would be protected by the LLC taking the brunt. What does this mean for you? God forbid someone tries to sue, they can only take what the LLC has which—if you run it by yourself—is practically nothing. However, you reap the bonuses of having a publisher’s name printed on your book.

You can name the LLC whatever you wish (so long as it follows the guidelines of your state or province), and you can run it on your own as a single member. While there are a few things you’ll need to do to maintain the LLC, and it will cost a bit out of pocket, it’s worth the added protection to separate your work from you and the immense digital library of indie books while still giving you complete control over your work.

What Makes An LLC Different From Traditional Publishing?

While traditional publishing gets books onto shelves and into the hands of readers in a way we are all familiar with to some degree, these options are available to LLC publishers as well. The main difference between an LLC and traditional publishing is that an established publisher will handle the marketing for you and running your own company means it’s all up to you.

If you have a strong following on social media, you can build hype for your book and find success as an indie author. If you don’t, there are sites like BookSprout that can help you find ARC readers to hype your book for you. Platforms like BookTok can circulate information about your work, as can any friends and family you have that want to support you. And, of course, there are always Google Ads.

While an LLC adds the assumed prestige of having a publisher, it leaves the work to you. If you’d rather have all the little details handled by a team of experienced people, then an LLC is not for you. However, if you want to dive in and get your hands dirty with experience, this might be exactly what you need to do.

Should I Publish Under An LLC?

This is a difficult question, and the answer is: it’s complicated. Only you know what path to take, and only you know what course of action is best for you.

Unsurprisingly, the writer’s community seems split on this subject. While many will praise this route as the new standard for indie authors to follow to help promote their work, there are also plenty of voices that detest the route. For example, in online writing groups, some people condemn publishing under an LLC for hiding the fact that they are self-published.

This is understandable, but also preposterous. Using an LLC alters the title of “self-published.” No longer have you published by yourself; you have published through a company. Granted, you own that company (and it’s a small-time publisher), but it can be a vital step in a writer’s journey. This is especially true for writers who plan on publishing more than one book, or an entire series that can be bound together under one name.

The Bottom Line

Publishing under an LLC can set your work apart, though it takes some work to maintain. It’s something every writer needs to research and decide on for themselves because only you know what your story needs to flourish. If you want more control over your work, this could be the route for you.