Don't Pay to Self-Publish

From J A Konrath:

DON'T PAY ANYONE TO PUBLISH YOU.

Now you can certainly pay people to help you publish. Freelancers such as editors, cover artists, book formatters, proofreaders, and so on.

But when you hire a freelancer to assist you, you keep your rights.

That's very important.

When you write something, you own the copyright. That's automatic, even if you don't register with the copyright office.

Copyright means exactly that; you have the right to copy it, to distribute it, to give it away, to sell it. You own those rights.

But if you pay someone to publish you, you GIVE THEM YOUR RIGHTS.

NEVER GIVE ANYONE YOUR RIGHTS.

Internet Publishing Industry Revenue Reached $110 Billion in 2014

Service Annual Survey Provides Comprehensive Statistics on Service Industries in U.S. Economy Jan. 28, 2016 — Revenue for Internet publishing and broadcasting and Web search portal (NAICS 519130) employer firms increased 13.1 percent to $109.6 billion between 2013 and 2014. These information sector firms are primarily engaged in publishing and/or broadcasting content on the Internet exclusively or in operating websites that use a search engine to generate and maintain extensive databases of Internet addresses and content in an easily searchable format. Revenue among wireless telecommunications carriers (NAICS 517210) – another industry in the information sector – grew 8.0 percent between 2013 and 2014 to $251.8 billion. All in all, information sector (NAICS 51) revenue increased 5.3 percent to $1.4 trillion for employer and nonemployer firms. This sector is primarily comprised of publishing industries, including software and Internet publishing, motion picture and sound recording, broadcasting and telecommunications.   These revenue data come from the Service Annual Survey, which provides the most comprehensive national statistics available each year on service industry activity in the United States.

Publishing House Research - Resource Guide

Here are links of resources for publishers of books, periodicals or both. I looked at just the book sources, and the best source of free statistics off this page is the Association of American Publishers; however, for the best narrative info, try Publishers Weekly, which is an interesting read even if you're just a fan of books.

I recommend this site, despite parts of the larger website needing some loving. The blog hasn't been updated since December 2006, and there's an interview from July 2006.