Running a small ebook publishing company as a side business

(If you are looking to hire someone for editorial or ebook production, check out the rate sheet of services I offer.)

Technologies Used: XML Oxygen Editor 22, Docbook 5, MS Office, Docbook XSLT stylesheets, Gimp, Audacity,  Sony Vegas Pro 19

Samples: Personville Press Website, Author Website,

Dates: 8/2010 to present

References/Testimonials:  Jack Matthews (author)  , Amy Valentine (author)

Since 2010 I have run a small ebook publishing company called Personville Press. So far, Personville Press has published 14 ebooks and (as of Summer 2024) commitments to publish 3 more. I do this during my breaks between jobs and contracts, but I also work on these projects to a lesser degree when I am working full time. 

On the business side, I:

  • Negotiated publishing terms  with the author and wrote everything up in a legally enforceable contract.
  • Set up a (rudimentary) accounting system for tracking royalties and transferring payments to the author.
  • Created marketing strategy and identified potential audience for the product.
  • Wrote press releases, product descriptions and announcements for online stores,  blogs and social media.
  • Hired talent as needed for illustrations, actors, studio engineers.
  • Evaluated ebook distribution channels for  reach and revenue potential.
  • Set up a customer relationship management system using market data I have personally collected.  (In progress)

On the technical side, I:

  • Created a Docbook XML-based toolchain for producing ebooks.
  • Researched ebook standards and implementations from the different devices and distribution channels.
  • Wrote  simple XSLT customizations to optimize the ebook file and a CSS template appropriate for the ebook and device.
  • Produce book promotion sites based on WordPress.
  • Tested ebook templates for the major devices and ebook platforms.
  • Ran a promotional website for the author.
  • Set up a turnkey shopping cart solution for customers to buy digital files directly.

On the editorial side, I:

  • Selected and proposed material for the ebook.
  • Wrote prefaces and relevant supporting  material.
  • Queried author for clarifications  and offering editorial suggestions when appropriate.
  • Set up a workflow for editing and producing an ebook (Basically, MS Word –> Filtered HTML –> Docbook XML –> Epub files).
  • Proofed text thoroughly and submitted files and metadata to distribution channels.

On the multimedia side, I:

Employer: book publishing, Personville Press
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