iUniverse

iUniverse, founded in October 1999, is a self-publishing company, co-located with AuthorHouse in Bloomington, Indiana. Publishers Weekly notes iUniverse has partnerships with The Writers' Club (under Writers Club Press) and the Writer's Digest (under The Writer's Showcase).

History

iUniverse initially focused on business-to-consumer print-on-demand publishing as well as publishing both new and reprinted titles. Soon after they were founded, Barnes & Noble purchased a 49% stake in the company. As part of the agreement, Barnes & Noble was to offer iUniverse titles both in their online bookstore and at their physical stores.

In 2004, porn star and ex-criminal Amy Fisher's memoir If I Knew Then about how she pled guilty to first-degree aggravated assault and served seven years in prison, became the best-selling book in iUniverse's history, selling 32,445 copies up to 2004. Nevertheless, according to a 2005 Publishers Weekly article, out of the more than 18,000 titles published by iUniverse until 2004, only 83 had sold at least 500 copies and only 14 titles had been sold through physical Barnes & Noble stores.

In September 2007, iUniverse was purchased by Author Solutions, the parent company of hedge fund owned rival AuthorHouse. On January 22, 2008, Author Solutions announced iUniverse operations would move from Lincoln, Nebraska to Bloomington, Indiana to be co-located with AuthorHouse. In June 2008, it was announced that Author Solutions would "onshore" iUniverse's Shanghai, China operations—creating more than 140 new jobs in its Indiana headquarters over the next few years.

Industry recognition

iUniverse has been recognized by both industry groups and independent publishing watchdogs. In 2003, iUniverse received the coveted Editors' Choice designation from PC Magazine in a comparison of six print-on-demand companies. The article was published in the magazine's May 27, 2003, issue.

In 2011, iUniverse was ranked #1 of 12 in the online book publishing category by TopTenReviews.com. The company earned the TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award, and was appraised as an indie publisher that “does a great job with its basic features, up-to-date marketing and helpful paid add-on services.”

Noteworthy authors

Through iUniverse, several authors have gone on to publishing success. They include:

• iUniverse author Ralph Fertig, who took his book Love and Liberation: When the Jews Tore Down the Ghetto Walls to number four on the Los Angeles Times best seller list in 2003.
• iUniverse author, Lisa Genova’s first book, Still Alice debuted at number 5 on the New York Times Bestseller list and spent 36 weeks on it. Initially shunned by literary agents, Genova finally decided to self-publish. Still Alice would go on to win the 2008 Bronte Prize, be honored with a nomination for the 2010 Indies Choice Debut Book of the Year by the American Booksellers Association, and win the 2011 Bexley Book of the Year. Traditional publisher, Simon & Schuster would eventually acquire the book, confirming Genova’s success as a published author. Still Alice has sold over a million copies in print, in 25 languages.
• Prominent Hollywood executive Paula Wagner, who produced films such as the Mission: Impossible movies, Vanilla Sky and The Last Samurai, has optioned the film, television, and stage rights of iUniverse author, Trisha Ventker’s book, Internet Dates From Hell, at the Author Solutions Book-to-Screen PitchFest (BTS) in Los Angeles, California, which took place on July 22–23, 2011. After hearing Ventker’s pitch, Ms. Wagner wasted no time giving her nod of approval saying, “I’m always looking for projects with real audience appeal, and with Internet dating being such a part of our techno-centric world, I was immediately drawn to Trisha’s personal journey of life and love online.”
• In August 2011, film producer, Gene Gutowski, published his memoirs, With Balls and Chutzpah, with iUniverse. The autobiography details his survival in Nazi-occupied Poland, his daring escapes, and achieving Hollywood fame as the producer of famous films like Repulsion, Cul-de-Sac, The Fearless Vampire Killers, and the Oscar Award-winning, The Pianist.
• iUniverse published "Lust for Danger" by author K. S. Brooks in August 2001.[12] Brooks went on to sign with Cambridge Books, a division of Write Words Inc., and since has produced four children's books and two additional espionage novels.