Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover self-publishing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Blurb | StreetLib | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $3.99 | From $99 |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Annual only |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | 15% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Web, macOS, Windows | Web |
| Covers | Self-Publishing, Merch & Print on Demand | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Print books and magazines one copy at a time
Blurb prints a single copy as readily as a hundred, which is what makes a photo book, a zine or a portfolio possible without an inventory. Layout happens in its own tools or in InDesign through a plugin. Paper stock and trim size move the unit price a long way, so the calculator is worth opening before the design is finished.
Our note
Paper stock moves the price further than page count does, with the same photo book running from $32 to $70. Work out the real cost at the binding you want before setting it against Lulu. The $12 headline is the cheapest possible configuration.
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Ebook distribution that states its cut up front
StreetLib distributes ebooks and audiobooks to the stores an author cannot easily reach one by one, and is unusual in charging for the service rather than only taking a share. It publishes what it keeps, which is more than most aggregators do. For an author already selling through Amazon alone, the question is whether the other stores add up to more than the fee.
Our note
Against Draft2Digital, which charges nothing upfront and takes a larger share, this is the better arithmetic for anybody already selling. Work out your annual net revenue: below roughly a thousand dollars a year, paying nothing and giving up more is cheaper.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.
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