Anytime an author purchases an ISBN from BookBaby, we will be listed as the publisher of the title. Authors always retain 100% of the rights to their titles and can cancel and remove their titles from BookBaby at anytime.
POD Distribution
In order to facilitate the print on demand distribution of your title, BookBaby must be listed as the publisher on record with all retailers even though we claim no ownership rights to your title whatsoever.
Because of the supply chain required to support print on demand (POD) sales through our vast retailer network, BookBaby must be listed as the publisher for all printed books that we distribute. This is because the retailers’ systems are built around the publisher. Since BookBaby is listed as the publisher, the retailers know where to order the printed books when needed, how much and when to pay us for the sales, and who to contact should a question need to be answered.
Authors can still use their own ISBN number if they choose, but BookBaby must still show as the publisher with the online retailers. Authors can list their own publishing company name as the imprint, although not all retailers will show the imprint name on their websites.
eBook Only Distribution
If an author chooses to distribute only an eBook version of their title with his/her own ISBN, BookBaby can, in these cases, show the author's publishing company name as the publisher on the retailers' websites. The reason that this is possible is because there is no print supply chain to be managed for eBook-only sales and the retailer is only delivering a digital file to their buyers.