Over 500,000 Books Sold By iUniverse.com To Date

Posted on June 1, 2001

iUniverse.com, a provider of epublishing services, announced that the company has recently printed and sold its 500,000th book. The company also announced that nearly 10,000 titles have been published by authors using iUniverse.com's epublishing services. iUniverse.com provides electronic publishing services to authors; allowing authors to self-publish their books in print-on-demand and ebook formats. iUniverse.com charges a fee for publishing the book and also earns commissions on sales of the books.

Doug Bennett, President and COO of iUniverse, says in the announcement, "Every person has a story to tell. Whether they're an aspiring best-selling author or wanting to detail their family history, we're giving authors the opportunity to realize their dreams -- to see their book in print. Breaking the 500,000 mark is a testament to people's desire to share their stories and our commitment to provide a high quality publishing experience and the most comprehensive distribution network available."

iUniverse has also extended its self-publishing capability to partners including Barnes&Noble.com, BooksAMillion.com and Education World. iUniverse also recently announced the launch of a new marketing campaign. iUniverse competes with other epublishers offering similar services, including 1stBooks Library and Xlibris. However, unlike its competitors, iUniverse.com also has a B2B division, and it recently launched custom publishing programs with Microsoft Press and Hungry Minds, Inc.

In January of this year, iUniverse.com announced a $21 million investment from Warburg Pincus as well as the acquisition of Corporate University Exchange. iUniverse maintains operations in Silicon Valley, California; Lincoln, Nebraska; New York; Seattle; and Shanghai, China. The company is headquartered in Campbell, California and employs over 300 people.