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AuthorHouse, formerly known as 1stBooks, is a vanity press that provides print on demand services.

According to its promotional materials,^[1] 1stBooks was founded in Bloomington, Indiana in January 1997 by an aspiring author who had received more than 100 rejection letters from publishers; its first e-book appeared in June of that year. In January 1999, it started using print on demand technology to produce paper books. By December 2001 it had printed 350,000 books and by January 2004, 2 million books from 18,500 authors — an average of 110 copies per author — had been printed. In March 2004 the company changed its name to AuthorHouse. It opened an office in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom in May 2004. By December 2004 it had printed more than 3 million books. In December of 2005, AuthorHouse was nominated by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce for the Small Business of the Year Award.^[2] In October 2006, AuthorHouse won the Silver Award in Business excellence from BKD.^[3]

For additional fees, AuthorHouse offers returnability (allowing bookstores to return excess inventory), individualized book promotions, copy editing, priority handling and custom illustrations.

The overwhelming number of people who pay this vanity press for printing their books are not prominent authors, but some prominent individuals who are not professional writers have published through AuthorHouse, including Senator Richard Lugar,^[4] comedian Rita Rudner,^[5] Canadian humorist Gordon Kirkland,^[6] evolutionary psychologist Kevin B. MacDonald,^[7] and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. ^[8]

In August 2006, AuthorHouse was ordered to pay US$240,000 in punitive damages, as well as $230,000 in actual damages, to romance author Rebecca Brandewyne and her parents for publishing a book by her ex-husband that libeled them. ^[9]

Authorhouse has accepted payment from over 27,000 writers worldwide but has enjoyed huge success with only one book, Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown, which became a best-selling novel and a Hollywood box-office smash, starring Reese Witherspoon.

People who write family histories often pay for publication through AuthorHouse. Since family histories have no market potential outside a particular family, legitimate major commercial presses have no interest in publishing them.

References

[history-1] AuthorHouse Corporate Milestones

[2] "Indiana chamber honors small business leaders"

[3] 2006 "BKD Indiana exellence awards presented

[4] Letters to the Next President

[5] Naked Beneath My Clothes

[6] Gordon Kirkland's books

[7] The Culture of Critique

[8] The Ballard Rules

[Book-9] "AuthorHouse ordered to pay up", Publishers Weekly, August 9, 2006

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 In August 2006, AuthorHouse was ordered to pay [[US$]]240,000 in [[punitive damage]]s, as well as $230,000 in actual damages, to romance author [[Rebecca Brandewyne]] and her parents for publishing a book by her ex-husband that [[libel]]ed them. <ref name="Book">[http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6360355.html "AuthorHouse ordered to pay up"], ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'', August 9, 2006</ref>
-[[Authorhouse]] has worked with over 27,000 Authors worldwide and has enjoyed huge success with [[Legally Blonde]] by [[Amanda Brown]] which became a best-selling novel and a [[Hollywood]] box-office smash, starring [[Reese Witherspoon]].
+Authorhouse has accepted payment from over 27,000 writers worldwide but has enjoyed huge success with only one book, [[Legally Blonde]] by [[Amanda Brown]], which became a best-selling novel and a [[Hollywood]] box-office smash, starring [[Reese Witherspoon]].
 People who write family histories often pay for publication through AuthorHouse. Since family histories have no market potential outside a particular family, legitimate major commercial presses have no interest in publishing them.