- Eliza Randall
- 0 min read
Publishing with Pressbooks: An In-Depth Review
Table of Contents
Self-publishing has evolved into a world where authors can choose from a wide range of tools, platforms, and services to bring their books to life. Among these, Pressbooks stands out, not as a distributor like Amazon KDP or Draft2Digital, but as a professional formatting and publishing tool designed to make book creation accessible and efficient.
Founded in 2011 and built on a WordPress framework, Pressbooks has become especially popular among universities, educators, and independent authors. Its strength lies in helping writers produce polished, professional files for eBooks, print editions, and even webbooks. With its cloud-based, easy-to-use interface, Pressbooks allows authors to focus on writing and design without the need for advanced technical skills.
Unlike companies such as BookBaby or BookLocker, Pressbooks does not handle distribution, royalties, or marketing. Instead, it positions itself as a flexible tool that prepares your manuscript for success across other platforms. Authors can export their work in multiple formats, including EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and XML, and then upload these files to retailers like Amazon, Kobo, or IngramSpark.
This review explores Pressbooks in detail, examining its pros and cons, services, pricing, and customer feedback. We’ll also compare how it stacks up against alternatives like Vellum, Atticus, or aggregator-based solutions to help you decide if Pressbooks is the right publishing partner for your needs.
| ✅ PROS | ⛔ CONS |
| Professional formatting for print, eBook, and web | No built-in distribution—authors must self-publish elsewhere |
| Easy-to-use, web-based interface | Subscription-based pricing can add up over time |
| Supports multiple export formats (EPUB, MOBI, PDF, XML) | Limited design customization compared to professional designers |
| Collaboration features for teams and educators | No marketing or editing services included |
| Widely adopted by universities and open education publishers | Better suited for nonfiction/academic works than genre fiction |
✅ Pros of Pressbooks
Professional Formatting: Pressbooks specializes in producing professional-quality files for both print and digital publishing. With its range of templates and clean export options, authors can create books that meet industry standards without needing to hire a designer.
Web-Based and Easy to Use: Because Pressbooks is entirely web-based, authors can log in from any device and start building their book. The interface is modeled on WordPress, making it familiar to many users and simple to learn for beginners.
Multiple Export Formats: Authors can export their manuscripts in a wide range of formats, including EPUB, MOBI, PDF, XML, and even webbooks. This flexibility makes it easy to distribute the book across multiple platforms without reformatting.
Collaboration Features: Pressbooks allows multiple users to collaborate on the same project, which is particularly helpful for co-authors, editors, or academic teams working on textbooks or open educational resources.
Academic and Educational Adoption: The platform is widely used by universities and educators to produce open educational resources (OERs), giving it strong credibility in the academic publishing space. This also means it’s a reliable choice for nonfiction authors, course creators, and professional writers.
⛔ Cons of Pressbooks
No Built-In Distribution: Unlike platforms such as Draft2Digital or PublishDrive, Pressbooks does not distribute books to retailers. Authors must export their files and handle uploads to Amazon, Kobo, or IngramSpark independently.
Subscription-Based Pricing: Pressbooks works on a subscription model rather than a one-time fee. While this may suit authors producing multiple books or managing educational projects, it can become costly for writers who only plan to publish occasionally.
Limited Design Customization: Although Pressbooks offers templates, the customization options are more limited than working with a professional book designer or premium software like Adobe InDesign. Authors wanting unique or complex layouts may find the system restrictive.
No Marketing or Editing Services: Pressbooks is purely a formatting tool. Authors will need to arrange editing, proofreading, and marketing separately, which may be a drawback for beginners seeking an all-in-one publishing solution.
Best for Nonfiction and Academic Works: While fiction authors can certainly use Pressbooks, its features are most appealing to educators, academic publishers, and nonfiction writers. Genre authors seeking flashy design elements may find tools like Vellum or Atticus more aligned with their needs.
Quick Overview of Pressbooks’ Services
Pressbooks is best understood as a publishing tool rather than a full-service self-publishing company. Its core strength lies in helping authors produce professional, ready-to-publish files across formats.
- Manuscript Preparation: Authors can import manuscripts directly from Word or Google Docs into Pressbooks. Once uploaded, the text can be structured into chapters, sections, and front/back matter, with metadata fields for ISBNs, keywords, and descriptions.
- Formatting and Design: Pressbooks offers a range of templates and themes that automatically format manuscripts for both eBook and print-ready layouts. While customization is more limited than professional design software, it ensures books meet industry formatting standards.
- Export Options: One of Pressbooks’ strongest features is its wide range of export formats. Authors can generate files for EPUB, MOBI, PDF, XML, and even a webbook format that allows readers to view the book online. This makes it particularly versatile for multi-channel publishing.
- Collaboration Tools: The platform supports multi-user access, making it possible for authors, editors, and proofreaders to work together on the same manuscript. This is especially valuable for academic projects, course creators, or co-authors.
- Integrations and Academic Use: Pressbooks has become a popular choice for universities and institutions producing open educational resources (OERs). Its integration with learning platforms and focus on structured publishing make it well-suited for textbooks and nonfiction works.
In short, Pressbooks equips authors with the tools to prepare professional files, but leaves distribution, sales, and marketing in the author’s hands.
Pricing and Revenue Model
Unlike platforms such as BookBaby or BookLocker, Pressbooks does not charge a one-time publishing setup fee. Instead, it uses a subscription-based model, which can be appealing for authors working on multiple projects but less ideal for those publishing only one book.
Subscription Tiers: Pressbooks offers several paid plans (Standard, Pro, and EDU-focused options), each unlocking different levels of features. The lower tiers provide access to templates, exports, and basic collaboration, while higher tiers add branding, advanced themes, and institutional tools for universities and organizations.
No Royalties Taken: Because Pressbooks is a tool rather than a distributor, it does not take a percentage of book sales. Authors retain 100% of royalties from any platform where they choose to publish their exported files.
Ongoing vs. One-Time Costs: The subscription model means costs are recurring, unlike software such as Vellum (Mac-only), which charges a one-time license fee. Over time, Pressbooks may become more expensive if an author maintains a subscription but isn’t actively publishing new books.
Comparison to Competitors
- Cheaper upfront than BookBaby (no thousand-dollar packages).
- More flexible than Atticus in supporting educational publishing and collaboration.
- More costly over time than Vellum, which has no subscription fees.
Overall, Pressbooks’ pricing works best for authors producing multiple books or institutions using it as part of an ongoing publishing program. For one-off projects, the subscription fees may outweigh its benefits.
Publishing Timeline
One of the advantages of Pressbooks is that it gives authors full control over their publishing timeline. Unlike platforms such as BookBaby, which require weeks or months of production time, Pressbooks operates as a self-service tool. Authors can format, finalize, and export their books as soon as they are ready.
For many, this means a manuscript can be uploaded, formatted, and exported into professional files within hours or days, depending on how polished the draft already is. Once the files are created, authors can immediately upload them to retailers like Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Kobo, or Apple Books.
This speed is especially useful for educators and academic publishers who may need to release materials quickly, or for independent authors working on tight deadlines. However, it also means that the quality of the final product depends heavily on the author’s own preparation. Since Pressbooks doesn’t provide editing or project management, the timeline is as fast, or as slow, as the author makes it.
In short, Pressbooks allows for a near-instant publishing turnaround, with the caveat that authors bear full responsibility for editing, design choices, and final file checks.
Pressbooks Dashboard and Tools
The Pressbooks platform is entirely web-based, with an interface built on WordPress. This makes it intuitive for anyone familiar with blogging platforms, while still being accessible to new users. The dashboard is designed to give authors control over structure, formatting, and output without needing advanced technical skills.
User Interface
The dashboard allows authors to break their book into chapters, front matter, and back matter, making navigation simple. Metadata fields let authors manage ISBNs, keywords, and descriptions directly within the tool.
Templates and Themes
Pressbooks provides a selection of professional themes for book design, ranging from clean academic layouts to more traditional trade publishing styles. While customization is somewhat limited compared to bespoke design software, the templates ensure books meet professional formatting standards.
Export Capabilities
One of Pressbooks’ most powerful features is its multi-format export. Authors can generate files in EPUB, MOBI, PDF (for print), XML, and even a webbook format, which allows books to be published online in a browser-based format. This flexibility makes it particularly appealing for authors who want to distribute across multiple platforms.
Collaboration and Version Control
Pressbooks supports multi-user access, allowing authors, editors, and collaborators to work on the same project simultaneously. It also includes versioning tools, making it easy to roll back changes or update sections of a manuscript without reformatting the entire book.
Accessibility Features
For academic and educational publishing, Pressbooks emphasizes accessibility compliance, ensuring that exported books meet standards for diverse reading needs.
Overall, the dashboard and tools are designed to be functional and versatile, giving authors everything they need to prepare professional files without outsourcing formatting.
Pressbooks Dashboard and Tools
The Pressbooks platform is entirely web-based, with an interface built on WordPress. This makes it intuitive for anyone familiar with blogging platforms, while still being accessible to new users. The dashboard is designed to give authors control over structure, formatting, and output without needing advanced technical skills.
User Interface
The dashboard allows authors to break their book into chapters, front matter, and back matter, making navigation simple. Metadata fields let authors manage ISBNs, keywords, and descriptions directly within the tool.
Templates and Themes
Pressbooks provides a selection of professional themes for book design, ranging from clean academic layouts to more traditional trade publishing styles. While customization is somewhat limited compared to bespoke design software, the templates ensure books meet professional formatting standards.
Export Capabilities
One of Pressbooks’ most powerful features is its multi-format export. Authors can generate files in EPUB, MOBI, PDF (for print), XML, and even a webbook format, which allows books to be published online in a browser-based format. This flexibility makes it particularly appealing for authors who want to distribute across multiple platforms.
Collaboration and Version Control
Pressbooks supports multi-user access, allowing authors, editors, and collaborators to work on the same project simultaneously. It also includes versioning tools, making it easy to roll back changes or update sections of a manuscript without reformatting the entire book.
Accessibility Features
For academic and educational publishing, Pressbooks emphasizes accessibility compliance, ensuring that exported books meet standards for diverse reading needs.
Overall, the dashboard and tools are designed to be functional and versatile, giving authors everything they need to prepare professional files without outsourcing formatting.
Distribution
Unlike platforms such as Draft2Digital, PublishDrive, or BookLocker, Pressbooks does not handle distribution or sales. Instead, it positions itself as a publishing tool; authors use it to create professional files that they can then distribute independently.
Once a manuscript is formatted in Pressbooks, authors can export files in EPUB, MOBI, and PDF formats and upload them directly to retailers and distributors such as Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Kobo Writing Life, Apple Books, and Barnes & Noble Press. This flexibility gives authors complete control over where and how their book is sold, but it also places the responsibility for distribution entirely on their shoulders.
Pressbooks is also widely used in academic publishing, particularly for open educational resources (OERs). In these cases, books are often shared as webbooks or PDFs hosted by universities, institutions, or educational platforms, rather than through traditional commercial retailers.
The lack of built-in distribution is both a strength and a limitation: it gives authors total independence but requires more effort compared to one-stop solutions like BookBaby or Smashwords (now merged with Draft2Digital).
In short, Pressbooks equips authors with the files and formats they need, but the publishing and distribution strategy is entirely up to the author.
Customer Experience and Reviews
Pressbooks receives generally positive feedback, especially from educators, universities, and nonfiction authors who value its ability to produce professional files without requiring design expertise. Many users highlight the platform’s ease of use, noting that its WordPress-style interface makes it approachable even for those with little technical background.
A common point of praise is the flexibility of export formats. Authors appreciate being able to generate EPUB, MOBI, and print-ready PDFs from the same project, which saves time and ensures consistency across platforms. Educators in particular find the webbook format invaluable for sharing open educational resources (OERs).
The collaboration tools also receive positive mention. Teams of authors, editors, or instructors can work together on the same manuscript, making Pressbooks attractive for group projects or institutions publishing course materials.
On the downside, some users find the subscription costs high, particularly if they only plan to publish one book and don’t need ongoing access. Others feel that the design customization is limited, with templates that, while professional, can look generic compared to fully custom-designed books. Another frequent critique is the lack of built-in distribution and marketing, which leaves authors to handle the hardest parts of publishing on their own.
Overall, customer sentiment suggests that Pressbooks is a powerful tool for creating professional files, but best suited for authors who are confident in handling editing, marketing, and distribution independently—or for academic users whose institutions integrate the platform into their publishing workflows.
Is Pressbooks for You?
Pressbooks is best suited for authors, educators, and institutions that need professional formatting tools rather than a full-service publishing package. If your priority is creating high-quality EPUBs, MOBIs, or print-ready PDFs—and you don’t mind handling distribution and marketing yourself—Pressbooks delivers a streamlined, reliable solution. Its multi-format exports, collaboration features, and academic credibility make it especially attractive for nonfiction writers and universities producing open educational resources.
However, Pressbooks may not be the right fit for authors looking for a one-stop shop. It does not include editing, marketing, or distribution, and the subscription model can become expensive if you only plan to publish a single book. Fiction authors who want more design flexibility or built-in promotional tools might find alternatives like Vellum, Atticus, or aggregators like Draft2Digital more practical.
In short, Pressbooks is a powerful, professional formatting tool rather than a publishing service. It’s ideal for those who want control, flexibility, and polished files—but less so for authors who want a platform to handle the entire publishing journey.
FAQ: Pressbooks
Q: Is Pressbooks free?
Pressbooks offers a free trial with limited functionality, but most authors will need a paid subscription to unlock full features and exports.
Q: Can I publish directly to Amazon or Apple Books from Pressbooks?
No. Pressbooks is a formatting tool only. You’ll need to export your files and upload them manually to Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Apple Books, or other platforms.
Q: What file formats can I export?
Pressbooks supports EPUB, MOBI, PDF, XML, and webbook formats, making it versatile for both eBook and print publishing.
Q: Is it good for fiction authors?
Yes, but Pressbooks is most popular with nonfiction and academic projects. Fiction authors looking for more polished templates or genre-specific designs may prefer alternatives like Vellum or Atticus.
Q: Who typically uses Pressbooks?
It’s widely adopted by universities, educators, and OER publishers, but independent authors and small presses also use it for its flexibility and professional output.