By Aimee Chanthadavong

Recognising that going online is a growing trend, bookseller Dymocks has announced it will be launching D Publishing, a web-based book publishing service to support local authors.

D Publishing will be available from October to provide authors end-to-end publishing service from publishing to distribution of both printed books and eBooks, without the need for previous experience.

Speaking to Retailbiz, Michael Allara, Dymocks’ general manager of e-commerce, said the publishing service is a logical extension for the business and it’s a key opportunity for many of its customers to tell their story.

“I think the core motivation is that everyone has a story to tell; we see so many people with a strong desire to write and produce books. We have created a business that will help give more Australians who love to write a voice and the chance to create and publish a book,” he said.

“For the average person it’s difficult to get published and so what we’re doing is trying to make those key processes a lot easier by making the process of a book more cost effective. We’re also providing them a place to sell their books so they don’t have to worry about fulfilling orders or anything.

“In retail terms, especially in the book business, you have to look for new opportunities and what we know with our booklover customers is that they’re not only passionate about reading books but they have their own ideas to create their own stories. So this will provide them that new opportunity that is simple and cost effective.”

Budding authors will be able to publish their work directly to the public through D Publishing for a small fee, but will only be charged for the services they use. The service will be monitored and Dymocks will filter out anything deemed anti-social, offensive or illegal.

All books that are published on D Publishing will be made available for purchase on Dymocks’ online store. Also, to help increase readership, a selection of titles will also be made available in stores across the country.

“We will regularly look at the list and pick out books that we think have been well-written and make the books available to our franchise owners if they choose to sell it, so there’ll be no obligation to them,” Allara said.