SME Spotlight: Harmony Publishing

The business of publishing is evolving. In the past, the industry was dominated by traditional publishing houses, many of which exercised great control over the process of publishing literary material. With them, it often took months to convert a finished manuscript into a decent book and get it out to the market.

Harmony Publishing is one company that fits into this category. They provide services that cover the entire process leading up to publication– including design, editing, and formatting –and take care of the post-publication marketing and distribution as well (depending on the service package selected by their clients).

Founded in 2014 by Chukwuma Okeke, Harmony Publishing has built its public image over time and has taken on many publishing tasks from authors of both fictional and non-fictional works. In the past few years, it’s become a leader in Nigeria’s growing self-publishing niche. As is the case with many other self-publishing ventures, its client base is largely made up of upcoming authors who want a quicker route to market than traditional publishers offer.

The company makes both ebooks and printed books. It designs, formats, and converts ebooks, and takes care of the cover design and interior page creation processes. They are also made compatible with the most popular e-readers, including Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader, and others.

Harmony Publishing produces printed books as well. As is the case with its ebooks, the printed books come with full-colour covers, which may be hard or soft. Book interiors may be black and white or full colour (depending on what specific clients want). A defined number of books can be printed, in line with the service package customers select; there’s also a print-on-demand service, which involves the company printing books and shipping them directly to readers as demand comes in.

If they go for a higher service package, clients of Harmony Publishing can access global distribution for their books. These books may be placed on the shelves of bookstores across Nigeria, and be put up in some of the most frequently used online bookstores. Press releases about the books could be distributed through an online news service that targets over a thousand media outfits.

The publicity for books put out by this publisher includes social media campaigns which are particularly effective for authors with a limited social media presence or following. Harmony Publishing promises its clients a publicity push with a broad reach, translating to several thousand views.

The market that publishers serve is ever-expanding. People want to share stories, facts, and ideas with the world, and they’re doing so through published books. For as long as this market exists, companies like Harmony Publishing will be on had to attend to its needs.