Forbes Books

What Forbes Books does

Forbes Books is a hybrid book publishing company operating as a joint venture between Forbes Media and Advantage Media, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Charleston, SC. The company targets CEOs, C-suite executives, entrepreneurs, and industry thought leaders with a done-for-you publishing platform, offering three tiered programs (Forbes Books, Forbes Books Select, Forbes Books Premier) that bundle ghostwriting, editorial, design, distribution, and brand visibility under the Forbes Books imprint. Beyond publishing, Forbes Books monetizes a suite of recurring Authority Media Services — including SMART Social, SMART Content, Public Relations, Podcasts, and Digital Media & Engagement — designed to extend author authority after publication.

The business model is author-paid publishing fees (one-time multi-year contracts) combined with subscription-style Authority Media Services. Distribution is executed through a flagship partnership with Simon & Schuster, providing access to 100+ countries, major online and brick-and-mortar retailers, airport bookstore chains, libraries, and a network of 2,200 foreign-language rights buyers. Authors retain 100% of intellectual property rights, and the company curates exclusivity through a selective application process designed to preserve the imprint's prestige.

The company is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds and reports a headcount of 51–100 employees. Forbes Books is part of a broader publishing family that includes Advantage Books, Entrepreneur Books, and SXSW Books, collectively serving more than 2,000 published authors. There is no proprietary technology platform product; the underlying capability stack is service delivery, editorial production, and brand-licensed media amplification.

Name

Forbes Books

Legal name

Forbes Books

Website

https://books.forbes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Forbes Books is a hybrid book publishing joint venture between Forbes Media and Advantage Media that provides done-for-you publishing and Authority Media Services to CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business thought leaders under the Forbes Books imprint, distributed globally via Simon & Schuster.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Book Publishing Services

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Business, Personal Finance & Careers Trade Publishing (MPAJAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Author Marketing, PR & Launch Services (Ads, Book Tours, Influencers) (MPAJAJAL)

Keywords

• Hybrid book publishing
• Author services
• Thought leadership publishing
• Executive ghostwriting services
• Business book marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Charleston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Publishing Program Fees: Forbes Books operates as a hybrid publisher where authors pay for publishing services. The company offers tiered publishing programs with varying levels of services, promotion, and prestige. Authors invest in production costs in exchange for editorial standards, professional production, distribution under the Forbes Books imprint, and access to marketing services.
2. Authority Media Services: Ongoing media services including digital media engagement, SMART Social content creation, PR services, and podcast production are offered as additional services to published authors, providing recurring revenue opportunities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Forbes Books is a hybrid book publishing company that provides done-for-you publishing services for business leaders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs. The company offers tiered publishing programs (Forbes Books, Forbes Books Select, Forbes Books Premier) that include ghostwriting, manuscript development, editing, professional design, distribution, and branding under the Forbes Books imprint. It also sells Authority Media Services such as PR, social content, podcast production, and digital media engagement to extend author visibility after publication.

Product overview

Forbes Books is a hybrid book publishing company offering a platform of tiered publishing programs and authority media services designed for business leaders and entrepreneurs. The core offering consists of three publishing program tiers: Forbes Books (entry-level), Forbes Books Select (intermediate), and Forbes Books Premier (premium). These programs provide book creation and publishing, ghostwriting services, book promotion and marketing, distribution services (via Simon & Schuster), and Forbes branding and visibility. Supporting the publishing programs is a suite of Authority Media Services including Digital Media and Engagement, SMART Social (social media management), SMART Content (thought leadership article creation), Public Relations Services, and Podcasts. Premium features include access to the Forbes on Fifth event venue and Times Square book announcements. The company also provides an Authority Assessment tool for lead generation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Forbes Books (Publishing Program) Entry-level publishing program for business leaders providing manuscript creation (up to 50,000 words), online retail distribution, Book Promo Bronze package, Authority Book Launch Bundle, and Forbes Books Author Seal. Authors retain 100% rights to their work.
• Forbes Books Select (Publishing Program)

Quantifiable outcome

• Authors achieve 8x ROI on book investment and double their close ratio (per Brent Tilson case study)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Forbes MediaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016In 2016, Forbes Media approached Advantage Media recognizing their best-in-class publishing standard, with the goal to extend Forbes brand into book publishing. The resulting joint venture created Forbes Books. Forbes Books is the exclusive book publisher of Forbes, and authors gain access to the Forbes brand and 150 million business readers through Forbes.com digital network.
• Advantage Media (Advantage Books)flagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2005Advantage Media was founded by Adam Witty in 2005 to democratize book publishing with a done-for-you system for CEOs and business owners. After significant growth, Advantage Media became the exclusive book publisher of Forbes through the 2016 partnership. Forbes Books operates as a joint venture/flagship imprint.
• Hudson BooksellerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorForbes Books works with Hudson Booksellers, one of four major airport retail chains, to secure competitive placement for select author titles in key airport markets. Hudson stores see up to 300,000 daily visitors.
• Paradies LagaderecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorForbes Books partners with Paradies Lagadere, a major airport retail operator, to place select author titles in strategically targeted airport bookstore locations that align with authors' brands and messages.
• WH SmithcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorForbes Books works with WH Smith, an international airport retailer, to secure placement for author titles in high-traffic airport locations serving business travelers.
• NewslinkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorForbes Books partners with Newslink as one of the airport retail chains for book placement opportunities at select airport locations.
• NetGalleyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBook seeding campaign includes offering digital books for download and giveaway to NetGalley's community of 650,000 registered members for early reader reviews.
• GoodreadsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBook seeding campaign includes access to Goodreads' 90 million registered members for digital book downloads, giveaways, and early reader reviews.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Greenleaf Book Group: Hybrid book publisher focused on business and self-help authors with distribution through traditional wholesalers. Directly comparable to Forbes Books on business-author target customer, hybrid-pay model and tiered service offering.
• Morgan James Publishing: Hybrid publisher serving entrepreneurs and business authors with author-paid programs and traditional distribution. Closest direct peer to Forbes Books on target customer (entrepreneur/business leaders), business model and tier structure.
• Advantage Media / Advantage Books: Founder Adam Witty's earlier hybrid publishing platform that is the operating company behind Forbes Books and shares clients, infrastructure and management. Direct peer by virtue of identical offering and shared leadership.
• Entrepreneur Books: Brand-licensed hybrid publisher under the Entrepreneur Media umbrella, run by the same parent ecosystem. Same business-leader author customer and tiered hybrid model, differentiated only by the licensed media brand.
• SXSW Books: Brand-licensed publishing imprint operated within the same Advantage Media parent ecosystem. Directly comparable on hybrid-publisher model with media-brand affiliation; overlap on operational backbone and target author pool.
• Page Two Publishing: Hybrid publisher focused on business and thought-leadership authors. Comparable on author-paid hybrid model, premium positioning and emphasis on authority/expert authors.
• Sound Wisdom Publishing: Hybrid publisher of business and personal-development titles with author-paid programs and traditional distribution. Comparable tier structure and business-author target segment.

Emerging players

• Harper Horizon: HarperCollins imprint launched for purpose-driven and business authors. Overlaps on hybrid-style author services and business-reader audience, but leverages a major traditional publisher's infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Wiley Author Services: Traditional publisher (Wiley) with adjacent author-services offerings across business, professional and academic imprints. Comparable on distribution scale and business-book category overlap but operates with traditional royalty model.
• Simon & Schuster: 5th-largest global publisher and Forbes Books' distribution partner. Competes with Forbes Books in the business-author category via its own imprints while simultaneously serving as the distribution backbone — a dual competitor/partner relationship that defines the channel structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCgJ5L3HwP-56d0K8rH-2v0Q
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/forbesbooks
• Xx.com/Forbes_Books
• Facebookfacebook.com/ForbesAuthors

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Forbes Books