Create-A-Book
Create-A-Book is a wholesale publisher of personalized hard-cover children's books founded in 1980, supplying name-personalized titles and book-making components to a distributed network of authorized U.S. dealers and online bookstores, with all production and consumer sales handled by the dealer channel.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1980
- HeadquartersLas Vegas, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Create-A-Book does
Create-A-Book, legally John Hefty Company (a Nevada corporation dba Create A Book), is a personalized children's book publisher founded in 1980 by John Hefty in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and now operated out of the Las Vegas area. The company's core product is hard-cover personalized children's books in which a child's name is integrated into pre-written story templates, with wipe-clean covers, fully illustrated color pages, and a retail price point of $19.95 per title. The catalog spans 40+ titles covering milestone events (baby, first day of school, potty training), sports, holidays, religious/Christian themes, adventure, and keepsake use cases; books are available in 8 languages.
The company operates exclusively as a B2B wholesaler and does not sell to the public. It supplies book components — covers ($2.00–$2.62/unit), page sets ($10.00–$23.55 per pack of 10), binding channels, perforated paper, sticky sheets, and blank covers — plus a 40-book sample bundle ($285) to a distributed network of authorized dealers and online bookstores across at least nine U.S. states. Dealers use the supplied components to produce finished books locally. Create-A-Book also sells a turnkey white-label dealer website product for $300 in the first year (including hosting, domain, shopping cart, and pre-loaded flip books) and $100/year thereafter, enabling authorized resellers to operate branded e-commerce storefronts. Revenue mechanics are unit-based wholesale plus a small recurring website-licensing annuity; the company has no public funding, no M&A history, and no disclosed headcount or financials. The single named individual is founder John Hefty, who handles direct customer and dealer contact via personal email and phone.
Create-A-Book firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Create-A-Book
- Legal name
- John Hefty Company
- Website
- https://createabook.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1980
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Create-A-Book is a wholesale publisher of personalized hard-cover children's books founded in 1980, supplying name-personalized titles and book-making components to a distributed network of authorized U.S. dealers and online bookstores, with all production and consumer sales handled by the dealer channel.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Create-A-Book industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Personalized Children's Books
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (513130), Book Publishers (51313)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Humor, Gift & Specialty Format Books (Journals, Coloring, etc.) (MPAJAAAN)
Keywords
Where Create-A-Book is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Las Vegas
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Create-A-Book business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Wholesale Book Sales: Create-A-Book sells books and book components (covers, page sets, binding supplies) to distributors and dealers at wholesale prices. Dealers then sell to end consumers.
- Dealer Website Licensing: The company sells turnkey websites to dealers for $300 initial purchase (includes first year hosting) and $100/year thereafter, providing them with e-commerce capability to sell books.
- Book Components and Supplies: Sale of book parts including binding channels, sticky sheets, perforated paper, hard covers, stickers, and other manufacturing supplies to dealers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Standard retail book price |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Wholesale pricing for dealers |
| Subscription | Annual | Dealer website package |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Create-A-Book product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Create-A-Book designs, produces, and wholesales personalized hard-cover children's books in which a child's name is integrated throughout pre-written story templates with full-color illustrations. The company distributes exclusively through a U.S. network of authorized dealers and online bookstores, supplying book components (covers, page sets, binding supplies), turnkey dealer websites, and book-making materials so dealers can fulfill personalized orders locally. The catalog spans over 40 titles across sports, holidays, religious, educational, and milestone themes, available in 8 languages.
Product overview
Create-A-Book is a personalized children's book company founded in 1980, offering a catalog of over 40 distinct book titles sold through a wholesale dealer/distributor network. The core product is personalized hard-cover children's books featuring the child's name throughout the story, available in multiple languages (8 total). The portfolio includes storybooks across themes: adventure (circus, camping, fishing, dinosaurs), sports (soccer, baseball, hockey), holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Hanukkah, Easter), Christian/religious (prayers, Bible stories, thankfulness), milestone books (first day of school, potty training, new baby), and keepsake books (baby birth records, weddings). All books feature wipe-clean hard covers, fully illustrated color pages, and are distributed via a dealer network. The company also offers a white-label website product ($300/year) for selling books online, a 40-book sample pack for distributors, and various book-making supplies including perforated paper, binding equipment, and blank covers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Little One, Little One A counting and colors learning book for young children featuring animals, published as a quality hard-cover personalized book with 36 pages, retailing at $19.95.
- The Train With No Name An educational children's book for ages 3-8 that teaches about compassion and helping others, featuring a story where the child helps save the circus train; 32 pages, retail $19.95.
- The Ballerina Princess A personalized ballerina story book where the child becomes the lead ballerina when the professional gets sick, illustrated by a Russian artist; available in Caucasian and ethnic versions, retail $19.95.
- My Birthday Wish A rhyming book for ages 3-8 where the child imagines what they could wish for on their birthday, from becoming an astronaut to movie star and explorer; 36 pages, retail $19.95.
- The Big Parade A best-selling book where the child leads the parade with the Mayor on a fire truck, featuring a word scramble game at the end; retail $19.95.
- Big Circus A circus adventure book where the child leads the Big-Top on an elephant when a clown gets sick, starring in the Greatest Show On Earth; retail $19.95.
- My Trip to the Fire Station A fire safety education book for elementary school programs teaching fire prevention, smoke detector awareness, and STOP-DROP-AND-ROLL technique, with space for emergency contact information.
- My Dinosaur Adventure A magical adventure where a unicorn takes the child back in time to the land of the Dinosaurs.
- My Soccer Adventure A soccer adventure for ages 3-11 where the child is selected by a national team scout, scores the winning goal in the championship.
- My Christmas Wish A Christmas story where the child writes a wish list and imagines delivering it to Mr. and Mrs. Claus, including wishes for a visit from Rudolph and a sleigh ride.
- Baby's Create-A-Book A popular baby keepsake book special for parents and babies, available in multiple versions including adopted child, single parent, Jewish, premature birth, Spanish, and twins versions.
- Mommy's New Baby (Sibling Book) A book to help older children cope with the arrival of a new baby, explaining why new babies require attention while emphasizing the fun of being an older sibling.
- No More Diapers A potty training book for ages 2-6 featuring a cute toddler bear taking steps to use the potty and wear real underpants.
- My Book of Prayers A non-denominational Christian book encouraging children to pray, illustrated by Betsy Walker, suitable for bedtime reading.
- Noah A personalized biblical storybook from the Old Testament tracing events leading to the building of Noah's Ark, with illustrations and text from the Bible.
- Wedding/Anniversary Book A padded leather-feel wedding storybook that becomes a keepsake of the wedding day, allowing entry of city, church, pastor, and honeymoon location; includes onion skin paper, clear pouch pages, and lined pages.
- Your Own Book Website A white-label website package for selling Create-A-Book books, including hosting, domain name, shopping cart, and pre-loaded flip books; $300 first year (includes hosting and domain), $100/year renewal, with bonus free second year hosting.
- 40 Book Sample Pack A bundle containing one of each title of all books (40 total), 100 sticky end sheets, and 1 pack of perforated paper; everything needed to print and make 40 books using a computer and printer; $285 bundle price.
- Book Making Supplies Supplies for creating books including perforated paper (200 sheets, $22.89), binding channels (25 pack, $13.08), sticky sheets with tabs (25 pack, $7.00), blank hard covers in black and white, Bostitch EZ Squeeze stapler, EZ JIG for cover alignment ($25.00), and Santa letter stationery.
- Dealer/Distributor Portal A wholesale e-commerce platform for distributors and dealers to purchase book components (covers, pages) and supplies; minimum orders apply; ships on Fridays; does not sell to retail public.
Companies that use Create-A-Book
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Create-A-Book technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Create-A-Book partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Authorized Online BookstorescoreCreate-A-Book has established a network of authorized online bookstores operated by dealers across the United States. These include stores in Florida (The Villages), South Carolina (North Augusta, Murrells Inlet), Missouri (Jamesport), Tennessee (Rocky Top), California (Yucaipa), Texas (Bryan), Kentucky (Lexington), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and Missouri (Lees Summit). Customers contact the company which then connects them with local dealers.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Create-A-Book competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Wonderbly: Direct D2C personalized children's book publisher (formerly Lost My Name) with strong digital personalization engine and global reach. Most direct comparable to Create-A-Book's personalized book concept, with a far more modern tech and marketing stack.
- Put Me In The Story: Personalized children's books from Sourcebooks, including licensed character tie-ins. Directly competes in the personalized book category with strong retail and licensing partnerships.
- Hooray Heroes: Personalized children's books sold D2C with a strong digital-first brand and broad international shipping. Comparable in product concept; differentiated by modern D2C execution versus Create-A-Book's wholesale model.
- I See Me!: Personalized children's book and gift company offering a broad catalog of name-personalized storybooks, activity books, and puzzles. Closest US-based direct competitor in the personalized children's book niche.
- Personalized Books by KD Novelties: Wholesale-focused supplier of personalized children's books, gift items, and book-making supplies. Closest peer to Create-A-Book in operating model (wholesale to dealers) and product mix.
Emerging players
- Dinkleboo: D2C personalized children's book retailer with a small focused catalog. Adjacent competitor for personalized storybook gifting with a modern web experience.
Broad incumbents
- Personalization Mall: Large D2C personalized gifts retailer offering personalized books alongside many other categories. Competes for the same gifting dollar with much broader assortment and reach.
- Wonder Bookstore / Hallmark Keepsake: Large incumbent gift and personalized product retailer that has carried personalized children's books. Adjacent in the personalized gifting category, though Hallmark is far broader.
- Shutterfly (Personalized Books & Gifts): Mass-market personalized photo products platform that also offers personalized storybooks. Overlaps in personalized gifting with vastly larger scale, brand, and digital infrastructure.
Regional players
- Wonderbly for Schools / School Box: School-focused personalized book and class-book providers that overlap with Create-A-Book's institutional school channel (fire safety books, school distributions).
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Create-A-Book social profiles
Digital presenceCreate-A-Book financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Create-A-Book leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Create-A-Book funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Create-A-Book M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Create-A-Book
What does Create-A-Book do?
Create-A-Book designs, produces, and wholesales personalized hard-cover children's books in which a child's name is integrated throughout pre-written story templates with full-color illustrations. The company distributes exclusively through a U.S. network of authorized dealers and online bookstores, supplying book components (covers, page sets, binding supplies), turnkey dealer websites, and book-making materials so dealers can fulfill personalized orders locally. The catalog spans over 40 titles across sports, holidays, religious, educational, and milestone themes, available in 8 languages.
Is Create-A-Book a public or private company?
Create-A-Book is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Create-A-Book founded?
Create-A-Book was founded in 1980. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Create-A-Book based?
Create-A-Book is headquartered in Las Vegas, United States, in the North America region.
How does Create-A-Book make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Wholesale Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are dealer Website Licensing and book Components and Supplies.
Who are Create-A-Book's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Wonderbly, Put Me In The Story, Hooray Heroes, I See Me! and Personalized Books by KD Novelties. Dinkleboo is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Personalization Mall, Wonder Bookstore / Hallmark Keepsake and Shutterfly (Personalized Books & Gifts). Wonderbly for Schools / School Box is listed as a regional player.
Does Create-A-Book have an API?
No public API is recorded for Create-A-Book.
What industry is Create-A-Book in?
Create-A-Book's product category is Personalized Children's Books. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAAAN, Humor, Gift & Specialty Format Books (Journals, Coloring, etc.). Its NAICS code is 513130 and its SIC code is 2731.