What Sterling & Stone does

Sterling & Stone is a privately held multi-media story studio founded in 2014, operating a collective model in which dozens of authors produce original fiction for books, audiobooks, and screen (TV & Film). The studio's catalog spans 221+ titles across 47 series in genres including thriller, science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, mystery, and young adult, with notable franchises such as the Invasion Universe (nine books, 1,000+ five-star Amazon reviews), Yesterday's Gone, the Still County Thrillers, and the Nanny Problem series. The company distributes through major retail channels — Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google Play — and via a serialized fiction partnership with YONDER, a mobile app from the WEBTOON and Wattpad teams operating under a pay-what-you-read model.

The business generates revenue primarily through eBook, print, and audiobook sales (per-title pricing of $3.99–$5.99 for eBooks), supplemented by IP licensing for screen adaptation managed through a partnership with Art/Work Entertainment. In January 2024, Sterling & Stone extended its offering with Invisible Ink Media, a wholly owned sister business providing bespoke ghostwriting services for business books, memoirs, novels, short stories, and screenplays; the collective's ghostwriters have produced over 1,000 books. The company serves general consumer readers as its primary segment, with a horizontal go-to-market across genres and an 11–50 employee footprint. There is no proprietary technology platform; operations rely on standard publishing, distribution, and content marketing channels including the company's website, email newsletter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Name

Sterling & Stone

Legal name

Sterling & Stone

Website

https://sterlingandstone.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sterling & Stone is a privately held multi-media story studio founded in 2014 that publishes original fiction across books, audiobooks, and screen through a collective of dozens of authors, distributing 221+ titles to consumers via major retailers and the YONDER mobile app.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent Book Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Genre & Category Publishing (Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Sci‑Fi/Fantasy, etc.) (MPAJAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Ghostwriting & Collaborative Writing Services (MPAJAJAI)

Keywords

• Independent book publishing
• Audiobook production
• Fiction series publishing
• Screen adaptation development
• Ghostwriting services

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: The company generates revenue through publishing and selling novels and series across multiple formats including eBooks, print books, and audiobooks. They have a catalog of 221+ books across multiple genres with authors receiving royalties.
2. Ghostwriting Services (Invisible Ink Media): Sterling & Stone operates a sister company called Invisible Ink Media that provides ghostwriting services for bespoke business books, memoirs, novels, short stories, and screenplays for clients. The team has collectively written over 1,000 books.
3. Licensing and Adaptation Rights: The company licenses IP for adaptation, working with Art/Work Entertainment for IP and adaptation related inquiries. Stories are developed for books, audio, and screen (TV & Film).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sterling & Stone is a multi-media story studio that creates, publishes, and distributes original fiction across books, audiobooks, podcasts, and screen formats (TV & Film). The company operates a collective of authors producing a catalog of 221+ titles spanning genres including thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and romance. It also operates a sister ghostwriting business, Invisible Ink Media, providing bespoke content creation for clients.

Product overview

Sterling & Stone is a multi-media story studio that publishes books, audiobooks, podcasts, and develops content for screen (TV & Film). Their portfolio includes over 221 titles across 47 book series spanning genres including Thriller, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Mystery, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, and Action/Adventure. The company operates under a collective model with dozens of contributing authors. Notable series include the Invasion Universe (9 books), Yesterday's Gone, The Still County Thrillers, and The Nanny Problem Thrillers. The studio also operates a sister ghostwriting business called Invisible Ink Media for bespoke content creation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Invisible Ink Media: Sister-ghostwriting business that ghostwrites bespoke business books, memoirs, novels, short stories, and screenplays for clients.

Products and services

• Book Publishing (Novels & Series) Publishing of original novels and book series across genres including Thriller, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Young Adult, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, and Action/Adventure. Available in eBook and print formats for individual fiction readers.
• Audio Production (Audiobooks & Podcasts) Production of audiobooks and podcasts adapted from the studio's catalog of stories, distributed across major audio platforms for fiction consumers.
• Screen Development (TV & Film) Development and adaptation of original stories for television and film. IP and adaptation inquiries are managed through Art/Work Entertainment as the licensing partner.
• Invisible Ink Media (Ghostwriting Services) Bespoke ghostwriting services for clients needing custom business books, memoirs, novels, short stories, and screenplays. The team has collectively written over 1,000 books.
• Invasion Universe Series A complete sci-fi alien invasion series spanning 9 books including Invasion, Contact, Colonization, Annihilation, Judgment, Extinction, Resurrection, and Longshot. Received over 1,000 five-star Amazon reviews.
• Yesterday's Gone Series A post-apocalyptic fiction series spanning 8 books across 6 seasons, part of the studio's franchise catalog.
• The Still County Thrillers A thriller series by Lauren Street with multiple installments including Still There, Still Gone, Still Missing, Still Hidden, Still Burning, Still Buried, and Still Here.
• The Nanny Problem Thrillers A psychological thriller series co-authored by Nolon King and Lauren Street. The first book, The Nanny Problem, was launched in 2025.
• Camp Lanier (Award-Winning Novel) A supernatural horror novel by Sylvester Barzey, winner of the 2025 Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) Self-Publishing EBook Award in Fiction.
• Moriarty (Novel) A standalone novel by Gavin Collinson that turns the Sherlock Holmes legacy on its head, framed around the world's greatest villain returning.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1M+ readers reached
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• YONDERcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 24 October 2022YONDER is a serialized fiction app from WEBTOON and Wattpad teams. Sterling & Stone partnered with YONDER to bring their binge-worthy back catalog and new exclusive content to the platform. YONDER offers a pay-what-you-read model for mobile serialized reading.
• Art/Work EntertainmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArt/Work Entertainment handles IP and adaptation related inquiries for Sterling & Stone, managing the licensing of their content for screen and other adaptations.
• WEBTOON/WattpadminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorYONDER is a brand new serialized fiction app from the WEBTOON and Wattpad teams. Sterling & Stone's content partnership with YONDER connects them to the WEBTOON/Wattpad ecosystem.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Royal Road: Online serialized fiction platform with a strong web-novel/fantasy readership, comparable as a serialized fiction distribution channel Sterling & Stone's backlist could expand into.

Direct peers

• Angry Robot Books: Independent genre fiction publisher focused on sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles—directly comparable to Sterling & Stone's genre-breadth publishing model and target readership.
• Radish Fiction: Mobile serialized fiction app with a pay-per-chapter model, directly comparable to the YONDER distribution model Sterling & Stone participates in.
• Realm (formerly Serial Box): Serialized audio and eBook fiction studio that produces franchise-style genre content—a directly comparable story-studio model with multi-format distribution.
• Aethon Books: Indie publisher of sci-fi and fantasy novels led by author-entrepreneurs, closely matching Sterling & Stone's collective-style, author-driven genre fiction model.
• Galatea (Inkitt): Mobile serialized fiction app publishing addictive, episodic genre fiction—directly comparable to Sterling & Stone's genre-binge reading positioning via YONDER.
• Webtoon Entertainment: Mobile serialized fiction/comics platform and YONDER's parent, comparable to Sterling & Stone via the mobile serialized-fiction distribution channel.
• Wattpad (WEBTOON): Serialized fiction platform and parent of YONDER, Sterling & Stone's distribution partner; highly comparable as a serialized fiction ecosystem the studio is plugged into.

Broad incumbents

• Blackstone Publishing: Independent publisher with strong audiobook and multi-format capabilities, comparable to Sterling & Stone's multi-format publishing and audio emphasis but at much larger scale.
• Tor Books (Macmillan): Major sci-fi/fantasy imprint publishing across the same core genres as Sterling & Stone, representing the scaled incumbent the indie studio competes against for genre reader attention.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@SterlingandStone
• Facebookfacebook.com/SterlingStoneStudio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sterling-stone

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Sterling & Stone