About

Professional Independent Publishing Standards (PiPS) was established in 2015 and launched in March 2017. Its vision is to raise independent publishing standards, book by book, and to make that book quality visible to readers.
It offers a full assessment of both editorial and production quality and, when it finds the quality of both up to professional standards, it grants the PiPS Verified Book Quality Award, which can be displayed on book covers and elsewhere.
PiPS came into being when a group of authors, editors and independent publishers in various parts of the world came together online to find a way to overcome the poor reputation of indie publishing.
Traditionally published books are trusted because they are selected by experts, edited properly and produced to high standards. People have come to expect that high standard and often don't find it in indie books.
If readers don't trust a book, they won't buy it, and independent book sales have suffered because of this.
PiPS founder and CEO Brian Morgan has released a free eBook called Making Indie Books Great: Raising independent publishing standards and making that quality visible. It describes the PiPS process for authors and sets out in detail what is expected in a professionally published book.
The book is available from Smashwords and the PiPS website.