Just to underscore the vastly confusing world of Print-On-Demand (POD) Publishing, the PODdy-mouth blog offers a play-by-play of the advantages and disadvantages of vastly confusing and highly competitive options in the field. Neat-o.
Nonetheless, it make me a little heartsick that it all comes down to cost for this-service and that-service. Industry statistics tell us that only 6 out 10 books that Random House publishes actually makes money, could POD do any better by assuring that there are no warehouses full of molding unsold books?
These services offer authors the opportunity to see their books in print and on Amazon.com without the hassle of the publishers, and they offer a great do-it-yourself alternative if you’ve got a ready-made audience for your book.
Print-on-demand (POD) publishers offer a one-stop shop for the different functions that publishers undertake, all at vastly discounted prices (perhaps discounted quality too? That depends on your goals). I recommend the various POD publishers often for authors aspiring to be in print, but tell them to consider the various services being offered:
Publishing set-up services: Registration of the ISBN number, copyright, Library of Congress, etc. If you are self-publishing, it’s more advantageous to OWN these critical intellectual properties in your own name rather than in the name of the POD publisher.
Editorial services: Many POD publishers offer this as an add-on, but it absolutely essential to have your book professionally edited and designed if you do want your book stigmatized with that “self-published” stigma.
Printing: This is the first cost that authors are curious about. If you plan to order a hundred or more books (say to sell in the back of the room at that seminar you’re giving), check out short-run digital printing — your costs may be half or less than the POD printing cost for a few hundred copies. I like Green Button on the web, but just look in your local yellow pages, you might have a short-run printer in your backyard.
Distribution: Find out if you can get sales estimates and good luck! Here’s the trickiest piece - you want to be in Barnes & Noble and Amazon and in independent bookstores. OK, POD publishers offer this service, but unless you are investing in a fabulous package (sparkling editorial and professional design) and tons of PR, or you’re famous already, don’t expect the returns to be too great. Distributors make your books available (something that’s pretty hard to do for an author or publishing house with less than 10 titles to offer), but even the biggest publishers rely on the authors to do the lion’s share of the selling. You can get placement on Amazon.com through the marketplace for a small fee without giving up a huge portion of your profits. If you’re doing PR, your customers will find you there.
Marketing: Offerings provided by the the POD houses are self-service — things like postcards, press-releases, catalog listings, etc. These are all great tools, but you still have to do all the follow up yourself (or pay a professional to do so.)
We’ve been helping our clients, like School Choice International, print their books on demand via Lightningsource, and we’ve been asked about where all of those extra listings coming from? Are there gremlins who go in the Lightningsource warehouse and print the books at night? Actually, these are retailers who purchase the book via the Ingram book wholesalers at the standard wholesale discount (currently 55%). Most bookstores, online or offline buy their books from the wholesaler Ingram. The can then list the books in their catalog at any price that will be profitable for them, and if a customer orders, that book will be printed and shipped directly from Lightningsource… so no, no Gremlins have been printing our books.
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