Print-on-Demand Publishing PopularPrint-on-demand (P.O.D.) or print-to-order publishers are not publishers in the traditional sense but purveyors of publishing services to authors. They charge a fee for publication ranging anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Again, just about anyone who is willing to pay can be published by a print-on-demand publisher. They don’t routinely provide editing or proofreading and don’t do a lot of screening of submissions. However, many do offer some assistance with book marketing, depending on the publishing “package” you choose, and can put you in touch with independent professional services, such as editors and proofreaders. With print-on-demand publishing, the title belongs to the publisher, often nonexclusively, which means the book could be sold elsewhere, but not always. Some P.O.D. services make a nonexclusive or exclusive claim on subsidiary rights. Income to the author is a royalty on sales. Advantages of print-on-demand publishing • It’s easy and relatively inexpensive. It’s possible to get a P.O.D. paperback to market for around $1,000. • There is no need to print thousands of books at a time; a single book can be ordered by prospective readers from anywhere in the world. Some P.O.D. publishers don’t require the author to buy any books at all. • Print-on-demand publishing is fast! Your book is always in stock so the time between ordering and receiving is quick and efficient, no matter where in the world it’s ordered from. Shipping charges can be high, however, particularly if only one book is ordered. • Royalties are much better than with commercial publishers. • Some basic marketing assistance comes with P.O.D. publishing, depending on the “package” purchased, whereas aggressive marketing cannot be expected of traditional trade publishers. • Authors can easily test a book idea, publish it, and even revise it if necessary in later months or years without publishing another book. You can prove your potential through sales of your P.O.D.-published books. • No time, effort and anguish are spent doing market research and writing proposals to prove to a publisher that you have a winning idea. Cautions 1. Hire an editor! One significant drawback with P.O.D. publishers is that they don’t often care whether you’ve had your work professionally edited or not. Some will provide a talent pool from which for you can choose professional help, but if you choose not to do so, your book will proceed. Big mainstream publishers, of course, will just outright reject an unedited book. 2. Having a book available, whether it’s through a mainstream publisher in a bookstore, or via the Internet through a P.O.D. publisher, doesn’t automatically translate into sales. This is one situation in which it is not true that if you build it, they will come… Regardless of the publishing option chosen, sales result from promotion and marketing, particularly of a first book. For more on publishing:
Self-publishing options
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