Choosing Your Print on Demand Company

Rising energy and resource costs are turning even mainstream publishers toward the use of print-on-demand technologies. POD provides the opportunity to end the outdated warehousing of taxable inventory. It will halt the return and destruction of unsold copies, with its double carbon footprint and huge waste of paper resources. Print-on-demand companies are usually printers, not vanity presses, because they do not act as a publisher.

On-line sales companies such as Amazon.com can cut their high retail markups, and simply take a fee for the use of their site use. With less overhead for internal shipping, warehousing and inventory taxation, prices can drop substantially for readers and retailers, even with the cost of delivery.

A recent problem has developed. Amazon has shown that it is unable to understand the concept of print-on-demand as a sales and marketing tool. It has forbidden all print-on-demand companies except its acquired company, Booksurge.com to ship directly to its warehouses. There is some question whether Amazon may be infringing on industrial monopoly law. Diamond Comics did so originally with distributors, until it was apprised of possible legal ramifications.

Amazon has made another bad business decicion: than phasing out the ecologically-unfriendly warehouse in Kentucky, they have built another one in Nevada. I have removed Amazon ads from my site until this problem is resolved, and these developments will, admittedly, color this article, at least until they shake themselves out.

Most POD companies require PDF upload files, which can be exported by or generated from most programs, including Word and Word Perfect, and Adobe products such as Photoshop and Indesign. Paper is usually high-quality and acid free. A number of bindings are usually offered, including perfect and comb.

No single POD printer can perfectly match the demands of all its clients. An overview of the systems of two typical companies - Lulu.com and Booksurge.com -- can help users choose which company best fits their needs.

Advantages of Lulu.com:

1. Free book file upload.
2. Large, easily-understood FAQ pages.
3. Fast, available chatline help.
4. Quick-reply, user-driven forums that help improve site performance for everything from technicals to marketing.
5. User accounts that include personal stores and blogs.
6. Programmable products include books, calendars, even CD's.
7. Books can be purchased by the author/publisher for proofing before public access is switched on.
8. High-quality covers.
9. Authors can publish with Amazon ISBNs. While this technically makes Lulu the publisher, rights are not transferred, and the author retains full editorial control.

Advantages of Booksurge.com:

1. The company was acquired by Amazon.com; processed books are immediately available for purchase on Amazon.
2. Books can be printed with up to four color inserts.
3. Black-and-white and color prices are priced separately.
4. The Booksurge technical department proofs PDF files for their own technical and layout requirements.

Disadvantages of Lulu.com:

1. Books sold through Amazon can only be printed in black-and-white.
2. Pages cannot be priced as black-and-white or color. Since they are printed and bound in a single shop, if color pages are included, the whole book is priced as color.

Disadvantages of Booksure.com:

1. Booksurge is attempting to monopolize the print-on-demand industry. This problem has to be resolved. Until it is, I would highly recommend limiting printing of any books to Lulu.com
2. Paid upload, each time a file is submitted. However, upload is inexpensive, and sales agents are open to negotiating upload prices once an original file is loaded.
3. Users must purchase their own ISBNs, EANs and SANs through www.bowker.com
4. Once a file is approved by the technical department, it is made available to be purchased and sent for final artifact or typo proof; the book appears immediately on Amazon for sale.

Play-tested solutions for perceived POD problems:

1. Readers readily accept signed bookplates in the place of direct autographs. These bookplates can be sent with individual orders.
2. Unproofed Booksurge books are treated as valuable by readers who collect rare books.