Self Publishing Tools: Print on Demand (POD) Publishing

Since it's birth in the mid 1990s, print on demand publishing or POD has gained serious popularity. Unlike conventional book publishing methods POD is easy, quick, generally reliable, and very affordable. Once your book manuscript is finished all you have to do is send it off to a POD publisher and they do all the leg work for you like formatting, binding, cover art, assign it an international book number (ISBN), and produce it.

So what is a POD? Unlike conventional book printing, print on demand publishers do not read or edit submissions, except maybe to screen out pornography and hate literature. Anyone who is willing to pay the POD fees can get published. Print on demand publishers do not provide editing, proof reading, or book marketing as part of their basic package but these options can be added on for additional costs.

Unlike true self publishing, the income the author receives on their POD book comes in the form of royalties. In this case, authors loose some control with POD publishers because the rights go to the POD publishing service with an exclusive claim for a set period of time. The options can be quite limited with a POD publishing package but getting the additional options and working with the service will help you make the most of your new book.

No one publishing service like POD is perfect for everyone. Print on Demand publishing does offer many different packages through many different servers that can make it easier for anyone to write and book and get it published. If you know how to use a computer to surf the net and pay for items bought online, than you can do POD publishing. Since there is such a wide variety of fee based options POD publishing is more affordable for more people. You can choose an assortment of design and editing services, as well as book marketing and publication.

There are some major differences that POD publishing has that make it separate from real self publishing. First, the ISBN is in the POD service name, not the author. Because of this the author only receives royalty payments. But, the POD service does take some of the risk off an author when self publishing a book. Third, the books can be quite expensive and you can expect to pay around $4-$9 per book. Generally most authors give away between 200 and 400 copies for promotional uses and at $7 or $8 a book, most people cannot afford it.

Some POD publishers also put their name on the cover of the book instead of the author's name. When you are trying to market you book with a POD name a lot of potential customers may not even take a second look. Of course, you can make a lot more money in the long run it you self publish you book but it is much harder to get started, more time consuming, and the mistakes are more costly than if you go with a POD publisher.

Before getting started with any Publishing on Demand service make sure that you take these following tips into consideration. Look at the books the publisher has produced. Are the successful? Is the cover art eye-catching? Are all the pages in order and included? Are the final copies quality or does it look like someone put the book together in their basement? Also, get some references from the company and use them.

Of course, no company is going to give you references that will make their POD service look bad. Seek out prior customers and contact them to see if everything went well for them. Are they happy with the service? Was it timely or time wasting? Did they have any problems? Did they get all their books once they paid? Did they have trouble ordering more books if needed? Choose a publisher that works directly with a wholesaler and can print books for customers on request, that way if your book is not readily available at the local bookstore it can be ordered anyway.

If any publisher makes you a promise, make sure that they stick to their word, especially if it is in writing. If anyone makes you voiced promises (not in writing) do not believe it until you verify it with the company. Sometime agents will make promises just to gain your business. Ask for sample catalogs and make sure that the publisher's books can be found. If the only books the publisher is offering are lost among hundreds of pages on one tiny little corner you should consider moving on and looking at other larger companies.

Each POD publisher offers a slightly different set of services and fees. Compare several services before deciding which one is the right one for you. Take a look at what they offer and don't offer in terms of editing, design, and marketing. Most times, if you pay for separate marketing you may have a better chance of getting your book recognized. One of the only problems with POD publishers marketing your book is that marketing is not their business, publishing is.

Since the quality of the final product can also vary greatly from company to company you should request samples before you place an order. You want to be sure that your book is going to last and the better quality the materials, the better a book you will have. The cover art should also be attractive and relating to your subject, which can be a problem with some POD publishers because often they will choose art based on the title without reading the book. After you have compared several companies choose the one that is best for you and they will help you get started right away.

Here is a short list of some Print on Demand publishers that work in the United States. As always, research and compare all of your options first and always read the fine print.

Author House
1663 Liberty Drive
Suite 200
Bloomington, IN 47403
Phone: 888-519-5121
www.authorhouse.com

Infinity Publishing
1094 New Dehaven Street
Suite 100
West Conoshohocken, PA 19428
Phone: 610-941-9999
www.infinitypublishing.com

iUniverse
2021 Pinelake
Suite 100 Suite 626
Lincoln, NE 68512
Phone: 402-323-7800
www.iuniverse.com

Cyber Read
14781 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77079
Phone: 832-615-3208
www.cyberread.com

Instant Publisher
410 Highway 72 West
Collierville, TN 38017
Phone: 901-853-7070 ext. 310
www.instantpublisher.com

Lulu
3131 RDU Center Drive
Suite 210
Morrisville, NC 27560
www.lulu.com

Trafford Publishing 2333 Government Street
Suite 6E
Victoria BC
V8T 4F4, Canada
Phone: 866-638-6884
www.trafford.com

Outskirts Press
10940 South Parker Road
Suite 515
Parker, CO 80134
Phone: 303-805-2788
www.outskirtspress.com