Publishing on Demand (POD)

POD publishing means Print on Demand. It means what it says - like the old vanity presses, POD publishers produce hard-copy books. The difference is that a POD press prints a book when someone demands (orders) one, and not before.

Before the advent of digital publishing, this approach was impossible - at least if you wanted something that looked like a book, not a cheap photocopy! Nowadays, there is no reason why a POD book shouldn't look as good as a mainstream book.   So POD seems to offer an author the best of both worlds - but is it the win-win it seems?

The great upside of POD publishing is that it's no longer necessary to pay to print several hundred books which may not sell. Instead, you order a handful of sample copies to use in marketing and promotions. You then print further copies when you receive orders, and usually the POD press sends the book straight to your customer.

Cost

Usually, you get to set the cover price of your book, but the buyer will also have to pay the cost of postage. That's a disincentive for the reader - why should they pay extra for a novel by an unknown author, when they can pick up a best-seller for less at their local store? To get reasonable sales, you may have to set your cover price so low that you make little, if any, profit.

Visibility

Using a POD press is still self-publishing. You will still get no help with marketing your book. True, POD publishers have websites where they list their range of books - but if you look at their advertising, they spend their promotional dollars on marketing their services to writers, not readers.

That means books published on a POD website aren't highly visible. A typical POD publisher will regard a book as a bestseller if it sells more than a hundred copies! If you want your novel to be a success, you'll have to do your own marketing.

Professional Advice

If your book is accepted by a mainstream publisher, they assign you an editor to help polish your book for publication. POD publishers don't. Even the owner of Lulu.com has admitted he makes a large proportion of his profit from "publishing bad books".

Even best-selling authors spend weeks working with an editor before they publish, so don't fool yourself you don't need one. Whether it's a writer's circle or a professional editor, you need to find impartial editing assistance yourself, and any cost is down to you.

You may be wondering - why don't I just publish my novel as an e-book, and forget about a hard copy version? That way, you save the cost of printing and the reader doesn't have to pay postage.

Well, some POD companies will allow you to offer both, and personally I think it makes sense to choose a publisher who offers both options. I'm not so keen on publishers who only offer downloadable books.

Why? First, because it costs virtually nothing to set up as an ebook publisher - all you need is a server and some software - so there are far more scammers in that industry than in the POD industry. You'll also come across amateurs who fancy themselves as professionals - I've known authors whose books have been massacred by ebook publisher's "editors", only to find they've tied themselves into a contract and can't withdraw the wrecked novel from publication.

Second, because there is still a large audience of readers who don't like reading electronically. I'm one - when I read a book, I want to cuddle up on the sofa with a real book in one hand and a glass of red in the other. Sitting at my computer screen doesn't quite cut it - and reading a sheaf of printed-off paper reminds me too much of the office. Electronic readers like the Kindle aren't quite right yet, either. That may well be an "older generation" attitude - but remember, that's the majority of the people on this planet! You need all the readers you can get, so it doesn't pay to alienate any portion of your potential market.

I saw a post on Helium.com recently, from a writer who'd published with a POD house. They had sent him the final copy of his book. He hadn't sold a single copy, but he didn't seem to care - he was over the moon to be able to hold his own novel in his hand! If that's you, then an On Demand publisher is all you need.

A POD printer is also perfect for people who want to publish a history of their club, because it's the least expensive way to print a small number of books, with the ability to order more at any time for new members.

You might also use Print On Demand to print a book on your family history - although for anything where you're ordering a fixed number of copies, and won't need more in the future, it's worth shopping around local printers.

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Text copyright Marisa Wright. Photo by Stephmcg