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.

The quality of the finished product can vary widely from company to company. Ask for a sample before you buy and check with other customers to see if they were satisfied with their product.

Credit: Mark Barner

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