Print-On-Demand Publishers Today's Author's Best Friend

Sometimes, I still pull out my old typewriter and clunk away for a while, enjoying the feeling of something tangible – an immortal piece of my thoughts immediately on the page. This novelty, the sound of the typewriter chinking hard against the page with each key-press, actually becomes a type of meditation, drowning out the outside world and focusing me on the words in front of me. Sometimes, but not often. In this technological age, it is simply more economical to turn on the computer and watch your words flow on a digital screen. Not as much fun for the traditionalist in me, but economical. Technology has made life easier on both writers and publishers, and as time passes more and more people are recognizing the benefits of the digital medium. One of these using the digital medium to full benefit is the Print-On-Demand publisher. Harnessing the power of the Internet and using it to draw customers to their digital shelves, Print-On-Demand (POD) Publishers offer something for the die-hard traditionalist that just wants the book in their hands, paper pages turning under their fingertips. Where POD publishers excel beyond the Vanity Press, though, is that they also offer the customer who doesn’t mind reading the computer screen something too; instantly downloadable books that can be saved and read over and over again. POD is a publishing business model, which basically means that a “real” book is not printed until after an order is received for that book. This provides the publisher lower printing costs on smaller runs, reduces the need to stock a large inventory, and the technical set-up is usually quicker and less expensive. There is also virtually no waste from unsold products. These advantages translate into more reading choices for the customer. Profits from POD publishing are on a per-sale basis. As a writer using one of these publishers, you can expect to receive profits based on how many books are sold – in both digital and printed format. Granted, this type of “commission” is lower than what you would receive from a traditional publisher – but because using a POD publisher is essentially “self-publishing”, you just might catch the eye of that traditional publisher and because you have not sold the rights to your work, you’re more than free to take any deals that come your way. Why would you want to use a POD publisher? The reasons for self-publishing vary as widely as the authors who use POD services. Some of the most common reasons, though, relate directly to the amount of difficulty authors experience in getting published. Traditional publishers must be confident that the book they print will sell several thousand copies; if they have the slightest doubt, they will reject even the most polished, entertaining manuscript. Some of the reasons a publisher may reject a book include: * Popular topic, but of interest to a select group or only in a small area * Addresses an obscure topic – might be intensely helpful or entertaining to the small group of people interested in it, but will not sell widely. * Content is controversial – publishers have to be careful about what they print, or they can face lawsuits. Another reason that an author might decide to self-publish falls under the idea of control. The moment an author signs a contract with a traditional publisher, they give up a degree of editorial control. Things like the design of their book, it’s distribution, and marketing fall outside of the contract and the author will have little to no say over how these things are handled. If the concept of your book is important to you, from cover art to marketing, you will want to seriously think about this. Before I begin giving the impression that POD Publishers are all about the printing, let’s take a quick look at e-books. These handy little digital products are read online or using specific software and/or devices, have modest sales, and continue every day to wedge their way into the publishing market. Commercial, traditional publishers are starting to provide more and more electronic access to printed products – everything from reference books to fiction are being compiled in digital format. The truly nice thing about e-books is that costs are kept low for everyone; author, publisher, and consumer. Customers like the fact that they can get the same printed book, which sells in printed format for $19.95, in a digital format for less than half the cost. Even better is the fact that a reader doesn’t have to wait for snail mail to arrive – the book is immediately delivered to them. Due to lower costs of using e-books, authors retain much more money from these sales than they do from printed books. Readers are learning how much they can gain from reading digital versions of books – most of which can be printed on their home printer for easier reading – and some experts are stating that e-books could realistically replace print for some types of books. Have I gotten your fingers just itching to get started? Good! There’s only a few things you need to turn your digital masterpiece into a selling product: *A word-publishing program (something like Microsoft Word) *Internet Access *A great idea and the will-power to write it out Other than these three things (which you probably have if you are even reading this article) you might also consider getting the Adobe Acrobat program which lets you save your work in .pdf format, and a digital camera or a scanner if your work involves illustrations. Reference books that are in the genre you are writing in so that you can lay out the book most effectively. Many customers who purchase a digital version of your book and really love the way it looks will go ahead and come back to buy the printed version. Lovely, that – a great confidence booster and it helps line your pockets a bit more securely. Once you have created your work, you need to find a good POD publisher (see the resources links in this article) and get your stuff uploaded and selling! I sincerely hope this article has helped you to realize some of the options we have as authors in this Technological Age, and that you will explore them. Best of luck!