What is POD (Print on Demand) publishing?
Print on Demand publishing (POD) is where you can print small quantities of books, or even one book at a time, which sounds like a really good draw-card for budding new authors when compared to the volume-needing print-runs of conventional offset book printing. Many new Pod publishers have sprung up around the world, because of laser print (digital) technologies and the phenomenal reach of the internet, especially in the USA, as quite a lucrative way of pulling in many paying authors – many of whose manuscripts would normally end up in the slush pile of conventional publishers. Yes, every POD publisher around the world espouses the many virtues of Print-On-Demand publishing – as advertised by them via a rare and select few of their successful Pod authors. But let’s take a cold hard look at the realities and pitfalls of this type of publishing which is seldom or never talked about – just check out ‘Print-On-Demand publishing’ on the Internet!
Upfront, Yearly or Hidden Fees
To start off with, every POD publisher will demand an upfront set-up fee of one type or another where you can pay additional substantial fees, such as paying for a designed cover, etc; and that’s only for a conventional book without any graphically produced inclusions – many of the lesser up-front fee POD publishers will charge an additional yearly and other mounting or hidden fees as well.
No Track Record POD Books
POD books, because of their very small or limited numbers, invariably have no track record. This is an economic no-no with book retailers who will not stock books that do not happen to have at least some proven popularity or appeal! (Some retailers, who have stocked POD books, have also at times been conned by unscrupulous authors who have ordered copies of their books which they never pick up and pay for!). The majority of POD authors, whose manuscripts would normally end up in the slush pile of conventional publishers, are all trying to have their POD books distributed or pushed unto over-loaded book retailers – what’s left of them. Additionally POD books are more costly to print and hence incur too high a retail price. To sum up, most book retailers are therefore loath to stock and sell POD books – a reality which never seems to come up when POD publishers espouse the many virtues of Print-On-Demand publishing! Some POD publishers like Amazon will allow you to design your own book online and have it printed. No offence to any POD authors out there, who have designed their own books, but quite frankly they end up looking horribly UN-professional with all sorts of mistakes strewn throughout – believe you me, we’ve seen many examples of them!
Leaving out Important Essentials
Many POD publishers will leave out the essential barcode and ISBN (International Standard Book Number) in author’s books as these inclusions cost time and money to incorporate. CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) information, as used by libraries, is also left out by many POD publishers. A conventional publisher would never leave such essential information out as it has an important bearing on the author’s sale-ability of his or her book.
Your Meaningless POD Book Copyright Ownership
With their legal agreements the majority if not all POD publishers will somehow take control of your copyright, by insisting on ‘exclusive world-wide electronic and print rights’, or through other such similar legal jargon, even though expounding the virtues of never taking away your copyright entitlement! Some will not encroach on your copyright, but instead take out their own copyright on the design of the front and back cover or other parts of your book. In other words, in nearly all cases, your copyright ownership becomes virtually meaningless!
POD Publishing Conclusion
The inevitable conclusion therefore is that the majority of POD books simply don’t have a big enough market to set up a proper print run of at least a few thousand books! Along with the earlier information on the realities and pitfalls of POD publishing, my understanding of this runs in a similar vein with multi-level marketing where the people on top of the POD publishing empire (pyramid) rake in good money while the majority of authors below it suffer financially! For my money (other than vanity publishing) conventional offset book publishing is still the fairest way to go for all concerned. Check out Bibliosity as the up-and-coming new and fairest way to publish and market your book.