Prismatic Publishing

Self-Publishing (Print On Demand)

Print On Demand (POD) has solved a lot of the problems writers have faced with traditional publishing. It creates an inexpensive way for writers to self-publish.

Actually, POD is usually what people think of first when they think about self-publishing.

Here’s how it works:

• Choose a POD company. CAUTION: Please research carefully. A crucial issue is to retain your copyright.
• Upload your finished product, usually as a PDF.
  • When customers want to buy your book, they place an order with the POD company.
  • The POD company prints one copy of your book and ships it to your customer.

Wow! This seems like a great way to go, with very little risk to you. You do not front the cost of printing and storing hundreds or thousands copies of your book. Books are printed only when ordered. If your book is meant for just a few people, then this is a great way to go.

But if your goal is to make a living as an author, or to have more than a few copies of your book in people’s hands, or to get your books into bookstores (both online and brick-and-mortar) it is a very expensive and inefficient way to publish.

The Costs in POD

Books published via POD are significantly more expensive for consumers to purchase than traditionally published books. Here’s an example of how it works:

• The POD company sets an “author buy” price at, say, $12.00. They then set the minimum retail price at $17.00.
• When a customer purchases your book, you split the $5.00 profit with the POD company. You get $2.50 and they get $2.50. The $2.50 is more than you would get through traditional publishing, but much less than you would earn through independent publishing.

If you write novels, it will be difficult to sell your book for $17.00. If you write non-fiction you will have more customers willing to pay the higher price, but you’re earning much less per book than you need to (if you had independently published your book.)

Another issue with POD is perceived value. If you are not willing to invest in your book by taking the responsibility and risk of printing and marketing, it begs an important question: why would a traditional publisher want to take on the financial risk of publishing and promoting your book? The quick answer is, they don’t. They’ll pay for printing if they’re convinced you have a profitable book, but you must still do your own promotion and marketing, even with big publishers.

This brings us to the third way to publish.