Print-on-demand: Publishing Revolution or Hype-filled Exploitation?
The Down-and-Dirty on Publishingâ??s Over-Promoted Technology
(Adapted from The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living, by Peter Bowerman. Fanove, 2007. www.wellfedsp.com).
In a recent year, Xlibris, one of the big names in POD (Print-on-Demand), celebrated paying out their one-millionth dollar in royalties. The prior year, they helped authors publish more than 7,000 titles and sell over 300,000 books. Impressive, huh? Well, letâ??s do the math. $1 million for 7000 titles comes out to an average royalty of $149 each. Not exactly worth bragging aboutâ?¦
How POD Works
In the past few years, POD has generated a huge buzz in the industry, promising to â??provide the keys to the serious publishing kingdom for all those authors heretofore locked out of the gameâ? and other lofty claims. Not really. Remember, POD isnâ??t some â??miracleâ? or a â??publishing revolutionâ?; itâ??s just a printing technology, nothing more. Letâ??s try to separate the reality from the hype…
With POD, you submit your book to a POD publisher (AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris and PublishAmerica are big players) in an electronic format, pay a fee (typically $400-1500 depending on the company and the marketing options selected; see below), theyâ??ll â??produceâ? your book and load it onto their system. No physical books are printed until someone orders one (i.e., through a bookstore).
POD â?? THE UPSIDES
POD makes sense for three particular scenarios:
