POD Rising: Is Print on Demand the Future of Publishing or the Latest Fad?
September 9, 2008
As Sara Nelson pointed out in her Publishers Weekly Blog The Summer of POD, neither traditional publishers, nor independent presses are above approaching POD companies such as Lightning Source or Amazon’s BookSurge when there’s high demand for a title.
Simply put, publishers can approach POD printers when their inventory runs short. Instead of waiting for a massive print-run, POD printers can store a digital file of the book, which can be printed as each copy is sold. Which means, should you purchase a copy of a POD book online, the printer only needs to print your individual copy only, shipping your order the same day.
Theoretically, this not only saves traditional publishers money on physical warehouse storage space, but also ensures anyone who wants a copy, actually receives a copy in merely a few days time. In a word, POD printing allows indie presses to curtail the risk so often associated with standard printing, like:
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Going out of print because you’ve run out of copies
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Running short on titles during hot market trends
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Warehousing unsold copies of out-dated books
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Potentially wasting resources such as paper and labor
And it doesn’t seem as though POD is losing momentum. In fact, POD companies seem stronger and healthier than ever before. As self-publishing becomes a more viable and respected option for even established authors, and traditional presses begin to come around to the advantages of the print-on-demand process, the future of books has never been brighter.
Now, the smallest press can partner with The Perseus Books Group Constellation or even Author Solutions Publishing Serives Group, where publishers can basically request an affordable POD option for some of their titles and rush orders. “Out-of-print” is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and print-on-demand is definitely gaining acceptance.
The Point: Saving time, money and energy is the ultimate goal of POD, and though traditional publishers may be hesitant to the change, bother readers and authors should expect a print revolution that can benefit everyone!
Entry Filed under: Behind the Scenes, In the News. Tags: Amazon, BookSurge, Constellation, independent, indie, inventory, Lightning Source, out-of-print, Perseus Books Group, POD, press, print, print-on-demand, print-run, publisher, Publishers Weekly, The Summer of POD, Traditional, warehousing.
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David A Rozansky | September 13, 2008 at 5:31 pm
While you touch on many of the great points of POD, there is one big reason to use POD…without first doing a “traditional” print run. We use Lightning Source as our printer and distributor, and we never do a contemporary print run. Why? Because POD offers us freedom from warehouse costs, as you noted, and from inventory risk. The biggest problem a publisher faces is how much to spend on a book printing. POD means we pay nothing at the start. we only pay to print when the customer orders the book, so we always have the exact number of books printed that we need. This frees us from inventory risk, as we never have to guess how much to print. And with POD machines moving into stores, we expect POD to become the industry standard, as bookstores won’t want to pay for shipping anymore.
POD…it’s not just for reprints anymore. It’s a full-scale production model that is pushing our company forward rather quickly.
–Keep ‘em Flying
David A Rozansky
Publisher
Flying Pen Press
http://www.FlyingPenPress.com