Remember as well, that although the majority of sales are still made through book stores, this is by no means the only outlet. There are also internet retailers such as amazon and play.com, as well as book fairs, mind, body and spirit festivals, talks at local discussion groups, companies etc. The list is endless and limited only by your own imagination.
People choose POD for a variety of different reasons and this need not mean that their work is unpublishable. In fact, many agents now scour print on demand and self publishing blog sites looking for new and upcoming talent that they can represent, and several print on demand books have become best sellers and even turned into films. It can then be a very viable alternative route to publication, which can and often does lead to a commercial publishing contract.
The critics of course point to problems with supply and low quality of the books themselves, but then again people always criticise that which they are fearful of. Sadly to many in the publishing industry, print on demand is seen as a threat, and the only way they can counteract this is by levelling criticism at its proponents. None of the problems need be insurmountable; all it takes is a little imagination and persistence.
POD services also enable established authors to bring their out-of-print books back into circulation. A number of POD providers offer services targeted to such authors, who can earn more from doing it themselves than they ever would from a commercial publisher. Print on demand works best for the highly motivated self publisher, who is prepared to dedicate time and effort into promoting their work - typically a non-fiction author with a niche market who knows how to reach their target audience, or someone who tours and speaks to large groups on a regular basis with opportunities to sell.
Having said this, as with short print run self publishing, unless you are sure of your market or are publishing for personal reasons such as family memoirs etc, print on demand should only be considered once other routes to publication have become exhausted. There are though definite advantages to this method of publication, not least of all the flexibility that it affords and the speed with which books can be printed and available for distribution.
A typical commercially published book takes anything up to two years to see print, as there are so many stages to go through in the publication process, and those involved are likely to be working on anything up to a dozen other titles at the same time. Publishing houses also often have restricted budgets, whereby it can take several years after the contract has been signed to actually see the books in print, if at all.
In contrast, the typical POD book takes an average of three months to go through the various stages of proof reading, editing and cover design, meaning that such publishers can more quickly respond to trends. It also means that the author, if they work hard, can quickly recoup the costs of publication, before moving on to their next project.
With traditional lithographic printing which typically does print runs of between 3000 and 5000 copies, it is impossible to make changes to the text or cover should it become necessary to do so, without going back to the drawing board. The beauty of POD is that because the book is stored as a digital file, you can make as many changes as often as you like with the minimum of fuss.
There is a much greater element of control all round with all forms of self publishing, not just print on demand. The writer controls every aspect of the publishing process, from cover art to print style, fonts and layout. While it is true that some providers prefer you to use templates which they provide, you are not obliged to do this, and can if you prefer, do the formatting yourself. This is not the case at all with commercial publishing, where you are limited by what is referred to as 'house style'.
Royalties with print on demand are also more often than not, considerably higher. Commercial publishers tend to pay a set rate of between 8 and 12 percent of cover price depending on format, i.e. hard or paperback, whereas with print on demand, royalties are based on net proceeds after print costs and retailers discounts are taken off. This usually turns out to be much higher in percentage terms than what you would get from a commercial publisher.
Perhaps the most important advantage is POD's eco-friendliness. Traditional lithographic printing uses vast amounts of not just paper, but also ink and chemicals. In Britain we use 12.5 million tons of paper and cardboard each year, five million tons of which is classified as waste. Most of this is of course junk mail and food packaging, but the publishing industry does play a part, since each year many unsold books and magazines are pulped. The paper for these may have come from sustainable sources, but surely it is better not to have printed these excess copies in the first place. The bleach and chemicals needed to strip the print from the paper in order for it to be recycled also go into the eco system, causing all sorts of problems.
Print on demand eliminates all of this, since the books are only printed as and when the orders come in. You therefore know that any books that are printed have already been sold. This is perhaps the most important advantage of this printing method and one which is often overlooked.
The most important thing to remember is to take both the hype and the criticism with a large pinch of salt. Yes one does have to careful, and there are sharks out there which deserve to be tagged as vanity press, but these are very much in the minority. The most important things that any would-be print on demand author should consider, once they have established that their chosen provider is in fact bona fide, are print costs, author royalties and distribution.
It is never a bad idea to order one or two of the company's books to check quality, and speak to other authors who have used their services. One can usually get a pretty good indicator though by talking to the company concerned and asking the right questions.
What though are the right questions? The following list although not exhaustive, should cover most of the essentials:
How much do they charge and what does this include? Are there any hidden extras?
How long have they been in business?
Do they have a background in publishing and/or sales?
Do they offer evaluation or critique services?
Do they offer bespoke cover designs or are they from templates?
Can you provide your own artwork and/or imprint?
Which fonts, page sizes etc do they offer and how is this reflected in the costs?
Which wholesalers/distributors do they use and in which territories?
Are the books returnable and if so, under what conditions?
Do they offer help with publicity and is there an extra charge for this?
Are the books promoted via their own website?
Do they offer a non exclusive contract and what happens should you wish to terminate it?
What are the costs of shipping?
Can the author buy his or her own books, and how much for?
What royalties are paid and how often? Are these based on net cost or cover price?
You can also tell a lot about a company from looking at their website. A good site will be customer focussed, designed to attract readers and book buyers rather than authors. If on the other hand, the site is geared towards the author with tales of how closed minded the publishing industry is and how many books their company has sold, then this is highly suspicious as it is clear that their main business is not to sell books but to make money from publishing them.
Any publisher that refuses to answer your questions promptly and in full is clearly one to avoid. Many authors may be tempted by the larger POD providers whose web sites are full of facts and figures about how many books they have sold and how their 'author advisors' are there to guide you through the process, but the reality is that more often than not these are little more than sales staff, who are paid not on results and the number of books their authors sell, but on how many authors they can persuade to sign up.
