Raven’s Range
Blather around a virtual range

Photograph is by Vieux Bandit

This post is part 1 of a series.
Part 2 is here
Part 3 is here

I’ve been asked several times to talk about the differences (as I see them) between different forms of publishing–specifically self publishing, print on demand printing, and conventional publishing.

I’ve done two out of three myself, and have learned enough about the third–conventional publishing–to know that it’s not necessarily for me. On the other hand, it might be for you, and I’ll talk about what I have concluded from my own research about conventional publishing–but it’s not my own experience.

Please note that I have a distinct leaning towards self-publishing here, and that these articles, while reflecting what I myself have learned, do show that leaning. Do your own research, and come to your own conclusions. I don’t care what you do so long as it (a) makes you happy and (b) you’ve done your homework and are not getting ripped off.

This subject naturally lends itself to a four-part series, which I’ll post at intervals over the next couple of weeks months. Part one is about print-on-demand; Part Two is about conventional publishing; part three is about self-publishing; and part four is a resources page.

For this series I’d like you to bear in mind the following distinction. Print on demand is a technology–it is a way to print your books. Print-on-demand (POD hereafter) is not synonymous with “self publishing.” Print-on-demand companies use the technology of print-on-demand to print the books.

“To publish” means to put a piece of writing out there for all to see.

“To print” means to put a piece of writing on a piece of paper.

Print-on-demand

The term “vanity publishing” is pretty loaded, and I know that after the proud delivery of my own first book (”Rhaeva”, a fantasy novel), hot off the POD press, I was offended to have the book dismissed as vanity. So saying, the vast majority of people who use POD companies to print their book are interested more in just getting the words into print than in bookstore sales or huge distribution.

The best use for this form of printing is, simply, your own personal satisfaction.

Characteristics of print-on-demand companies

A middle-man company offers to put your book into print using print-on-demand technology. With few exceptions, they are not the printers themselves; they typically outsource the printing.

They promise you your own ISBN, charge a high per-book rate, make claims of varying grandiosity about how many books you can sell, and sell packages for distribution, publicity, and various “extras.”

The printing is done on a very high-end laser printer, so it’s almost like photocopying.

Advantages of print-on-demand printing

Companies using POD are useful under the following circumstances:

1. You don’t need or want many books
   
2. You’re not looking for fame or profit
   
3. You want to print up a couple of copies for proof-reading (I did this with A Little Twist of Texas)
   
4. You’re not printing pictures, so quality isn’t an issue
   
5. You want someone else to do all the hard work of putting the book together and don’t want any control over cost, printer, design, etc. (You want an out of the box solution.)
   
6. You don’t care that the ISBN you use, if you purchase one, carries the name of the print on demand company
   
7. You aren’t going to bother with bookstores, i.e. you’ll sell all your books in person or through your own website.
   
8. POD can give your self-published book (see part three) a way into big distributors and wholesalers–in other words a POD version of your book is made available for distribution through bookstores and libraries. (This process, however, is beyond the scope of this article.)
   
9. It’s easy
   
10. It’s quick, too.
    

Cons

1. You can easily run into trouble with companies that claim too many rights to your work. Read the fine print carefully.

2. You do not own the files from which you print. This means that if you decide to go elsewhere, you’ll need to do the typesetting all over again.

3. There is no quality control over the writing. What you decide to print is printed. Those POD companies that offer a “premium” publishing program are typically selling to your ego. (I fell for it!) You submit your book to that program and they tell you it’s special and can be included. And then you pay them some more money for the privilege of being told that your book is better.

4. POD companies make promises to get you into book stores and Amazon.com. In reality, you are listed in Books in Print, but not stocked–they must be special-ordered. Your books will not be flying onto shelves. The reason you’re not stocked is because firstly, POD books are often non-returnable (bookstores don’t like that, oddly enough) and secondly, because of the way pricing is done (see below).
   

ISBNs

An ISBN is an identification number for your book. It is required if you want to sell in bookstores, including Amazon.com.

POD companies promise you “your own” ISBN. Now, here’s how ISBNs work.

ISBNS are issued by a company called Bowker. You can buy a single one, or blocks of 10, 100 or 1000 at a time.

When you buy from a POD printer and not directly from Bowker, your ISBN belongs to the POD company that is printing your book.

Now, the ramifications of this are as follows. If you try to get reviews, the reviewer will immediately know that you printed with a POD/vanity company and you have a snowflake’s chance in hell of getting reviewed. Also, your book will forever carry that “stigma.” It might sound neat to have your own ISBN, but using this method it is not your own ISBN.

Distribution

For a book to succeed in a book store, and to be on its shelves, it needs distribution. Most distributors (the guys who warehouse your book and send them on to the stores) require a 55% of list price discount. Chances are that you won’t be able to get a distributor to take your POD book at all.

Add to this that POD books are usually distributed as non-returnable, and most book stores won’t stock them, selling only on a special order basis.

Pricing

Many POD companies set the price for you. Because a) POD printing is more expensive up to about 1000 copies vs. offset (conventional) printing, and b) you’re not dealing directly with the company doing the printing and thus there is a middleman markup, the per-book price is rather high.

Now, take a look at the pricing structure of any POD printing service. Typically, there is a base price per book, plus a per-page price. I’m going to be generous here, and say this brings your cost to print one copy of your novel up to, say, $5. ($6-$8 is more usual.)

Now, imagine that you want this to be distributed in a book store. To be able to make even just one dollar profit, you’d need to be selling the book for around $15. 45% of $15–the amount left over after you give a real distributor his 55% discount–leaves you $6.75. Now, subtract your $5 from that: you’re making $1.75. With me so far?

You might think that’s cool–but then you have to think about what you paid for the printing package, which includes distribution fees, set-up fees, an ISBN, shipping…etc.

It will take you a very long time to break even. Chances are, you won’t.

Sure, you say: “I’ll increase the price.” But think about this for a minute. How many $15 novels do you see in the trade paperback section of your local bookstore? Not that many, eh? The basic price is somewhere between $10 and $13. $15 might be charged for a bestseller or a thick, dense book. Put your price up beyond $15 and you just priced yourself out of the market.

Now, as noted above, if your sales above are all direct, this doesn’t matter. You’ll sell for $13 and make $7 profit. That’s not too shabby at all. But it’s definitely something to think about.

Marketing

I once received, through a travel writer’s forum, a press release for an interesting-sounding motorcycle book. I contacted the writer to ask if he’d be willing to send a copy to a motorcycle blogger, and he was. The trouble was that, when I received the book, it was terrible. The writing, spelling and grammar were absolutely horrible. The author would more appropriately have been advised to spend his budget on an editor or ghost writer, because he did have an interesting story. It’s just that I couldn’t stand to read through to the end.

The moral of the story is this: he went with a POD company, and they sold him marketing. They should, if they’d had any interest in his success, have sold him editing. And the marketing that was provided was not targeted–it should have been targeted to motorcyclists and motorcycle publications. Instead, it just went out on the wire to travel organizations (and it wasn’t even a travel book).

Look carefully at the claims made by POD companies. You can guarantee that they’ll be giving glowing reports of all their successes. But, because of all the things I’ve just discussed, such cases are rare.

You won’t enjoy success because the companies tell you that hundreds of folk are waiting in the wings just for your book. They’re not. You won’t enjoy success because of a generic press release sent out to outlets who have no interest in your book. You’ll enjoy it because you have a great book, and are willing to promote the heck out of the book until it sells.

Physical quality of books

Print on demand technology is not great for printing pictures. If you have a book with pictures, choose a different kind of printing. Some POD printers also use very poor binding which falls apart after a short while. (The POD printer I used did a good job, as it turned out.)

When you pay for a cover, you may not (most likely won’t) be getting a quality cover. The first cover for Rhaeva was so bad that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The second one looked like a hyaena taking a dump (I wanted a wolf). Be sure you know what you’re getting for a cover.

Conclusion:

Keep a level head on your shoulders, read between the lines of the hype, and educate yourself. Ask a friend whom you can trust to read the sales blurb, make sure you are keeping all the rights yourself, and get their opinion too. Ask lots of questions of the publishing company, and keep your Bullshitometer on a low-tolerance level. Look for reports of hokeyness on the web.

No straight answers? Can’t find the pricing structure within a minute of arrival on their website? Run away…fast.

I like LuLu the best–they have very little sales hype, offer their prices up-front, and are honest about what they do and don’t offer. They are the closest thing to print on demand printers that are typically available to the public, and they give easy access to that technology.

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