A new way of printing
and distributing books
I’ve written in an earlier post about the confusion over the terminology commonly used to describe print on demand book distribution, but let’s describe it briefly before we get to the actual processes involved.
Print on demand is a book distribution method made possible by, and inseparable from, digital printing. It prints books only in response to orders, and only prints the exact amount ordered. Due to the capabilities of digital printing, print on demand is capable of filling an order for one book profitably.
But how does print on demand work?
The Publisher’s Side of the Print on Demand Equation
Print on demand suppliers, like Lightning Source, maintain databases of books on behalf of their publisher clients. Publishers submit books to the print on demand supplier (PODS) in the form of two files for each book: one digital file for the book interior and one digital file for the cover.
When the files first arrive they are logged into the PODS’s system, examined for technical errors, and a proof copy of the book is created for the publisher to review. Once the publisher signs off on the proof, the book is listed by the PODS throughout its distribution channels including booksellers, other offline and online retailers, chain stores, library suppliers, and in some cases exporters.
Advantages for the publishers include:
- eliminates the need to keep books in inventory;
- allows books without substantial sales to stay in print;
- vastly reduces the investment needed to maintain a large backlist;
- eliminates the waste and expense of pulping thousands of unsold books.
Disadvantages for the publishers are:
- digitially printed books cost more per unit than books printed offset;
- digital printing is not efficient for books that will sell in volume;
- digitial printing’s quality and flexibility of formats is not as good as offset printing.
The Distribution Chain
The title is now listed for sale to all wholesalers and retail outlets. If the book is of sufficient interest it may be stocked in advance of orders. In this case, these “preordered” books do not differ from books produced and distributed by other means. The advantage in the distribution chain is that any number of books, even a very small number, can be ordered for restocking at any time.
However, the title may not be stocked in the distribution chain at all, but remain as a listing available for order.
The Book Buyer
An interested buyer may find the book in an online listing, for instance at an online retailer such as Amazon.com or BN.com. The buyer places an order and, if the book is not physically stocked at the retailer’s warehouse, the order is sent back up the distribution chain to the PODS.
Computers at the PODS pull the correct files for the book’s cover and interior text block and send them to the appropriate digital printers. The two parts may bear barcodes that allow the PODS printing system to automatically match the cover correctly to the interior.
The two elements come together in the automated binding process, where the back of the book is trimmed and the cover glued onto the spine. The entire book is then trimmed to size and is ready for shipment to the retailer who placed the order, or, in some cases, directly to the customer.
This tightly integrated supply chain is a basic feature of the print on demand book distribution model. It allows books to be printed for a consistent unit cost regardless of how many are ordered.
The Revolution is Live
Commercial digital printing has given us the print on demand book distribution model, and it is in the process of changing the book publishing industry.
Although most books are still printed by offset, print on demand makes it unnecessary to invest thousands of dollars in printed books before a market for the book is established. In some cases this eliminates much of the economic risk involved in book publishing.
If good quality manuscripts—or previously printed books—are available, there is little reason to not put them into distribution. And for small publishers, independent publishers and self publishers, print on demand book distribution has democratized the publishing process. As more book buying moves online, this effect should be more and more pronounced.
Combined with a rapid acceptance of ebooks, print on demand promises to change the book publishing landscape forever.
We’ve now followed a book from publisher to print on demand supplier, through the distribution chain to the final book buyer, and back again. If you have any questions or comments on this process, please leave them in the comments area. I look forward to hearing from you.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Wonderful explanation, Joel. Authors also need to understand that they can establish an account at Lightning Source on their own and become true self-publishers without the so-called services of a self-publishing company. As they hire editorial and design specialists to produce the quality books that buyers demand, they can realize greater profits and satisfaction from the entire venture.
@Michelle, thanks for your comment. You make an excellent point, and this is the route I recommend for most of my clients. They get far better pricing and flexibility from this arrangement, and have much better leverage as they go to market. Your perspective is always appreciated!
Great post, as usual, Joel. POD is changing every day– the technology gets better and better. The book quality is improving too, and it’s becoming easier for anyone to publish. It’s a revolution of sorts.
It also makes errors easy to fix!
Thanks, Christy. I’m amazed at how fast the technology is developing. It’s going to be a whole new world soon, but that also means new opportunities too.
Chris, aren’t we glad, too!
Very interesting, Joel. Since I’m still trying to figure out how this stuff works, your explanations are really helpful. Now I’m wondering how to apply this info…..E.g., a friend of mine just told me about lulu.com and blurb.com. Lulu provides apparently puts an ISBN code on its books so that they can be sold via can Amazon. Blurb is more for arty-y books (my friend is a photographer). So my question is: Are these two companies examples of digital publishers? Or do they fall into another category?
Hi Betty!
Lulu is a good resource if you want to get a book into print for very little money up front. This works if you just want books for your own use or to sell yourself, or for gifts, that kind of thing. Because they don’t charge for the basic service you will pay on the back end with higher per book prices, which can make it difficult to nearly impossible to sell books through the book distribution channels. The book will simply end up as too expensive. But it’s great for other things and you can either get an ISBN through them or get one yourself and use your own. I believe their books are printed at Lightning Source anyway.
Blurb has neat software you download and then use to layout your book. They specialize in illustrated books and do really a pretty good job! The number of formats (sizes) is pretty limited and, again, the books will not be cheap enough to go into distribution, but I know artists who do books there and sell them to clients more as advertising for their work or to enhance their standing as artists or photographers, which makes sense.
If you’re thinking about doing something like this Betty, you should let me know and I’ll try to help! Or maybe it’s for your students? Let me know, and thanks for stopping by.
Thanks, Joel, this is really helpful! I do have an idea for a book about writing. I want to include drawings and limited text — sort of a graphic novel approach. This is really ambitious considering the fact that I’m still learning how to draw! But if I ever get around to it, I will definitely ask you for help. I’m thinking that black&white could work for me. That would save money too, right? I almost think I should do a little chapbook. We’re not talking best-seller ambitions. More like, selling it for $10 and making $5 off of it. Does that make any sense? Obviously, this is all pie-in-the-sky at the moment.
Hey, Betty. Your book sounds great, I’d love to see you combine your writing with your artistic abilities, because you’re good at both. Yes, the plan makes sense, but… the ground is shifting so quickly right now that if you are not ready to actually go to press, there’s no way to predict which will be the best way to proceed even in the near future. When you are ready, the choices may be quite different than they are today. What’s your time frame? Are you thinking 2010?
I have no idea when I’ll be ready. But 2010 should be an interesting year for brainstorming! Btw, I just added your blog to the blog roll on my home page. Reading your site keeps me motivated!
Hey Betty, I’ve added you to my blogroll too! When you get to brainstorming if you want to throw ideas around, let me know, I love to help out that way.
Thanks, Joel! Will def reach out for you when I’m ready. And thanks for commenting about my class!
Hello Joel,
I just ran across your page – good vibes and info!! Let me tell you a bit about lulu.com. Yes, it’s awesome to get books printed with no upfront costs. They do a beautiful job if I send a quality pdf or ps. I have 11 books on my lulu “storefront”. Total sales in 2 years about $100! (yes, barf). The BIG problem is in their “distribution system”. All my books ended up over on Amazon.com. Get this – just the titles, no descriptions, no how-to buy them, not how much it costs, just a blank page with the title.
I’ve added most/all that info MYSELF at Amazon.com (who have yet to get one thing straight – tho’ they are nice and respond to e-mail) I’m finding my $15.00 (example) books being sold on “Used Book Stores” and at DOUBLE the price off Lulu.com. In short – the distribution “system” (that I describe to them as their “mess”) is insanity. I am now in the process of asking Amazon.com reps if they have a “button” that totally wipes out all “Dennis Hooker books” from their site. There will never be a way to clean up the mess there. I will hear in a day or two – probably they say “No! – never, you are seriously disturbed, Dennis” And hopeless messed up for years – for nothing is real now.
I am now brainstorming ways to start from scratch on getting my books “out there”. e-books at reasonable prices, etc. Don’t know the options yet.
A book of mine through lulu is approx. $15.00 and I make a couple dollars “royalty”. If Amazon sells that same book they buy it from lulu, add about another $5.00 for their share – plus the $4.95 s/h. That’s $24.95 for an overpriced $15.00 book! Then top that off with the “Used Books Affiliates” adding another $5.00 to it – and I doubt if I get a penny if it’s sold through one of the Used Book dealers.
Thanks for listening to the “Just the facts, Maam”. It’s 10x easier writing books than selling them. I’m used to publishers buying my rights and selling into schools (which now are broke/bankrupt/stupid).
God bless and pick up the pieces.
Dennis
ps that’s “Hooker” not Hookera”
Dennis,
Wow, that’s quite a story. Maybe on the next title you might try going direct to Lightning Source, who prints for Lulu. You’ll get lower prices, no “add ons” and direct uploading of your books to Amazon and B&N. Good luck!
So it would be safe to say that using lightning source is beneficial for self publishers? I’m this close to using Lulu, but I’m trying to have a more direct way of selling the books through my personal business website and have shipping and printing done in one place. I also plan to buy my own ISBN from myidentifiers.com to keep all my “royalties” in one basket. I’m checking out LS now… thoughts?
Alisha, Lightning Source is an excellent resource, particularly if you plan on publishing more than one book. But many self-publishers have done well with Lulu, and use their own ISBN to establish themselves as the publisher of the book. Lulu books will generally cost more, and you will not have the same control to set your retail price. It really depends on your situation and the goals you’ve established for your book and your publishing program. Research both, I’m sure you’ll find the right place for you. And if you still have questions, send me an email and I’ll try to help!
Hi Joel, Great info. Thanks for stepping up to share your advice!
I’m a new author/illustrator working with a small publishing house to produce a children’s picture book/primer for creative visualization. We are nearly complete and the book should go to press (or POD printer) within the next month. The publisher is having financial problems and we are considering POD. I have a draft contract (written for traditional/press publishing) that will be modified for POD before we sign. I like the idea of POD because I hate to see boxes of books wasting away, and it seems to make sense for this publisher. It may also be good for me because the duration of the contract typically ends when the run of books is sold and there are no plans to rerun it. If the publisher’s situation continues to decline, without a large inventory, I would be released to go elsewhere sooner.
Now, I’m new to all this and wondering if you might have some advice for me. Specifically, I’m curious whether the quality of a POD picture book would be noticeably inferior on the shelf next to one from an offset printer. Another question is: does POD trigger limitations in distribution – say with libraries, etc. Finally, do contracts with author’s usually change with a POD arrangement? If so, how? Any other advice? Frankly, I may not know enough to ask the right questions.
Lisa,
I looked at your drawings and they are charming. I’m not sure how you would change the contract to reflect the POD printing since in POD only the books that are ordered are actually printed, so there is, in effect, no “print run” to exhaust.
The bad news is that digitally-printed books (the kind that are sold through POD distribution) are not as good quality as offset printed books, and this is most notable in color printing. Additionally, the cost of the books to the publisher will be much higher, which could have a devastating impact on their ability to resell the books at a profit.
My advice would be to study the pricing and get some samples of similar books from the proposed POD vendor. These two elements will go a long way toward helping you make a decision about how to proceed. This is an area in which digital printing has a ways to go to catch up on quality and price.
I can’t comment on your contract question since I don’t have any information about how POD distribution might affect an author’s contract.
Best of luck, and let me know what happens. If you’d like to communicate privately, you’ll find my email address on my About page. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Joel,
I have 3 books published and signed up with my publishers since April to have them converted to Amazon Kindle. After two months one of the books was converted. I inquired about the other two books and I was told that they are too old to be put on. The books were published in 2004, 2005, 2009? Do you know how I can rectify this situation.
Allison
Allison,
You should check your contract or publishing agreement. There may well be a clause by which the rights to the ebook format will revert to you if the publisher declines to publish them. With the rights you’ll be free to publish them to Kindle or other ebook formats yourself, and as Dennis points out below, it’s not that hard. I hope this works out for you, and you may actually be better off. Thanks for your question.
I can’t respond to the part where you say you are leaving the conversion efforts to a “Publisher” to put your books on Kindle.
In actuality, If your book is in pdf (not hard to go from Word, etc. to pdf) then in a manner of minutes you can upload your own book into the Kindle process. It is actually quite satisfying. In a short time (a day or two?) you will get an e-mail telling you of the acceptance of the book (or not) on Kindle.
Re: the date: My solution has been to make a slight revision in the book and applying this year’s date as the publishing date. I don’t think the book even requires an ISBN on Kindle (I think it does with the new Apple Reader system – see Smashwords. They have a wonderful system for going into their bookstore, conversion to most book readers, then possible acceptance into their “Advanced Catalog” – not sure exact name) Then, possible acceptance into the Apple’s new system for their Reader.
I’m not an expert on these matters – I’m just telling you how I do it – and it’s been working for me (Amazon, Kindle, Smashwords, Google, etc, etc.)
Lots of luck and hang in there,
Dennis
Thanks for the tips, Dennis. Many people are using Smashwords for their distribution system. The current consensus seems to be that you apply one ISBN for all ebook editions.
Hi Joel,
A mistake I made on Lulu (and couldn’t get it corrected) is that I made a couple slight typo corrections on several of my books – and THEY pulled my ISBN from the book. Their rationale? That I had made a revision in the book, so I had to assign a new ISBN to each of the books. I couldn’t get them to change it back. At $30+ per ISBN I decided to not buy a new ISBN per book. (It’s as if a horse auctioneer required me to buy a new saddle for the horse I am selling – yet me knowing that horse will not be sold at that auction anyway – good money after bad.)
My suggestion for you at Lulu – keep on revising your book on-line – ONLY THEN apply your ISBN when you have corrected everything and it’s ready to go. Correcting typos does not qualify as “a new edition”!!!!
Dennis
It sounds pretty heavy handed of them, Dennis. Correcting typos definitely does not produce a new edition. All the more reason to own your own ISBNs rather than buying them from someone else. That way you will always be listed as the publisher rather than Lulu. Thanks for the additional info.
>>The two elements come together in the automated binding process, where the back of the book is trimmed<>and the cover glued onto the spine.<<
Semantic question: I've always used "spine" to mean the narrow strip that is part of the cover material between the back and front covers. Are you saying that the left edge of a stack of pages, with no cover attached, is also a spine?
Yes.
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