Print-on-Demand Book Publishing

Customer Reviews

• Solid Book About POD Publishing And A New Publishing Model.  May 14, 2004 (89 of 91 found this helpful)

  Morris Rosenthal wrote "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" to help authors and self-publishers develop a new and more profitable business model of book publishing using Print-On-Demand (POD) book publishing technology.

  Rosenthal writes: "Print-On-Demand allows publishers to print commercially competitive books a single copy at a time, a true revolution in the basic publishing model. .... This means there is more opportunity than ever for new authors and publishers to break into the business."

  The first section of "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" discusses traditional trade book publishing. Rosenthal gives readers a solid understanding of the economics of modern book publishing and how it works against authors and small publishers.

  Rosenthal characterizes trade book publishing by 1) Large, offset press runs of books, which tie up thousands of dollars in inventory and run a substantial risk of leaving authors and publishers with books that don't sell; 2) The need for publishers to give distributors large trade discounts (typically 55% or more of the retail price of the book goes to the distributor) to receive adequate distribution; and 3) the need to accept book returns.

  Rosenthal tells us that conventional book publishing is based upon a business model that developed during the great depression and it hasn't changed much since then. To allow bookstores to afford inventory during the depression, publishing became a consignment business. Today, because of POD technology, Rosenthal says authors and small publishers have a better alternative.

  "POD does not obey the economics of traditional offset publishing...[,]" writes Rosenthal. Using Ingram's Lightning Source (LS), Rosenthal develops a business model where authors and small publishers can utilize POD printing and fulfillment capabilities to operate a publishing company with little capital investment and essentially no inventory. The cost to get started is only a couple of hundred dollars and full book distribution is achieved. All distribution and drop shipping can be handled by LS in Rosenthal's model.

  Because Lightning Source will distribute books on a short discount to Ingram, Amazon, and other booksellers, Rosenthal shows us that the profit per book sold is much higher using his model than if the books were sold through traditional trade publishing.

  To demonstrate his model works in practice, Rosenthal discusses one of his own POD titles in depth, showing how it earned $11,000 on 1,600 sales in 2003, even though the retail price of the book was a modest $14.95.

  "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" provides all the information the reader needs to get started using POD, including how to acquire ISBN numbers and copyrights, and how to create files to submit to the POD printer.

  A valuable section of the book discusses "Author Basics." In this chapter, Rosenthal shares his experiences as an author working with trade publishers. Topics covered include book contracts, royalties, querying publishers with new manuscripts, and the publication process. Of particular value is Rosenthal's discussion of the book marketing practice which tends to create a limited window of opportunity for a new book to succeed.

  Because of the meager royalties authors typically receive from traditional publishers, Rosenthal concludes that authors could often earn as much money going the POD route as getting a traditional publisher to accept their books. In particular, Rosenthal asks: If you can earn ten times as much per book doing it yourself with POD and if ten percent of the traditional sales typically go through amazon.com, what do you need a trade publisher for anyway?

  The marketing aspect of Rosenthal's model focuses on the Internet. About a third of "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" is devoted to Internet marketing, creating a website, understanding how to market your book on Amazon, and other Internet-marketing-related topics.

  Rosenthal says that the Internet has revolutionized

• If you're an author or plan to become one, do yourself a favor and read this book  Dec 2, 2005 (85 of 90 found this helpful)

  I've read most of the available books about self-publishing and can recommend this one wholeheartedly. It begins with the premise that authors must think of their writing as a business. Even before writing, you need to research who the audience for the book will be, and how you will publicize the book to them when it's finished. The author advocates focusing your marketing efforts not on paid advertising, but by building an informative Web site that will provide free advertising.
  
  This book lays this groundwork, then proceeds through the practical steps of how to have your book manufactured, distributed, and publicized. All of the other self-publishing books talk about these things, but this book actually gives you the nuts and bolts of how to go about it.
  
  The author is able to give you these specifics because he has self-published several successful titles himself. He actually shows you the financial results from his previous books and explains why today print-on-demand is the best option for most authors -- instead of going through a subsidy press or even a trade publisher.
  
  I read this book about four months ago when I was in the midst of writing my first self-published book, "The Home-Based Bookstore." The advice helped me immensely; I know I would have made some costly mistakes without it. And I've referred back to this book at least a couple dozen times since then.
  
  When I finished reading "Print on Demand Book Publishing" (the first time), I e-mailed the author with a few additional questions (he prints his e-mail address at the end of the book and invites inquiries). Basically I asked him what type of discount I should apply to my particular book and what my online strategy should be. Later that same day, Mr. Rosenthal graciously responded with a lengthy reply chock full of specific advice. I'm sure I would not have gotten better advice if I had hired a consultant, assuming I could have found one well-versed in this field.
  

• A New Publishing Model - Perfect for Self-Publishers  Jun 1, 2006 (23 of 24 found this helpful)

  POD (Print-On-Demand) has a poor reputation in the book publishing industry, because many of the "POD Publishers" advertising their services on the internet and in writers' magazines are in fact vanity publishers - you pay them in order to publish your work. There is little or no quality control, no editing, and they will publish practically anything - for good reason, this is frowned upon in the publishing industry.
  
  This is a shame, because POD is actually something very different - it's a technology (which the vanity publishing model - along with most other publishing houses these days - uses) that allows you to print copies of a book, one at a time. This is very significant to self-published authors and small publishing houses - it means that you don't have to order a print run of 5000 copies. It makes self-publishing affordable.
  
  Rosenthal explains in detail how the technology works and how to use it. He talks about LightningSource, the POD printing service that he uses, but his information is just as useful with other services (I use Lulu, and I found his book very helpful). He explains in simple, no-nonsense language the steps involved in bringing your work from a manuscript to a fully published book, and he provides good information about marketing, especially using the internet.
  
  Even if you choose to pursue other publishing options, I highly recommend you read this book.
  
  Danny Iny
  Self-published author of "Ordinary Miracles - Harness the power of writing and get your point across!" (ISBN 1-4116-7252-6)

• Highly recommended - a true gem for writers!  Jun 14, 2005 (15 of 15 found this helpful)

  This wonderful tome of invaluable information is a must read for any author who is seeking to self-publish! As an unknown and soon to be self-published author of fiction, I had mistakenly signed up with a "subsidy press" having next to no knowledge of what it truly means to "self publish."
  
  To explain my reasoning a little further here, it's common knowledge that the market is currently flooded with thousands of books from new authors, especially from print on demand titles. Numerous subsidy presses are ready and waiting to assist any aspiring writer in seeing their book in print, but for the uneducated what looks good on the surface is merely a ruse. Curious to find out just what exactly I had gotten myself into, I decided to do some serious research into just how well the rest of the authors at my publisher were selling.
  
  I was dismayed to find that none of the fiction authors with my publisher had ever sold more than a few dozen books at most. I then was disheartened even further to find that all of the promised announcements and publicity weren't going to help at all, but my final reality check happened when I found out that my 250 page, 5 x 7 novel would sell for slightly over 20 dollars! To make a bad situation even worse, the publisher also wanted 8 dollars for shipping and handling, sending the total cost for my novel up to nearly 30 dollars. To say that this was a recipe for disaster for a new author is an understatement and then some...
  
  I was very fortunate to have found this book by Morris Rosenthal because I had no idea that anyone could acquire ISBN numbers, nor did I know that companies like Lightning Source existed that removed the entire need for having a publisher. Quite simply I was amazed to find that I could have my book printed for half the cost, enabling me to offer it for sale at a competitive market price, with no cuts in royalties! I cannot stress enough that any potential author needs to do some serious research before attempting to publish a novel, and definitely before signing any contracts! Morris's book is a must have to learn all about Print on Demand, and he also provides a wealth of information on trade publishing. One of the greatest assets I found was his advice about marketing, along with his very detailed information about his own sales and profits. Morris shares his experiences as an author in a very honest and down to earth fashion, with no bells and whistles and certainly without sugar coating.
  
  In closing, this book was a refreshing change amidst the copious amounts of bad information available and the many publishers and "writing specialists" whose motives seem to be questionable at best. The author clearly explains that there are no easy answers or magic pills to publishing a book, but with a lot of hard work and intelligent marketing it can be done on your own.
  
  

• A must have for self-publishers  Mar 29, 2006 (12 of 12 found this helpful)

  To spout a cliche: if you only order one book on the business of self-publishing, make it this one. No hyperbole. I gleaned more useful information from this volume (as opposed to the unrealistic, unresearched concepts embraced by others) than any other book or website out there. Rosenthal shares a wealth of tips and tricks and backs up his suggestions with real world trial and error. If you want to get people to notice your own book, you cannot do without this one.
  -- Mark LaFlamme, author of "The Pink Room."