| Celebrate POD and E-Books This Month |
| "Q. What is the quality of a print-on-demand book? A. The quality is identical to what you would purchase in a book store." I saw this statement on a print-on-demand web site recently. Please note that current technology does not allow a POD book to be identical in quality to a normally printed book you would purchase in a bookstore. Most experienced readers can tell a POD book from an offset printed book just by the resolution; for those of us with poorer eyesight, we can tell the difference by looking through a magnifying glass. POD books are still printed with dot technology. Such technology cannot equal offset printing. The quality is getting closer and closer every day, but it is not there yet. Now, for most practical purposes, a POD book will stand up next to an offset printed book pretty well. Most naive consumers won't be able to tell the difference. And POD books are books in most every other way. POD books certainly have their place in this world, especially for first books from unknown authors, family memoirs, reprints, limited edition books, books that need to be updated often, and other books with a limited market. At some point in the sales cycle of a book, though, if it is selling, you need to switch to offset printing for better prices, finer detail, your selection of quality paper, and sometimes better binding. I've used POD publishing to print my book, The Self-Publishing Hall of Fame, because I'm always adding new people to it. I also, of course, make it available as an e-book, which is always more up-to-date because it's my working file while the POD book is updated only once or twice a year. I love POD publishers and authors. I have nothing against either. They serve a great purpose. Plus they have certainly expanded the market for my book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. I sell many copies to POD publishers and printers. Plus I speak at several conferences sponsored by POD publishers. The one thing POD publishers have done well is to make it possible for so many new authors to get a book published. To open the doors to the publishing world to these new authors. It's now possible to get a book published for very little upfront cost. Offset printing, because you need to buy in quantity, often sets the bar too high for entry into the world of self-publishing. That's why I heartily support POD publishers and authors. They are changing the world of publishing, one book at a time. I have written an article on why bookstores should support POD books and authors. Check it out here on my web site: http://www.bookmarket.com/tipblog2.html. I think it's appropriate to celebrate POD and e-books during August, especially since it's National Publish Your E-Book Month! If you'd like to locate some great POD and e-book publishers and providers, check out http://www.bookmarket.com/ondemand.html. |
posted by John Kremer @
7:31 AM
6 comments |
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Open Horizons, P.O. Box 2887, Taos NM 87571 Phone: 575-751-3398 Email: John Kremer Copyright © 2008 by John Kremer. All Rights Reserved |
6 Comments:
Certainly, we need book stores to seriously consider POD books rather than rejecting them out of hand. It would help if POD publishers made the books returnable. It would help more if major review outlets also stopped rejecting POD books out of hand. The book stores don't want the books in part because there are no reviews, no advertising, and no buzz.
--Malcolm
A number of POD publishers have made their books returnable. Infinity Publishing and Author House, I believe, both offer returnable terms to bookstores.
As for the reviews, that will take many, many years, considering the fact that self-publishing has been around for 40 years and has yet to break the barrier in any significant way. POD publishing will take as long to get recognition. Media moves very slowly to change some of its practices.
Can you qualify the statement that self-publishing has been around for 40 years? Do you mean in America? I'm not counting the historical instances of author self-publishing, but it became a more organized industry in the 1940s, when Nikolai Glazkov began producing and circulation copies of his own poems in Russia. He called these sam-sebia-izdat and eventually they became known as samizdat, which was what they were referred to as they made their way to western audiences.
Decades before that Europeans set up publishing companies just to publish their own works and some of those became well-known in later years.
Nony1
I am well aware that there was a self-publishing history that goes way back, from Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain -- and earlier -- to the present day. I honor many of them in the Self-Publishing Hall of Fame.
I was not aware of Nikolai Glazkov's work, although I was aware of the samizdat term.
In the post, I just picked an approximate date when self-publishing really began to take off in the United States. There is no denying that self-publishing is a far more viable alternative than it was 40 years ago. New technologies in computer pagemaking and design, short-run print technology (including the later POD option), and the Internet (for marketing) have certainly made it easier. Also there is much more reliable information available to the self-publisher -- from books and newsletters by me, Dan Poynter, and others -- to the rise of publishing associations like PMA, SPAN, COSMEP (now defunct), and many regional associations, to the incredible array of information on web sites like bookmarket.com, parapub.com, and lots of other sites.
Thank you for pointing out Glazkov to me. I'll add him to the Self-Publishing Hall of Fame. If you know of others who should be added, please let me know.
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Sincerely,
Bob
Webmaster/Publisher
PrivateLabelPublishing.com
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