It is a fact that the advent of print on demand (POD) has transformed the way that the publishing industry conducts business. Before we get into the benefits of POD first, let’s clarify the concept. It’s the method by which books are printed after an order to print that book is placed. With POD there is no inventory stored , nor is the expected demand determined. Simply place an order for a book to print a book one at each time.
Before the introduction of print-on-demand technology was introduced, publishers would declare books out of stock if sales did not require a return trip to the printer to fulfill the minimum prints printed using offset printing. This resulted in sporadic demands from libraries and retailers to not be fulfilled. POD allows publishers to meet orders for backlist and less-demand titles without being required to comply with the minimal demands of offset printing to print copies that are more than what they believed they could sell.
With the advent of print-on-demand, the costs of maintaining the inventory of independent publishing houses have virtually gone. POD is among the most cost-effective and efficient ways to market your book. Because POD permits you to print anything from one to 10,000 copies of one book, based on the demand independent publishers are not on the responsibility of the amount to spend on a first print run.
Print on demand lets you print books on the day they are ordered, which reduces risk of financial loss, and permits you to make easy updates to your existing titles. There’s no need to be concerned about running out of stocks, and you don’t need to compromise on quality.
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There are many benefits to indie publishers who incorporate POD in their publishing plans.
Print on Demand keeps titles Always in Stock
Have you ever looked for an item in a bookshop or online , only to find that the book is no longer in circulation? With POD it’s impossible to find such a thing. The printing process stores your book on an online database, and will only print copies when necessary, so that your books are accessible for as long as you permit them. The books you plan to publish will be available for as long as you publish the book as a publisher using print-on-demand. No matter if you’re writing romance or nonfiction that is political, there might be a point at which your books are popular or even more relevant. POD lets your children’s their children, as well as everyone else who knows them, to be able to access your books even after you’ve been writing and/or published.
Print on Demand enables Quality and Variety
The printing quality of print on demand has been improved to the point where it’s virtually identical to an offset-printed book. This allows self-published books look the same as James Patterson’s most recent bestseller.
POD has evolved a lot since its inception and has since been expanded to include a range of colors, binding styles, the option to use unjacketed or jacketed hardcovers, clear graphics and text as well as a variety of trim sizes, as well as numerous options for interiors that are color-coordinated. It is possible to choose traditional color books, which cost less to make or opt for a premium color alternative. With POD the option is yours.
Manage Orders for Print on Demand Book
As previously mentioned, print-on-demand technology lets independent publishers print as many books at any moment. No matter if a person in Australia is looking for a single copy the book or an agent in the UK requires 1000 copies of your book, POD is able to help, so that the fulfillment of orders can be managed.
Prior to POD, authors could choose the book from their own home stacks at the time an order was placed and then purchase boxes or envelopes and apply shipping labels and then go the book to UPS or the postal office to ship the book to the final destination. This can be extremely expensive when you add in the cost of shipping and other supplies. The book will be printed and delivered directly to the location from the printing facility after you place an order.
When a person purchases your book through brick-and-mortar stores, the book distributor prints it and ship it to the location that the customer placed an order at which will save the time as well as money. If a person purchases your book via an online retailer and the book distributor delivers directly to them, and gives an amount of profit to the retailer (and your company).
If you publish your book on demand(r) the book is formatted for different platforms, which means you can sell it on your website, as well as through other retailers online and also in physical shelves at local bookstores. It doesn’t matter if you wish to sell printed copies to book stores, or just want to create an e-book that has the potential of printing it at some point in time, the POD solutions give you the greatest flexibility in the distribution of your book.
Print-on Demand Books are printed When they’re ordered
At one time, independent publishers were usually required to purchase a certain quantity of copies for the first printing, then determine the best way to market and distribute these books in the future. Have you ever thought about what number of independent publishers have unread books at their backs in the basement? Plenty! It’s even too numerous. Some independent publishers needed to lease warehouse space for storage of their books. Some publishers had numerous copies of their titles stored in their attics that they couldn’t even give the books away. POD makes it unnecessary to save your own books unless you’d like to.
You can decide to print copies to sell or to share. Print on demand permits you to print as many copies that match the overall plan for book marketing or personal preference. But, one benefit of POD is the fact that you don’t need to keep any un-sold prints, which is great for your bottom line.
Print on Demand Limits Your Risks to Finance
Print on demand decreases the financial risk for publishers to print a book, and then take the book to markets. Prior to POD the publisher was required to anticipate the demand for their book over time printing, storage and ship the amount of copies they anticipated would be sold, the result that they frequently forecasted incorrectly.
Traditional publishers are more adept at predicting how many copies they’ll be able to sell from the same book since they’ve been working in the book publishing industry for a while now Self-publishing authors often do not know the number of books they’ll actually sell, particularly if this is their first novel, which resulted in a huge cost before they could use POD. The surprise bestseller caused almost the same amount of headaches as the book that ended up being disappointing in sales. The issue of not having enough books to meet demand is just as damaging in the same way as too many books taking up space. With POD as well as predictive ordering, the cost of warehouses are taken out of the equation for publishing books.
POD is a pay-as-you go strategy which reduces your financial commitment, and the capability of testing the market demand for certain books. Publishers of all sizes utilize POD as an element of their business strategy to gauge the demand for the new genre or author and to be able to anticipate demand.You can also test market the book’s design by offering it both in paperback and hardcover or by offering two covers.
In allowing you to pay for your books as you go and to test the demand for your book POD helps you become an entrepreneur that can make better choices about your book’s content, marketing plan, as well as the financial investment.
Print on Demand enables you to quickly make changes to Titles that are already in use
If you are publishing in bulk, it is possible to are able to quickly update your titles by making adjustments to the file before re-uploading those files to your account. Imagine getting an amazing review or endorsement from a book or notice a glaring error on the very first page (it occurs). If you had a stack of printed books within your storage space, you would not be able to make these adjustments until you’ve sold your inventory, or more importantly, throw all of the books that aren’t sold to begin fresh. With POD it’s as simple to edit the files in a way that every book printed from then onwards will reflect the changes you’ve created.
There are a lot of misconceptions about print-on-demand, but POD books are very popular in the publishing industry now due to the extent to which technological advances have progressed and the wide range and economic benefits it gives traditional and independent publishers alike.
If you think that POD sounds so good it can’t be real consider reconsidering. While the success of both traditionally-printed and POD books depends on the appearance of the book and the ability to reach the desired reading audience, print-on-demand technology offers many additional benefits.