POD: The Balance Sheet

For the last two weeks, I've been talking about print on demand. I've offered my experience with the process and have shared some of the problems I've encountered. Today's blog wraps up this topic.

Technology

Print on Demand (POD) is technology. It's neither good nor bad. It's a means to an end. It's another iteration of getting the word out to the reading public, and as such, it's not going to be the final stop on the publishing juggernaut that writers must negotiate in today's rapidly changing market.

The Good

1. POD is as green as paper publishing can get right now. It's not carbon-footprint free, but it beats having tables of remainders that end up ultimately in the landfill.
2. POD allows writers to self -publish without kow-towing to agents or big city publishers.
3. POD allows small presses to offer services to writers who otherwise would languish at their computers without ever seeing their books come to fruition in print.

The Huffington Post noted Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publishing services for New Providence, N.J.-based Bowker's remarks on POD: "We're seeing that the face of publishing itself is changing. Non-traditional publishing, especially related to print-on-demand, continues to offer new avenues and opportunities to grow the publishing industry. Given the exponential growth over the past three years, it's showing no signs of abating."

The Only Constant

The only constant is change. POD provides a good venue for getting your novel or nonfiction work published. However, the prognosticators are predicting we'll see the end of paper printing within the next five years. That means eBooks are the next BIG THING; in fact, they already are.

ePublishers weekly reports the sales of ebooks in the U.S.A. for the first quarter of 2010, more than 90 million dollars, predict a record year for ebooks. epublishersweekly.blogspot.com

So there are some thoughts on POD. After weighing the pros and cons, I chose it for my novel. It's not perfect, but it's one way to get your work before the public.

Hidden Costs of POD

Nothing is ever simple. No newsflash there, but it's true. We all know, as writers, that we're responsible for the publicity of our books. We may not like it, but we accept it. However, when getting the word out starts to eat into the old savings account, it sure makes one long for the days when a writer could just write.

Explanation.

Schlepping your latest novel around to Indie bookstores is taken for granted as the author's responsibility in the promo department. It's not quite that simple. Many bookstores respond with, "Can we have a copy to look over - read - pass around among our employees to get a sense of what the book is about? -

TRANSLATION

We want to be sure your small press published tome isn't really junk. Maybe you are self-published and this is your own company. Times are tough. We don't want to take a chance.

RESULT

Writers, at the beginning, may drop off a copy here and there but this eats into any potential for ever earning a buck. If you've commissioned someone to do your art work or paid an editor to ferret out your goofs, add this to the cost of doing business. At some point, you have to say, "No. Sorry, but I can't afford to give away any more books."

FALLOUT

I reached that point today. Visited an Indie bookstore in Anacortes, Washington, and they were skeptical. Wanted a copy. I showed them the book. Gave them a business card. The press release. The great reviews. Still, they were unsure. We left it at that. Are they going to pursue my book? Probably not. But honestly, in the hopes of selling one copy, can I afford to donate one to them? To every bookstore that wants to be sure I'm not a whacko off the streets with an overactive printing press in the basement?

What's the answer? Anybody have any ideas?

Reviews, POD, and Simon and Garfunkel

Great Review for Yours Truly
Received my first major review on Sunday - The Historical Novel Society online reviews took a look at Headwind: The Intrepid Adventures of OSS Agent Katrin Nissen and found it worthy of note. Wowsers. Yipperooni. Ahem. Here's the link: http://historicalnovelsociety.org/hnr-online.htm

I've been waiting semi-patiently for a couple of months for this. Afraid they'd hate it. Hoping they'd like it. Not sure what I'd do or say if they hated it. Not sure what I'd do with it if they liked it. Now it turns out to be a pleasant dilemma.

The First Problem

POD. Print on Demand is a technology, and it's a green technology, when you consider how it works. Headwind is published by a small press - Chalet Publishers LLC, so it should be considered different from the vanity presses who crank out whatever comes their way or self-published books that haven't been vetted.

The major chains don't stock POD books, so if you're looking for Headwind or any of her sister novels -or brother ones either, for that matter - you've got to go online to Amazon, B&N online, or visit your favorite Indie bookstore and hope the author has left off a copy or cajoled (great word) them into stocking.

Marketing yourself is a royal pain in the patootie if you're not the type who loves promoting yourself. I'd rather be researching and writing, but I've been trying valiantly to do all the right things. Next week I'll share the grand list of what I've done in this regard. Still, it's a slow, slow process and not always successful in the end.

The Second Problem


Price. Pricing is difficult for authors to understand. I'm not sure I understand it even after having it explained to me. Small publishers have to price their books so they can make some kind of profit. Often this means the price of one of these undiscovered gems is nearly double what you'd pay for a trade paperback at the grocery store rack or the airport or the major booksellers. Who's going to take a chance on a new author and pay $16.95 when you can grab an AUTHOR off the rack for $8.99? I know, it's not exactly double, but it's close.

Times are tough. Sales are even tougher when you're faced with the PROBLEMS of POD.
So, fellow and fellowette authors, what's your take on this? Any small press publishers out there want to share a point of view?