Writing
a book?
Here’s one way
to get it published
By Paul Lima
AS ANY ASPIRING author knows, finding a
publisher can be as difficult as writing a book.
That’s what I discovered after writing The
Business of Freelance Writing. After being
turned down by two publishers (they didn’t
think they could sell enough books to make
publishing worthwhile), I looked into self-publishing.
When readers order books through an
online retailer, the retailer places orders with
the POD company, which prints and ships the
books. Books are printed and sold as they are
ordered; the
author or
book retailer
does not have
to carry any
inventory.
Authors earn
less per book when
books are sold through
online retailers because
the POD company and
the online retailer each take a
cut; however, books are available from
more sources, which can lead to greater sales.
For instance, my book How to Write a
Non-fiction Book in 60 Days has been picked
up by Five Rivers Chapmanry, a small publishing company in Orangeville, Ontario, and
is available through online retailers. Before I
give a writing seminar, my publisher orders
copies of my book through LSI so I can sell
them at my seminar. While we pay more per
book when ordering in smaller quantities, I
don’t have to keep lots of books on hand.
I was aware of vanity presses, companies
that often charge an enormous amount of
money to print one’s book. My investigation
revealed that vanity presses had been replaced
by print on demand (POD).
KEN BROMAN
How print on demand works
Most POD companies (iUniverse, Trafford
Publishing, AuthorHouse, CreateSpace and
others) sell directly to the public via the Web
and also make books available through online
retailers. Others, such as Lightning Source Inc.
(LSI), do not sell directly to the public, but
instead print and ship books only through
online retailers. (LSI also sells directly to
authors and publishers who want to print
books in small quantities.)
Most POD companies charge an upfront
fee to process books for publishing and print-
ing. Authors can then order small quantities
of books—as few as one—or sell books
online. However, I calculated that I’d have to
sell about 250 books before I covered the
upfront fee, which can be as high as $2,200.
Then I discovered Lulu.com. Like most
POD companies, Lulu sells directly to buyers
via the Web. However, the company does not
charge upfront fees if you opt not to have
them place your book on Amazon.com, as
most other PODs automatically do.
A look at costs
With Lulu, as with any POD company,
the author has to format the manuscript
(choose the book size and typeface and design
the book pages), produce the book cover and
upload the book over the Web.
Choosing a print-on-demand company
POD COMPANIES offer a variety of services and varying degrees of hand-holding.
The more hand-holding and services you
require, the more you will pay upfront. To
help you select a POD company, answer
the questions below. Then look for a POD
company that offers the services you need
to take your book to market.
Can you create the book (PDF) and
cover (JPG) files that need to be
uploaded to the POD company?
Do you want to sell print and/or electronic copies?
Lulu gives authors a storefront, processes
credit-card orders, and prints and ships books
on demand as orders come in, or makes the
book available for downloading. Authors can
choose to sell paperback books and/or electronic books (PDF files); ordering PDFs saves
buyers printing and shipping costs.
Do you want to sell through your Web
site, the POD Web site, online retailers
or all three?
Can you do a final edit of the book or
is editing and proofreading assistance
required?
Will you be seeking a large audience
or selling (or giving) copies to family
and friends only?
Can you design the book’s pages and
cover or do you need design assistance?
Will you order print copies to sell to
bookstores or at workshops, seminars
and/or book fairs?—PL
Like most POD companies, Lulu pays the
author a cut of each book sale. The royalty is
based on the cost to print the book (the more
pages, the more it costs to print), POD company markup and the retail price of the book,
which the author can set. In other words,
authors can charge an arm and a leg and hope
the book sells, they can give it away at cost or
they can charge a modest markup and earn a
few dollars per book.
