Have you heard the latest news about POD or print on demand books and Amazon? If you publish these and intend to sell them on Amazon, well....you probably can't, if all the latest news is correct (see links below).
But first: What are POD or Print on Demand books? There seems to be some confusion about this.
So here's my take: Print on demand or POD is digital printing technology which allows a complete book to be printed and bound in little time, sometime within minutes. Books can be created either one or two at a time or in small quantities. Since people who have computers have often figured out ways to make their own books, the companies I've seen have a tight profit margin, making it seem odd to me that Amazon would take them on.
To be honest, there are controversies about print on demand books. As an occasional bookseller, I want to note that I've found some print on demand books invaluable at times - and other times they have been a pain and here is why:
1. Print on demand books are often printed in smaller quantities than books from larger publishers.
For the buyer, this means that any title which is desirable may be sold out.
2. Print on demand books may fill a niche market that is needed.
Consider genealogical books. Some people have print on demand companies publish them. As time goes on, those books become rarer and in demand.
3. The paper quality may hold up paper than that in vintage editions.
You'd have to study the history of paper to understand fully which years in publishing history produced paper that was likely to hold up over time. Many vintage books are literally falling apart, no matter how well-preserved. If keeping track of vital historical dates and info is important, print on demand books can produce some books on acid-free paper.
4. Even though E-books may be the wave of the future, some people just want to have books to hold and read.
Now, on to the Great Debate about Amazon's newest policies (if info is correct and doesn't change by the time I publish this):
If you don't use Amazon's Book Surge program, your print on demand volumes may be turned away by Amazon. The bookseller may simply slam thd door in your face and leave your books to languish there, unavailable to buyers.
Many recent media reports as well as posts on blog sites indicate that a change is in the wind. This leaves publishers of POD or print on demand volumes could be left facing the fact that their "buy" buttons on Amazon will literally be turned off, leaving them with no sales unless they go through Amazon's BookSurge program. THeir hand will be forced. Period.
Here is one link you might want to check out at ComputerWorld.com: www.computerworld.com/action/article.do The news has also been covered in The Wall Street Journal and other places, including Publishers Weekly. In a possible breaking development, one publisher, PublishAmerica has a page that notes that all its "buy" buttons have been turned off at Amazon! You can see this information here:
www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html
as well as links to a huge number of articles and blogs which cover the breaking news.
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Comments: 70
Your take?
Remember, Amazon often offers free shipping and third party sellers often can not do so. The buyer will go with Amazon in those cases so what motivation would a third party seller have to sell POD books, unless they were already greatly discounted, probably making it unprofitable for the POD publisher?
I read the NY Times Book Review among other reviews to help me decide what fiction I might enjoy. You won't find POD there, because usually it's relatively much easier to publish POD, so that the average quality is much lower than that of print books that have been through the agenting and editing processes.
Another factor: As a novelist who has worked long and hard to crack the royalty-paying print publishing market, and sees that as the bar to get over, I have trouble celebrating someone's POD or electronic publication. I'm afraid I can't help but resent it when they talk as if they are published novelists. I'm not proud of this, but I think it accurately reflects the average quality of most such writing.
I'm throwing that out there for thought. I believe that Val Kilmer (the actor, not the noted poet) had a self-published book of poetry. I don't know if it was any good. A friend found a copy in a thrift shop. It sold for a ridiculous amount, IMO.
Consider also that some family genealogies are only available in POD form and some have already become scarce. Consider WWII diaries or letter that have been put in POD form. POD books today are in small quantities, usually.
I see your point about fiction. But for historians and nonfiction researchers, they have already been useful - and I can imagine that some will be more so in years to come.
Cool article.
I am one of those people that will never switch to E-books. For some stupid reason I have trouble focusing on text on screen. My mind constantly drifts and I find I can re-read a section too many times to count yet not have a clue what I read.
Short pieces of text is alright, but anything more than 5 minutes of reading will lose me.
I've simply got to have text on paper to hold in my hands! This was a such a pain for me when I was taking some college courses online... I had to print out all the lectures etc, and wow did I go through a lot of paper and ink! ROFL.
I think you're right about genealogical books. That seems to consistently be the best use of print on demand technology that I've seen.
This makes more sense in view of what you're sharing, J Corn. Thanks for the heads up.
As for POD's being nonreturnable, Xlibris takes them back apparently because I had returns charged against my royalties in one quarter.
Melanie, if you can stand the cost of $300+, the Amazon Kindle has print-like rather than screen-like reading. I have the same problem as you do, but haven't decided to spend that kind of money yet.
Since I'm not a celebrity or a rising star, and I'm a 60 something grandmother, I don't have time to play around with the "bottom line is all that counts" old guard. I sell most of my books at readings and that works for me. I think there's room for all writers, and the market decides their value. The rest is luck of the draw.
But now the big store decides that they will not only sell the CDs, but they will also burn them, and the ones they produce aren't quite as nice as the ones the musicians used to provide. Also, the big store charges more for producing them, and takes a bigger chunk of the sticker price.
This is how the situation looks to me. I've read that the Booksurge quality is not as nice as some of the other POD printers. I'm not familiar with their quality, personally.
POD books are books, often, the traditional look of a book. The quality may differ from one publisher to another. But I know for sure that I've bought books from major publishers where there were printing flaws, entire pages missing and the book barely held together, etc.
As far as book reviews, it's harder than ever to get a print review - even if it is published by a major publisher. That's because there is so much consolidation within the newspaper industry. I have my first hardback coming out in June and have been told that if it were in paperback, it would have no chance of getting reviewed by a major newspaper. As a hardback, the chances are still slim.
Amazon's new position will hurt authors and small publishers. I posted an article on this yesterday. http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977295878
You might also want to look at author, Marta Stephens article on this same subject.
There's a ton of information on this issue at Writers Weekly. It's not just Publish America that is affected. Writers Weekly mentions in an update today that the traditional publisher, Whiskey Press is affected by this action.
Here's the link, http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008
Again, 68 articles out there on the Internet about this and a diversity of opinions, even as the news keeps developing...
A long time ago a houseful of my furniture was placed in storage. The storage managers called me to inform me my vault had been compromised -- most of my items were stolen. They wanted me to come down and file a report. When I did guess what I found? The thieves had taken everything but my books. I told the storage unit managers that I was not upset because the thieves were stupid. They had left the most valuable items behind, and only taken items that were easily replaceable.
Books, photos -- these are a few of the very special things.
PODs and E-Books, well. . .not for me, at least at this time.
Good printers make good Print on Demand books.
There is a lot of talk about this new amazon problem on many yahoo writing groups. Some believe that it won't effect the large houses like AuthorHouse and Xlibris, but I am not sure that is true. Since over 1/3 of the books published today are self-published, it would appear that amazon has taken on a giant. I am sure they did their research.
I read today where one small press was contacting Barnes & Noble to determine if they will provide the same benefits as amazon.com. If amazon goes forward and it appears that they are, you might see a shift of emphasis from amazon to other large on-line bookstores. It will be interesting to see who comes up as the leader.
By the way, AuthorHouse is about to release its 50,000th book title.
Does anyone recall when Walmart told manufacturers of products that they had to meet Walmart prices or stop selling products at Walmart? Rubbermaid, which had been there forever, was essentially forced to manufacture their products in China and many American workers were laid off. At some point, it hurts companies.
Think carefully beyond the point about whether you like or hate POD books but about what happens when small businesses go under. If you EVER want to do a print on demand book (perhaps a few copies of your favorite recipes, genealogies, etc) rather than print one yourself, would you want to be forced to pay higher prices because the lower priced PODs were gone? What is the line between competition and monopoly?
Finally, if Barnes and Noble starts its own POD (and I'm NOT saying they are or have one, haven't researched that) will they follow Amazon's lead?
I wanted to add a little more on this issue. This is a comment I wrote in my article on the same subject.
I was talking to an author friend of mine who didn't quite get why this is so hurtful. I tried to explain that an author has a greater chance of winning the lottery than getting published by Random House. So authors that believe in their work often turn to respected independent presses who publish trade paperbacks on a print on demand basis. Many of these publishers have worked very hard to find printers whose books look decent and like any other high quality trade paperback that's out on the market.
I sat in on a printing discussion given to a marketing group recently. Several printers passed around trade paperbacks and asked if we could tell which one was printed on demand using digital technology. None of us could tell the differences. The POD books looked great.
I have not heard the same about books produced by Book Surge. I've heard from various publishers and others authors that Book Surge books "look awful"..."are the worst."
Now this is a huge concern. If the books don't look good it's going to be hard to convince readers to keep on reading the books. It's bad PR for the authors and the indie book publishers. But it's inadvertently good PR for the big publishers who are not using Print on Demand technology. Imagine that? So this is a case again of hurting the little guy. It forces them to choose a potentially inferior printer. It also denies them their inalienable right of Freedom of Choice. Most horrendous of all...it forces a monopolistic situation instead of letting the market remain open.
Julie Ann Shapiro
Thank you. I just noticed this news item from Publishers Lunch:
More From Amazon on POD, and Toasters
Amazon's Patty Smith spoke to Computerworld further about their new requirement that POD-based small publishers and self-publishing companies print their titles through Booksurge if they want the books sold directly by Amazon. "When we publish a print-on-demand title in our own fulfillment center, we can then marry that on-demand book with a regular book, or a toaster, if that's what the customer ordered in the same box and ship it the same day to the customer. And that print-on-demand book that we printed is also eligible for free shipping."
She reiterated that companies that don't wish to use Booksurge can still sell their POD books through Amazon's Advantage program ($29.95 per year plus 55% of the list price of the book) and other third-party marketplace seller programs.
BookLocker.com Angela Hoy says she will not use Booksurge. "We would [rather] take an initial significant hit to our revenues, and we estimate that Amazon comprises about 30% of our revenues."
Computerworld
See below:
Publishers Weekly - 3/28/08
"Amazon to Force POD Publishers to Use BookSurge"
by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly
"BookSurge, Amazon's print-on-demand subsidiary, is making an offer that most publishers would like to refuse, but don't feel they can. According to talks with several pod houses, BookSurge has told them that unless their titles are printed by BookSurge, the buy buttons on Amazon for their titles will be disabled. A detailed explanation of her how the new program was explained to her is provided by BookLocker.com co-owner Angela Hoy on her writersweekly.com blog.
Over the last year, BookSurge has been trying to cut into the market share of pod leader Lightning Source and is using the selling clout of Amazon to generate more business. "I feel like the flea between two giant elephants," said the head of one pod publisher about the upcoming battle between Lightning Source and BookSurge/Amazon. He said although the deal with BookSurge will be more expensive, he has no choice but to make the move since most of his authors expect their titles to be for sale on Amazon. He added that his company will also continue to use Lightning Source for printing as well. Amazon's BookSurge mandate extends to traditional publishers as well as to online pod houses."
You can read the rest of this info in Publisher's Weekly.
Also this:
The Wall Street Journal
"Amazon Tightens Grip on Printing"
By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
Amazon.com Inc., flexing its muscles as a major book retailer, notified publishers who print books on demand that they will have to use its on-demand printing facilities if they want their books directly sold on Amazon's Web site.
The move signals that Amazon is intent on using its position as the premier online bookseller to strengthen its presence in other phases of bookselling and manufacturing. Amazon is one of the biggest booksellers in the U.S., with a market share publishing experts estimate to be about 15%. Amazon doesn't comment on sales.
Entire article is available to The Wall Street Journal subscribers.
I don't think so. I sent you a couple of emails. There's one that has a link to Amazon's response.
Julie
By the way, they say that the brick and mortar bookstores turn their product every 6 months. So what is the advantage of having your books stocked with them.
Ah well, you are a real author with a potential for sales to start. This is something no self-published author has, or in my view, ever will.
The difference? Well, that depends on the price. My family genealogy reprinted from 1910 as a hard cover looks okay, it's too big, and still far inferior to the original I used to look at at the state library. It cosy $70. The deal is this: no POD is meant to be on a shelf. It's meant to be bought by the author. This will never change. The matrix of book publishing does like this: money flows to the author in commercial publishing. Away from them in vanity publishing. In general, publishers use offset printing because it's cheaper after 1000 copies. No POD based publisher, small or not, sells this many. That's your definition of the bottom. Print-non-demand. That's the standard.
I can find the name of a self-published author who wrote a "How to Promote Your Book" type book which has sold over a million copies. At $2 to $10 profit a book, he has done alright.
Personally, I am not looking for fame like some self-published authors: Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, John Grisham, Richard Bolles, L. Ron Hubbard, Irma Rombauer, Richard Nixon, and James Redfield. I just want to use my brain once again and leave some family oriented books behind.
I have considered buying 1500 copies of each of my books to cut cost. AuthorHouse offers a program for authors who do so which allows the author to have their books shipped to the destination of each of their signings. So if you travel, you do not have to take your books with you.
I personally agree with you that traditional publishing is the correct path to follow. With either path, you are only as successful as the amount of effort you put into it.
It is a print on demand publisher who may or may not accept your book for publication. P/A pays royalties to its authors, does not ever charge for anything, has a great support services for promoting your own book, such as your own web site, etc. It has several online selling places including Barnes&Noble, Books A Million, etc. Independent book stores may order. And regular Barnes & Noble bookstores do order. If you wish to have your books on hand to place on consignment, offer at book fairs and book signings or give as promo or review copies you may buy them from P/A, as many or as few as you desire. They will edit for you if you wish. The quality is excellent.
Somewhere in here is a discussion about the ethics of forcing sellers, many of them trying to sell a product (even if you don't like the product or believe in POD) and being told "use our printing process to make that product or you can't sell it here"
If Collins or New American Library or any publisher you DO like was told,' "use our printing process to print your book or you can't sell it here", how would you react then? Calmly? Angrily? Indifferently?
J., do you think many people who publish POD books harbor the same goal as those who use vanity publishers...for their book to take off and then be published by a mainstream publisher?
I honestly don't know what motivates most people who publish POD books. Some want to have their memoirs or biographies in book form for their family to read and others want to reach more people. There are mainstream publishers who take note of some of these books but usually the author has to do a lot of promotion.
Occasionally, a title will come along that truly fills a niche market and grabs people's interest and practically sells itself. Again, I'm not sure WHAT motivates people to publish POD books. A POD publisher or an author could speak to that.
However, I do think it would be ideal if they could sell their books on Amazon since it is a market and there is a community of people there, many of whom blog and get to know one another there.
You can still purchase POD books through other venues plus you can have mortar stores order them and sell them.