Print-on-demand publishing: What is it and how can I do it?
Print-on-demand publishing is becoming more common especially in the self-publishing world. Books are printed individually when there is an order placed for them. A print-ondemand publisher will have digital files of your manuscript and cover, and they will just print the book out when it is ordered and ship it to the customer. The benefits of this are: No stock is held so there are no bulk up-front printing costs and no holding/storage costs. Your book can be ready for sale immediately anywhere in the world on completion and upload of the manuscript. There is the ability to change the text and publish changes more quickly.
There are lower profits per book as printing costs are higher than bulk printing, but the benefits of not spending the money up front often outweigh this. I use Print-on-Demand for my Amazon.com sales of “How to Enjoy Your Job.” The files are held by a US publisher, Lulu.com, and when people order the book from Amazon, they are printed then shipped direct to the customer. I get US$4.03 per book. However, as I am not a US resident, 40% of that goes in with-holding tax, so I receive about $2.90 per book. However, I do nothing for this. It all happens without me doing anything as they print and ship the books per order direct to the customer. Once sales increase, it is a brilliant business model! It also means you can sell your books all over the world. I now sell my books in India with a print-on-demand service! Even if you do print-on-demand, you will still need some copies to do promotion and publicity with, as well as to sell at events/speaking engagements. You can combine a small selfpublishing print run with print-on-demand. Think multiple sales channels and mix and match!
1 http://www.TheCreativePenn.com Writing, self-publishing, print-on-demand, internet sales and marketing…for your book
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Joanna Penn is the author of “From Idea to Book” – all the information you need to get writing and pursue your dream of being a published author!
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2 http://www.TheCreativePenn.com Writing, self-publishing, print-on-demand, internet sales and marketing…for your book