What it is Print on Demand and How Does it Benefit Fiction Writers!Print on demand is a fairly new approach at publishing books. Unlike the traditional publisher's way of making you order a lot of books up front, you order one at a time, or the book is printed shortly after it is purchased by a customer or "on demand". This state of the art method of producing books saves time, a lot of money, and is very safe for the environment. It is more economical for both the buyer and the seller. In the past, on-demand printing was never even thought of because of the way a printing press was made. A master template of a book was made and the process of duplicating a book was very time consuming and cumbersome. They wanted to print as many books as they could in one session so they didn't have to keep changing templates all day long. Nowadays, the process of printing is done with laser precision and with digital computer technology. No more expensive templates and no more need for mass production! The operator calls up the files for your book, clicks the specifications, and pushes the print button. In a few minutes, you have a fully published hard copy book awaiting shipment. The process of print after a person buys is the savior for writers, publishers, and book sellers all around the globe. No more warehousing your books until someone purchases one. No more advanced order publishing. Ultimately, there is no more wasting of your writing budget publishing your books. What if you want to change the edition or revise your book? Most publishers won't let you until their contract has expired between the two of you. With print on demand, it is as simple as revising your book file, resubmitting it to the company printing your books, and all future copies of your book will be printed with the new addition. With this alone, you can save thousands of dollars in losses due to excess old revisions. 1. You submit the final draft of your book to a company that offers on demand printing in the format you want it to look like as it is printed. This is where formatting your book comes into play. 2. You upload your front and back cover images to their computer server. This will be the final design and ready print image preferably in 300dpi high quality .jpg format. 3. Some companies also allow you to add an introduction to your story, choose a genre, and enter various other aspects of your book. This is usually done if you will receive a shopping area with your publishing contract where people can purchase your book right from the publisher. 4. The company verifies all of your files are correct. This process is sometimes done automatically by checking that your page sizes match for the type of book you choose to publish (ie. hardcover, softcover, or electronic). Once verified, all of your books components are added to their computer system in a publishing account for you. 5. Depending on the company, your book is completely published at this point. Some companies allow you to make changes (revisions) to your book and update it any time you like. Some do not. Your fiction book, if it is published as a hardcover or softcover, will be assigned an ISBN from the publishing company. 6. Someone orders your book, either using the ISBN number or information you give them to place the order. (You should always order at least one copy of your book from the print on demand company before releasing it to the public to ensure it looks the way you want it to in print. If it doesn't, you can always resubmit the files after making minor adjustments). 7. The publisher receives the order and forwards the order to the printing and distribution. Your royalties are added to your account and paid to you in accordance with their payment terms. The printing company is paid and the publisher takes their commissions (the only self-publishing cost of publishing your book, which you never have to worry about). 8. An operator sets up and accesses your file in their computer system and ensures the formatting is correct. If everything is good, the operator presses the print button on the large printer/binder system and prints a copy of your book. This is a brief description of the print on demand process; the actual process is much more in depth than this, but not much more difficult. 9. Your book is printed in a matter of minutes. 10. Your printed book is sent to the out-processing and distribution department where it is properly packaged and addressed to the buyer. 11. Your book is sent directly from the print on demand company to the customer, keeping you out of the distribution loop too. This entire process, from the time you actually publish your book using a on-demand printing company until the customer receives a book takes about ten days. So much for eight months or so that it takes a publishing company to get your book into print. Speed is crucial when you are publishing your book - you want to get your book on the market as soon as possible. Print on demand is definitely the way to go to ensure your book is ready to market fast. NOTE: Be aware that some publishers that claim they publish with on-demand printing still take up to 8 weeks to process and publish your book for final print. Unless they are formatting the book for you, try to avoid these types of publishers. If you are totally self-publishing, you should have no delay once you complete uploading all the parts to your book. So, where do you go to find the best print on demand company? In my quest to save time and money during the publishing process, I found a few perfect publishers with print on demand access for self-publishers. You must take a look at these companies if you wish to self-publish your work!
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