3.15.10: Sorting Through PODs
Once upon a time, hopeful writers poured their blood, tears, and midnight hours into writing a manuscript. Embodying all their artistic hopes this beloved stack of papers was then sent off to several publishing houses, along with extra postage, in case of rejection. Though there are a few exceptions, large publishing firms today no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts and use literary agents as a buffer between themselves and the mewling horde of unknown writers.
Paling at the near-impenetrable bulwark of said agents, many writers have chosen the path of self-publishing. As attractive as the idea of literary independence seems, up until recent years, self-published writers had very few options, other than shelling out vast sums up front to print out stacks and stacks of their own books, which—for the most part–would reside under tarps in the garage. More blood, tears and toil was then required for self-promotion, also known as the hawking of books to distributors or individual retailers, at book shows or from tables at flea markets.
Enter the POD, or Print-On-Demand self-publishing company, a capitalistic phenomena that provides a simple function similar to that of traditional publishing houses, but without the standards, agents, or rejection letters. Instead of large, out-of-pocket fees, many POD companies give the author a percentage of each sale and, unlike the rather wasteful methods of yore, a book is not printed unless a customer has ordered one.
POD companies have cropped up all over the Internet, offering a near-infinite combination of options from which to choose. Besides the normal array of choices like black & white or color, paperback or hardback, some companies also offer fee-based editing help, layout help, cover design, or promotion/distribution packages.
If contemplating a foray into the self-publishing realm, the following table may help in giving a little side-by-side comparison of several popular POD companies:
| Company | Up-Front Fees? |
Hardback Option? |
$ ISBN | Royalty % | $ Promotion | DIY Cover Option? |
| Lulu | No | Yes | 1 Free | You set amount |
$1,895 | Yes |
| Wordclay | No | Yes | $99/ $135 | 16% | $175 | Yes |
| Blurb | No | Yes | Don’t Offer | You set amount |
Google Books | Yes |
| Dog Ear | Varies/ Pkg. |
Yes | Varies/ Pkg. |
You set amount |
$195 | Yes |
| iUniverse | Yes | Yes | Unknown | 20% Net | $300 | No |
| Authorcrossing | No | No | $99 | You set amount |
$299 | Yes |
| BookSurge | Varies/ Pkg. |
No | $45 – $95 | 35% | $49 | Templates |
| Xlibris | Yes | Yes | $300-$500 | 10%-20% | Unknown | Templates |
| Wheat Mark | Varies/ Pkg. |
Yes | With Pkg. | 20% | Amazon | Templates |
| Create Space | No | No | 1 Free | Varies/ Pkg. |
Amazon | Yes |
A few other tidbits I’ve gleaned from the Net and from polling groups of writers on my various contact lists about their past experiences with POD companies:
(Partnered with Barnes & Noble) distribution relationships with both Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, Inc. Consumer reaction: mixed. Some writers said that they got professional results with iUniverse, while an equal number of former clients used words like “horror story,” and “nickel and dimed me.”
99% of the feedback on this POD was positive, citing ease of use and happiness with the final product, as well as the reasonable prices of the optional packages. The literary community tends to sniff a bit at Lulu for some of the poor-quality pieces that have been issued under its label; despite this, more and more serious authors are turning to Lulu, simply out of economy.
(Owns iUniverse, Wordclay, and Authorcrossing). Consumer reaction: the majority of the reports back are negative, citing lengthy lapses of communication and poor customer service.
One of the least-expensive PODs out there as far as fees and DIY cover conversions ($25); some authors experienced long periods of silence when dealing with various staff, but they offer a live chat feature on their website for instant answers.
(Partnered with Random House) Consumer reaction is fairly good, citing that if one has money, then go through Xlibris for a quality, well-designed product with broad (but pricey) marketing packages.
Got high marks as far as having a free ISBN and Amazon connections, but lower marks on the “user-friendly scale” and product review; one author responding to my inquiry pointed out that he has not sold any copies, despite being listed on Amazon.
Writers earn 35% on books sold through Amazon.com, Abebooks.com, and Alibris.com, but only 10% for books sold through Baker & Taylor (which would be all other bookstores).
Distributes through both Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, Inc. They use various packages in lieu of a per unit price.
There are a variety of other PODs not mentioned in this piece, simply due to lack of space. On Gather, a contact of mine mentioned this website for sorting through a vast number of publishing companies for “lemons:” Predators & Editors: http://pred-ed.com/peba.htm
For more in-depth comparison of POD companies, I highly recommend any writer Google “The Original Print-On-Demand Publisher Database”… a lengthy, informative PDF put together by Dehanna Bailey, updated in Jan 2010.
–Meredith Greene
email her at greene@belatorbooks.com
Meredith Greene has been a reviewer for SBR/SFBR since April of 2009; a wife of thirteen years, mother of four and self-published novelist. She, nevertheless, finds time for poetry, blogs, home projects, and gardening.
Come on over and read what Meredith has to say about home, gardening, and other general musings in her SBR column Greene Ink.
Visit Meredith’s website www.BelatorBooks.com.
Nice comparison. Just to mention, you can get the same Amazon connections with Lulu as you do with CreateSpace.
Here’s a problem I have with this, though: You are (incorrectly) using the term “POD” to mean subsidy publishing companies. POD stands for “print on demand” and is a printing technology/business method used by many commercial publishers, independent publishers, self-publishers, and subsidy publishers.
BUT! All subsidy presses do NOT use print-on-demand technology. Some use offset press to produce books.
Some very big commercial publishers use POD technology: Simon & Schuster, Zondervan, Harcourt Trade all use POD printing to produce backlist and some midlist titles.
One major problem with using the term POD to mean companies like XLibris or AuthorHouse, is that it confuses the general public. I commercially publish books, and 90% of the time I use POD printing because it makes the most sense for me. Yet, I have had some resellers say, “Oh, we won’t sell POD books!” I have to work very hard to educate them that POD does not mean subsidy-published, but rather digitally printed when the book is required.
There’s nothing wrong with self-publishing or subsidy-publishing a book, but when the wrong terms are used, it creates problems for many people.
Please don’t perpetuate this incorrect use of the term POD. Too many ignorant people are using it that way, and it just muddies the waters.
I second Tony’s concern over confusion surrounding the terminology. Digital print-on-demand (POD) printing is indeed used by publishers of all types and sizes.
The companies described above are often called “POD companies” or “self-publishing companies.” I often use the term “subsidy publisher” to clarify that authors are paying the company to publish their book, but none of these terms are quite accurate.
One of the most valuable functions these companies provide is getting books into the book distribution chain (Ingram, Amazon, etc.). You can do that yourself by independently publishing your book and printing it through digital printer Lightning Source. I recently wrote this article explaining the advantages of using POD printing and working through Lightning Source: http://bit.ly/aj1Hp1
Some of these companies offer “marketing packages” which may include items like a press release, bookmarks and postcards. It’s not realistic to expect these companies to promote your book for you and just being on Amazon probably won’t sell many books. Book promotion is the author’s responsibility and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I recommend that authors learn as much as they can about the publishing business and book marketing so they can make informed decisions about how to best publish and promote their books.
Dana Lynn Smith
The Savvy Book Marketer