Print-on-Demand Book Publishing: A New Approach To Printing And Marketing Books For Publishers And Self-Publishing Authors (Paperback)

by Morris Rosenthal (Author) "A variety of changes in business practices and advances in technology are blurring the line between authoring and publishing..." (more)
Key Phrases: major trade publishers, subsidy presses, subsidy publishers, Lightning Source, Foner Books, Google Adwords (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The basic business model of the book publishing industry remained largely unchanged between the Great Depression and the turn of the Millennium. Print a lot of books, try to get them reviewed so that stores would stock them on consignment, advertise, then hope that they don't come back as returns. Small imprints and self-publishers were reduced to begging distributors to accept their titles at discounts of 60% or more, and were expected to accept returns in any condition and quantity. Print-on-demand book publishing, combined with short-discount distribution and Internet marketing, is turning the publishing business on its head. For the first time, authors are finding that they can launch their own publishing businesses and earn more from their writing than they would with a major trade publisher. Small imprints can invest their scarce resources in acquiring, designing and promoting new titles, rather than gambling on tons of books that cost money to keep in inventory. This book details the new method with which authors and publishers alike can use POD to cut costs and increase profits, while reaching new readers through the magic of Internet marketing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Foner Books; Updated edition (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972380132
• ISBN-13: 978-0972380133
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #87,614 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Book About POD Publishing And A New Publishing Model., May 13, 2004

By	Peter Hupalo (MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Morris Rosenthal wrote "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" to help authors and self-publishers develop a new and more profitable business model of book publishing using Print-On-Demand (POD) book publishing technology.

Rosenthal writes: "Print-On-Demand allows publishers to print commercially competitive books a single copy at a time, a true revolution in the basic publishing model. .... This means there is more opportunity than ever for new authors and publishers to break into the business."

The first section of "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" discusses traditional trade book publishing. Rosenthal gives readers a solid understanding of the economics of modern book publishing and how it works against authors and small publishers.

Rosenthal characterizes trade book publishing by 1) Large, offset press runs of books, which tie up thousands of dollars in inventory and run a substantial risk of leaving authors and publishers with books that don't sell; 2) The need for publishers to give distributors large trade discounts (typically 55% or more of the retail price of the book goes to the distributor) to receive adequate distribution; and 3) the need to accept book returns.

Rosenthal tells us that conventional book publishing is based upon a business model that developed during the great depression and it hasn't changed much since then. To allow bookstores to afford inventory during the depression, publishing became a consignment business. Today, because of POD technology, Rosenthal says authors and small publishers have a better alternative.

"POD does not obey the economics of traditional offset publishing...[,]" writes Rosenthal. Using Ingram's Lightning Source (LS), Rosenthal develops a business model where authors and small publishers can utilize POD printing and fulfillment capabilities to operate a publishing company with little capital investment and essentially no inventory. The cost to get started is only a couple of hundred dollars and full book distribution is achieved. All distribution and drop shipping can be handled by LS in Rosenthal's model.

Because Lightning Source will distribute books on a short discount to Ingram, Amazon, and other booksellers, Rosenthal shows us that the profit per book sold is much higher using his model than if the books were sold through traditional trade publishing.

To demonstrate his model works in practice, Rosenthal discusses one of his own POD titles in depth, showing how it earned $11,000 on 1,600 sales in 2003, even though the retail price of the book was a modest $14.95.

"Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" provides all the information the reader needs to get started using POD, including how to acquire ISBN numbers and copyrights, and how to create files to submit to the POD printer.

A valuable section of the book discusses "Author Basics." In this chapter, Rosenthal shares his experiences as an author working with trade publishers. Topics covered include book contracts, royalties, querying publishers with new manuscripts, and the publication process. Of particular value is Rosenthal's discussion of the book marketing practice which tends to create a limited window of opportunity for a new book to succeed.

Because of the meager royalties authors typically receive from traditional publishers, Rosenthal concludes that authors could often earn as much money going the POD route as getting a traditional publisher to accept their books. In particular, Rosenthal asks: If you can earn ten times as much per book doing it yourself with POD and if ten percent of the traditional sales typically go through amazon.com, what do you need a trade publisher for anyway?

The marketing aspect of Rosenthal's model focuses on the Internet. About a third of "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" is devoted to Internet marketing, creating a website, understanding how to market your book on Amazon, and other Internet-marketing-related topics.

Rosenthal says that the Internet has revolutionized the publishing industry, giving authors and publishers new opportunities to reach huge audiences and market their books.

Rosenthal writes: "The strength of authors and publishers is the written word, and the Internet is the media most ideally adapted to the written word since the invention of the printing press."

As an author and a publisher with over five years of experience with both traditional offset publishing and POD publishing, I can honestly say that for most new publishers or aspiring authors wishing to sell their work that Rosenthal's Print-On-Demand Book Publishing Model is the best method for getting started in the publishing industry today.

I highly recommend "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing" to all authors and publishers.

80 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're an author or plan to become one, do yourself a favor and read this book, December 2, 2005

By	Steve Weber "author and bookseller" (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

I've read most of the available books about self-publishing and can recommend this one wholeheartedly. It begins with the premise that authors must think of their writing as a business. Even before writing, you need to research who the audience for the book will be, and how you will publicize the book to them when it's finished. The author advocates focusing your marketing efforts not on paid advertising, but by building an informative Web site that will provide free advertising.

This book lays this groundwork, then proceeds through the practical steps of how to have your book manufactured, distributed, and publicized. All of the other self-publishing books talk about these things, but this book actually gives you the nuts and bolts of how to go about it.

The author is able to give you these specifics because he has self-published several successful titles himself. He actually shows you the financial results from his previous books and explains why today print-on-demand is the best option for most authors -- instead of going through a subsidy press or even a trade publisher.

I read this book about four months ago when I was in the midst of writing my first self-published book, "The Home-Based Bookstore." The advice helped me immensely; I know I would have made some costly mistakes without it. And I've referred back to this book at least a couple dozen times since then.

When I finished reading "Print on Demand Book Publishing" (the first time), I e-mailed the author with a few additional questions (he prints his e-mail address at the end of the book and invites inquiries). Basically I asked him what type of discount I should apply to my particular book and what my online strategy should be. Later that same day, Mr. Rosenthal graciously responded with a lengthy reply chock full of specific advice. I'm sure I would not have gotten better advice if I had hired a consultant, assuming I could have found one well-versed in this field.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Publishing Model - Perfect for Self-Publishers, June 1, 2006

By	Danny Iny "Author and Entrepreneur, Founder o... (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

POD (Print-On-Demand) has a poor reputation in the book publishing industry, because many of the "POD Publishers" advertising their services on the internet and in writers' magazines are in fact vanity publishers - you pay them in order to publish your work. There is little or no quality control, no editing, and they will publish practically anything - for good reason, this is frowned upon in the publishing industry.

This is a shame, because POD is actually something very different - it's a technology (which the vanity publishing model - along with most other publishing houses these days - uses) that allows you to print copies of a book, one at a time. This is very significant to self-published authors and small publishing houses - it means that you don't have to order a print run of 5000 copies. It makes self-publishing affordable.

Rosenthal explains in detail how the technology works and how to use it. He talks about LightningSource, the POD printing service that he uses, but his information is just as useful with other services (I use Lulu, and I found his book very helpful). He explains in simple, no-nonsense language the steps involved in bringing your work from a manuscript to a fully published book, and he provides good information about marketing, especially using the internet.

Even if you choose to pursue other publishing options, I highly recommend you read this book.

Danny Iny
Self-published author of "Ordinary Miracles - Harness the power of writing and get your point across!" (ISBN 1-4116-7252-6)