Print on demand gets bad rap, Lightning Source chief says
Although print-on-demand is shaping up as perhaps the best printing model for self-publishing, POD has a stigma because the term is being hijacked by vanity and subsidy publishers.
POD is a publishing method, not a publishing or distribution method, says Ron Pramschufer of RJ Communications. With the POD model, books can be printed in small quantities to exactly match demand. This could enable self-publishers to serve the market efficiently with niche books, and at the same time bigger publishers could avoid having to declare their older books "out of print" after initial sales slack off.
“Anyone can print one at a time, the question is, can you scale it, can you do it efficiently,” said J. Kirby Best, president and chief executive of Lightning Source, the POD unit of Ingram, the book wholesaler. “The bottom line is, can you make money on it.” He was interviewed recently on Pramschufer’s online radio program Publishing Basics Radio and the full interview is available here.
With POD, only an electronic file needs to be maintained until another order for the book is received. Publishers can eliminate costs of warehousing and tying up cash in physical inventory.
POD's downside is that per-book printing costs are higher than for books printed in larger quantities on offset presses. So POD books generally aren’t returnable and bookstores resist stocking them. There’s also a misperception among some retailers that POD books aren’t top quality. But Best notes that POD paper, bindings and covers are equal to offset books. The only difference is that the text resolution is slightly lower wiht POD books, but you need a magnifying glass to tell the difference, he said.
Because bookstore chains won't carry them, Amazon.com has been a big sales outlet for POD books. Earlier this year Amazon.com acquired its own POD company, BookSurge. There has been some speculation that in the future, Amazon may lean on small publishers to use BookSurge in order to have copies listed for sale on Amazon.
New in paperback: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site (by Steve Weber)
POD is a publishing method, not a publishing or distribution method, says Ron Pramschufer of RJ Communications. With the POD model, books can be printed in small quantities to exactly match demand. This could enable self-publishers to serve the market efficiently with niche books, and at the same time bigger publishers could avoid having to declare their older books "out of print" after initial sales slack off.
“Anyone can print one at a time, the question is, can you scale it, can you do it efficiently,” said J. Kirby Best, president and chief executive of Lightning Source, the POD unit of Ingram, the book wholesaler. “The bottom line is, can you make money on it.” He was interviewed recently on Pramschufer’s online radio program Publishing Basics Radio and the full interview is available here.
With POD, only an electronic file needs to be maintained until another order for the book is received. Publishers can eliminate costs of warehousing and tying up cash in physical inventory.
POD's downside is that per-book printing costs are higher than for books printed in larger quantities on offset presses. So POD books generally aren’t returnable and bookstores resist stocking them. There’s also a misperception among some retailers that POD books aren’t top quality. But Best notes that POD paper, bindings and covers are equal to offset books. The only difference is that the text resolution is slightly lower wiht POD books, but you need a magnifying glass to tell the difference, he said.
Because bookstore chains won't carry them, Amazon.com has been a big sales outlet for POD books. Earlier this year Amazon.com acquired its own POD company, BookSurge. There has been some speculation that in the future, Amazon may lean on small publishers to use BookSurge in order to have copies listed for sale on Amazon.
New in paperback: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site (by Steve Weber)
posted by Steve Weber at 9/13/2005
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