Print Your Own Book? A Look at Print on Demand



Posted: Monday, November 09, 2009

by John Harricharan
Authors University

For small book sellers, authors, companies looking to cut down on back stock, or sellers who want to offer options when it comes to out of print or out of stock books, print on demand can be an excellent resource. In many ways, print on demand technology has revolutionized the way in which the publishing industry operates. If you have plans to print your own book, here are a few things to think about.

Consider what happens among books sellers with traditional printing options. Most publishers have a minimum order requirement with any particular printing, which of course makes printing more cost effective. However, what happens when those books get to the sellers? They end up as back stock, taking up valuable space. And then, if they do not sell well enough in that particular market they end up as bargain books and wind up being a lost investment.

With print on demand, you as an author will be able to much more effectively manage risk by printing smaller quantities of books as they are required. This is a much more beneficial arrangement especially if you're a beginning author who must fund the cost of printing out of pocket. It allows you to get started on a reasonable budget, begin to generate book sales, and then scale up keeping pace with demand.

One of the advances in technology that has made print on demand possible is the availability of compact print machines, such as the Espresso book printing machine from Lightning Source. Such machines, stationed within a book store, offer the opportunity to booksellers to print books on demand from a catalog. These machines are small enough to fit in an office and allow you to print your own book in less than two minutes and in a wide range of sizes. The machine handles everything from printing, to binding to trimming. It can even print the cover and provide you with excellent library quality paperbacks. The catalog provided by Lightning Source and the Espresso Book Machine offer instant access to hundreds of titles.

From the perspective of an author, the development of POD machines is fantastic because it means that you have the potential for wide and even global distribution without having to print hundreds of thousands of copies. Frankly, this will likely change the landscape of the publishing business forever.

Print on demand can be a great way to publish small quantities of your book at a time, and can even handle your needs as your book sales and distribution require that higher quantities be printed. POD providers like Lightning Source can also ship to any location and require less turnaround time than standard publishers. Print on demand can be a great way to publish your books, obtain professional quality books for your business, or simply ensure that you never run out of copies when you need them most.

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John Harricharan is an International Best-Selling Author with nearly 40 years of experience in book publishing.

John's latest creation, Authors University, teaches current and aspiring authors the latest methods for writing, publishing, and marketing their books to best-seller status. If you're looking for more information on how to print your own book, download his free "Get Published Blueprint" at AuthorsUniversity.com.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Michael N. Marcus from Connecticut 2 years 177 days ago.
John said, "One of the advances in technology that has made print on demand possible is the availability of compact print machines, such as the Espresso book printing machine from Lightning Source."
 
Print-on-demand has been around MUCH longer than the Espresso, and generally uses huge digital print machines such as the Xerox DocuTech.
 
The compact Espresso is definitely NOT from Lightning Source. The Espresso was developed by and is marketed by On Demand Books.
 
Lightning Source is the dominant Print-On-Demand printer, and is making some of its customers' books available for printing on Espressos.
 
Michael N. Marcus

» left by John Harricharan 2 years 176 days ago.
6 fans.
Michael,
 
Yes, print on demand has definitely been around much long than the Espresso machine. My main point in mentioning the Espresso was that it offers a form of distribution that has not been available up until now. As book sellers adopt this or similar forms of technology on location, it allows your book to be printed right on site, and this IS something very new to publishing.

I misstated what I really meant in the article above, and I appreciate you pointing that out. Juggling too many balls at once! ;)
 
Thanks much for your comments and insight.
 
John
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