If you’re new to book publishing, you’ve no doubt heard and read about the POD printing process which is commonly used in today’s industry. However, many first-time authors don’t fully understand what POD is, what POD stands for, and why the POD process is, well, so common.
Actually, it quite simply. The letters P-O-D stand for the phrase “Print On Demand.” This is a printing process born from today’s digital technology, in which books are printed “one at a time” on a computer-operated press. And much like you’re able to print a document on your home PC and print in any quantity you want — ranging from one copy to, oh, let’s say, 200 copies — the POD process allows printing companies to produce books in any number desired. Including one single copy . . . if that’s what is ordered.
The beauty of POD printing is obvious. It’s quick and easy, for starters. Once a printer has the files for a book’s cover and interior pages loaded into its computer system, it’s essentially a matter of that printer hitting a “print” button to produce a book. Next week when three more orders for the book comes in, the files can be uploaded and three more copies can quickly be printed and shipped. And in three months, when the author wants another order of 50 copies, those are printed and shipped right then and there. Simply, the books are printed only when they’re ordered. And in the specific amount requested.
What’s more, the POD process keeps the publisher and the author from having to take on the cost and hassle of keeping a large inventory of unsold books lying around collecting dust in a warehouse or spare bedroom. For a publisher working with many authors, it’s extremely costly to warehouse boxes and boxes of books that may or may not ever be sold. And while authors certainly enjoy having some of their books around the house to show off and give to folks, most writer’s don’t want to have stacks of boxes of their hard work taking up space in their house or garage.
And if you’re wondering about the quality of POD printing, there’s no need to worry. To most people’s eyes, there is virtually no difference that can be detected between a book that been created in a POD process and one that was printed using the industry’s other printing option: offset printing. Today’s digital technology has advanced to the point where printing quality is rarely an issue.
One last benefit from POD printing is that most publishing houses, as we do at Zone Press, can afford to give authors substantial discounts when ordering their books via POD for themselves. So with each sale of a book from their own inventory, the author gets his/her initial investment back while also making a nice profit that usually is more than they’d receive from a royalty.
