Book News and Events from the NWU's Bay Area Chapter
Print on Demand Publishing
By Bruce Hartford
March, 2007
[This report was written for the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Writers Union with the help of Mickey Ellinger, Randy Lyman, John Rhodes, and Mary Lou Schram.]
“Print on Demand” (POD) is a method of printing a single copy of a book (or a small number of books) at the time they are ordered, rather than the traditional practice of printing a large number of books and storing them until customers buy them. By extension, the term “POD publishing” is being used to denote a publishing business model in which books are printed only as they are ordered and there is no initial print run.
POD publishing is emerging as an alternative to
mainstream and small press publishing. This set of articles describes POD publishing, explains how to publish a book using POD, and examines and compares six of the major POD vendors.
POD Publishing — What It Is
How to Publish a Book Using POD
POD Vendors — Compared & Analyzed
Follow the Money — Examples
Glossary
Some definitions, as used in this discussion:
- Independent Press — An established small press that has been in business for some years, publishes at least 6 titles per year from multiple authors, and is to some degree known, respected, and trusted by bookstores and the public.
- Mainstream publisher
1. Noun. A large publishing corporation grossing at least $50,000,000 per year whose offerings encompass a wide range of genres and subjects and whose titles are almost always ordered by
bookstores as a matter of routine.
2. Adjective. Any publisher generally considered by writers, booksellers, the publishing industry, and the general public to be “mainstream.”
- Online bookstore — Any website at which a customer can buy a book. The best known online bookstores are
Amazon.Com, Barnes & Noble, and Powells Books.
- POD (Print on Demand) — A method of printing a single copy of a book (or a small number of books) at the time they are ordered. By extension, a method of publishing/selling books.
- POD Printer — A POD vendor that prints and ships books for publishers and self-published authors. See Choosing a POD Vendor and POD Printers for more information.
- POD Publisher — A POD vendor that acts as a publisher and pays royalties on copies sold. See Choosing a POD Vendor and
POD Publishers for more information.
- POD Vendor — A company that provides POD services to writers. There are two different kinds of POD vendor — POD Printers and POD Publishers (see above).
- Profit — The money that is left from a book sale after the bookseller’s share is deducted from what the customer paid, and printing/shipping expenses are covered. In POD
publishing, authors (hopefully) earn either a profit or a royalty.
- Royalty — A fixed percentage of what a customer pays for a book that goes to the author. In POD publishing, authors (hopefully) earn either a profit or a royalty.
- Self-published — A publishing model in which the author pays for printing, arranges for distribution, and promotes the work. POD
Publishing and author-owned small presses (using either traditional printing or POD Printing) are two forms of self-publishing.
- Small press — Any publishing business that is not generally considered to be a mainstream publisher. Small presses come in a wide range sizes — from eccentric Aunt Morgana whose mimeographed poems are composed entirely of vowels, to widely known and respected independent presses.
- Vanity press
1. Noun. As a noun, “vanity press” originally meant any publisher or press who printed books at the author’s expense. By that definition, POD is a form of vanity publishing.
2. Adjective. As an adjective, it’s a derogatory term for any self-publishing author (or self-published work) that the speaker holds in contempt.
Because POD is emerging as a respectable (or, at least, semi-respectable) and somewhat economically viable method of publishing, use of “vanity press” as a noun is falling into disuse, though it continues to be used as a derogatory adjective.
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(Labor donated)
|November 3, 2006| Margot Pepper, author of Through the Wall: a Year in Havana; and Clif Ross, back from a year in Venezuela and much of the rest of Latin America. Neibyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph (just north of Alcatraz), Oakland Questions: Larry at 510-654-8635
Richard Bermack: The Front Lines of Social Change: Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, published by Heyday Books, available at Cody’s and other Independent bookstores. Inspiring stories for dark times. www.rb68.com/frontlines for more information and events
Cesar Love: Song of the Loon, the classic 60s Gay novel written by Richard Amory and first published in 1966, is back in print. The new edition includes an historical introduction by Michael Bronski, a biography of the author written by Cesar Love, interviews with the author, ads from the movie adaptation, and other historical pieces.
Back in 1966, the author signed a rotten contract. But his son Cesar Love, who received advice from an NWU contract advisor, signed a good contract with Arsenal Pulp Press of Vancouver.
Randy Lyman: Garage Sale Gourmet, www.garagesalegourmet.com
Michael Parenti’s book, The Assassination of Julius Caesar (New Press) is now out in paperback. It won the “Book of the Year Award, 2004″ (nonfiction) from the Online Review of Books. Also recently published is his Superpatriotism (City Lights).
Margot Pepper: Bay Area July and August readings from Through the Wall: A Year in Havana, Margot Pepper’s memoir of a year in post-cold war Cuba. More information at www.freedomvoices.org.
Tuesday, July 19 7pm, City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, 415.362.819, www.citylights.com
Thursday, July 21 7:30pm, Barnes & Noble Bookseller - Jack London Square, 98 Broadway Street, Oakland, 510.272.0120 | www.barnesandnoble.com
Saturday, July 23 12-3pm, La Raza Galeria Posada, 1421 R Street, Sacramento
916.446.5133 | www.galeriaposada.org
Tuesday, July 26 7:30pm, Intersection Literary Series presents Independent Press Spotlight: Freedom Voices Press & AK Press, $5-$15 sliding scale suggested donation
Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St. (btwn 15/16), San Francisco, (415) 626-2787 | www.theintersection.org
Thurs. Aug 11 7:30pm, Galeria de La Raza and El Tecolote presents, In conjunction with Galeria & Tecolote’s 35th Anniversary, Galeria de la Raza, 2857 24th St. @Bryant St. San Francisco, 415.826.8009 | www.galeriadelaraza.org
Jack Rasmus: THE WAR AT HOME: The Corporate Offensive From Reagan to Bush is a 532 pp. account of corporate and government policies since 1980 attacking American middle and working class incomes, wages, jobs, pensions, taxes, and social security, with analyses of the dual crises of the AFL-CIO and Democratic Party. Only $19.95. Order information at www.kyklosproductions.com.
Vanessa Tait: Poor Workers’ Unions: Rebuilding Labor From Below (Cambridge: South End Press, 2005). More info at http://www.southendpress.org/books/PWU.shtml.
Tim Wohlforth: My noir mystery-suspense novel NO TIME TO MOURN. was published by Quiet Storm in 2004. I had a successful reading at Book Passage and the book is available in local bookstores. The protagonist is a private eye who lives on a boat at Jack London Square. More recently I have had a short story accepted for inclusion in a Mystery Writers of America anthology edited by Harlan Coben - Relationships Can Be Murder. The book will be published by a major publisher. The collection includes stories by Laura Lippman, Lee Child and other best selling authors. I have been chosen for another anthology, the best of the Plots With Guns mystery site. This collection is being published by Dennis McMillan as a special collectors edition.
Richard Bermack: The Front Lines of Social Change: Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, published by Heyday Books, available at Cody’s and other Independent bookstores. Inspiring stories for dark times. www.rb68.com/frontlines for more information and events
Cesar Love: Song of the Loon, the classic 60s Gay novel written by Richard Amory and first published in 1966, is back in print. The new edition includes an historical introduction by Michael Bronski, a biography of the author written by Cesar Love, interviews with the author, ads from the movie adaptation, and other historical pieces.
Back in 1966, the author signed a rotten contract. But his son Cesar Love, who received advice from an NWU contract advisor, signed a good contract with Arsenal Pulp Press of Vancouver.
Randy Lyman: Garage Sale Gourmet, www.garagesalegourmet.com
Michael Parenti’s book, The Assassination of Julius Caesar (New Press) is now out in paperback. It won the “Book of the Year Award, 2004″ (nonfiction) from the Online Review of Books. Also recently published is his Superpatriotism (City Lights).
Margot Pepper: Bay Area July and August readings from Through the Wall: A Year in Havana, Margot Pepper’s memoir of a year in post-cold war Cuba. More information at www.freedomvoices.org.
Tuesday, July 19 7pm, City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, 415.362.819, www.citylights.com
Thursday, July 21 7:30pm, Barnes & Noble Bookseller - Jack London Square, 98 Broadway Street, Oakland, 510.272.0120 | www.barnesandnoble.com
Saturday, July 23 12-3pm, La Raza Galeria Posada, 1421 R Street, Sacramento
916.446.5133 | www.galeriaposada.org
Tuesday, July 26 7:30pm, Intersection Literary Series presents Independent Press Spotlight: Freedom Voices Press & AK Press, $5-$15 sliding scale suggested donation
Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St. (btwn 15/16), San Francisco, (415) 626-2787 | www.theintersection.org
Thurs. Aug 11 7:30pm, Galeria de La Raza and El Tecolote presents, In conjunction with Galeria & Tecolote’s 35th Anniversary, Galeria de la Raza, 2857 24th St. @Bryant St. San Francisco, 415.826.8009 | www.galeriadelaraza.org
Jack Rasmus: THE WAR AT HOME: The Corporate Offensive From Reagan to Bush is a 532 pp. account of corporate and government policies since 1980 attacking American middle and working class incomes, wages, jobs, pensions, taxes, and social security, with analyses of the dual crises of the AFL-CIO and Democratic Party. Only $19.95. Order information at www.kyklosproductions.com.
Vanessa Tait: Poor Workers’ Unions: Rebuilding Labor From Below (Cambridge: South End Press, 2005). More info at http://www.southendpress.org/books/PWU.shtml.
Tim Wohlforth: My noir mystery-suspense novel NO TIME TO MOURN. was published by Quiet Storm in 2004. I had a successful reading at Book Passage and the book is available in local bookstores. The protagonist is a private eye who lives on a boat at Jack London Square. More recently I have had a short story accepted for inclusion in a Mystery Writers of America anthology edited by Harlan Coben - Relationships Can Be Murder. The book will be published by a major publisher. The collection includes stories by Laura Lippman, Lee Child and other best selling authors. I have been chosen for another anthology, the best of the Plots With Guns mystery site. This collection is being published by Dennis McMillan as a special collectors edition.
New books by members Richard Bermack; Cesar Love; Randy Lyman; Michael Parenti; Margot Pepper; Jack Rasmus; Vanessa Tait; and Tim Wohlforth
Notes and Documents of Free Persons of Color by Anita Wills, 292 pages, chronicles the lives of Free Persons of Color in colonial Virginia. see post for more info and purchase links.
April 20, 2005 | Writers Union members will discuss non-traditional publishing options - self-publishing, print on demand, co-op publishing, based on their experience. Bring your experience and questions, Wednesday, April 20, 609 Aileen, Oakland.
February 18th – 20th, 2005 | If you have a passion for writing, the San Francisco Writers Conference can help you develop your talent and begin a serious career as a writer. Last year’s event was a sell-out, this year promises to be just as exciting.
The City of Oakland in 2004 imposes tax on writers and other creative workers. Chapter 3 of the NWU discusses options with members and groups in Oakland. Other cities may be affected. Look for email survey forthcoming from the union.
December 2, 2004 | When it comes to gardening or carpentry, holding to traditional practices may be endearing. But for writers, there is no attraction to living in the past. Sponsored by Copyright Clearance Center.
When it comes to gardening or carpentry, holding to traditional practices may be endearing. But for writers, there is no attraction to living in the past. On Thursday, Dec 2, a special writing and publishing conference at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf means business for forward-thinking journalists, authors, and academics.
November 9, 2004 | Share your love of literature and launch your holiday shopping at the Women’s National Book Association 2004 Author Showcase.
The City of Oakland has a new regressive tax that applies to anyone who claims a home office deduction on their state tax forms—it does not matter whether you make any profit whatsoever. Oakland wants you to pay for a city business license.
Sept. 4, 2004 | A six person panel, comprised of writers and publishers, on what to do and to expect when self-publishing your book will be held at the EXPO.
A newly revised and updated NWU Agents Database has just been posted on the NWU Web site.
August 7, 2004 | Local chapter 3 of the Writers Union will be sponsoring a joint workshop on copyright with the Independent Press Association (IPA) of San Francisco on August 7, 2004.
June 5, 2004 | Michael Parenti and David Bacon will discuss their “Experiences in Book Publishing” on June 5 at 7 PM at 62 Richardson Road, Kensington.
Fourteen experts in self-publishing talk about the state of the industry, the opportunities for self-publishing, how to write and publish your books, and how to distribute online.
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