Authors who have decided to self-publish and are debating among all the options and competing claims of publish-on-demand companies must navigate a minefield of considerations before making a decision that’s best for their book. The problem with choosing a POD publisher is they appear to offer the same services at near the same cost. So how does one make a decision?
By asking yourself some of the following questions, you can work through this process of becoming an author and set yourself up to achieve your goals. Whether one wants to establish a family legacy with a memoir or achieve commercial and financial success, it’s all in the choosing.
Do I want a book for family and friends, or will I try to make it a commercial success? Whichever of these you want it’s important to understand who owns the electronic file the publisher creates from your manuscript. Most POD contracts from larger companies call for the publisher to own the electronic file. They do this solely to keep a competitive advantage over the author. This might not be a deal-breaker for you, but it’s good to understand up front what it’s going to cost you to purchase the publisher’s electronic file if the need or opportunity arises to move to another company.
If you’re looking for commercial success, you must be prepared to purchase a wider array of ancillary services to reach your niche market. One of the features you’ll need to consider is a full line edit and possibly a content edit. Most POD publishers work with outside editors. Having a book professionally edited is a step above having your friends and family read it and will distinguish your work. The book business is competitive, and readers expect a certain standard of excellence.
Any publisher can write and distribute a press release, place ads and send out review copies to your designated lists, but these are all costs an author will incur. After you’ve compared prices and royalty rates, make sure you compare customer satisfaction. Here is where your due diligence will pay off. Visit some local booksellers, both independents and chains, and ask for the book buyer or customer relations manager. Tell them your plan to publish a book, do local book signings and gauge their reactions to ordering and receiving orders from POD publishers. Even chains have latitude to stock local authors, and will be upfront about the challenges of ordering from POD publishers. You’ll most likely discover that not all POD publishers are the same. Books arrive late, some orders never arrive, some come with errors that should have been caught before shipping, such as pages inverted or folded over, others may be poorly bound. It’s apparent that not all publishers have the same operational expertise. This may factor into the cost considerations when you make a decision.
John DeSimone is a published novelist (Leonardo’s Chair, River Oak Publishing, 2005) and freelance editor based in Southern California. He also is director of the annual Orange County Christian Writers Conference there.
Tags: book, online marketing, publish on demand, royalties, self publish, subsidy publishing