Printing on demand (POD) has driven an independent publishing boom, as it has made printing and distributing a professionally produced book into readers’ hands much more attainable for the everyday writer. It has democratized publishing in a way perhaps the internet did for writing in general, allowing everyday people to be able to get a book out to the masses without needing a publishing contract or a huge lump sum of money for printing and distribution.
Your book might be a good fit for print on demand if:
Your book is black and white (grayscale) in the interior.
While print on demand does have the capability to print color, the consistency and quality of the color is significantly less than on a professional offset press. The cost is also signifincantly more. I have had clients print full color cookbooks on Amazon KDP, Ingram Spark, or other POD websites, but the cost of printing can be 3 to 6 times more than printing offset in the USA or China.
Your book doesn’t require any special papers, finishing techniques or spot/Pantone colors.
POD printing is great for trade paperback and hardback type books that are standard sizes, generally bound on the left or right side, use glue binding, printed on standard paper, etc. If you are wanting coil bound or gold foil on the cover or rounded corners or thick paper, you’ll have to look somewhere else (although POD companies are starting to offer more paper options!) If you need the color of your cover to be a Pantone, neon or spot color that matches your specifications perfectly, POD is not for you because it uses CMYK color. POD is for mass market use but not really for custom books.
Your book is not a journal.
I don’t recommend using POD printing for journal products because the paper and binding of a POD book is not strong and thick enough for the heavy wear and tear most journal users apply to their book. I design journals regularly but they are usually printed in Asia. I have a whole section about journals on my articles page.
You are willing to lose a little bit of quality control for a lot of convenience.
There are some things about printing a one-off book that are out of your control. Your book might look a little different when it is printed and shipped on October 7 in Mumbai than on October 8 in Munich. Color shifts, spines that are slightly off center, and sometimes the occasional worse faux pas can happen with one-off book orders. There are not 1,000 perfectly printed and matching books somewhere that you have checked and approved for distribution. POD adds the possibility of a bit of error with each printing. But someone just ordered your print book from Munich or Mumbai and got it within a couple of days—how cool is that?
You are a bit tech savvy (or have a friend who is).
Uploading your book to Amazon KDP or a similar website, troubleshooting any issues that come up, etc. can be tough if you are technologically challenged. I refer my clients to someone who can deal with a lot of the technical issues, but you need some basic computer and internet skills to keep up with your own book launch.
You are OK with paying more per unit for the convenience of not having to pay for a full print run up front.
Printing on demand has a higher cost per unit compared to traditional printing, especially for large print runs. POD printing is ideal for smaller print runs (1 or more) but can easily cost 5x or more what it would cost if you printed a bulk run of your books with an offset printer. If investing in offset printing is not a problem for you, you can save a lot of money in the long run, if you have buyers for your books.
If you have read all of these items and still think your book is a good fit for POD printing, congratulations! It really is a wonderful option for self-publishers.
And if print on demand is not a good option for your kind of book, you’re still in the right place. I cut my book design teeth at an offset book printer and am familiar with that method of printing books as well. It’s still going strong for colorful books, custom books, journals, or books being printed in a big quantity. You might want to start here, to find out what a book printer needs to know price your book printing project.
Let’s talk about your book design: fill out this form for book design projects and this form for journal design projects.