Print On Demand

Recently, Indie Authors Scotland ran a survey to establish what people think about self-publishing. As part of the survey, the respondents were given the opportunity to ask questions of Kim and I. For the next few weeks I am going to respond to those questions through my blog. This week’s question is “How do I find an easy way to have books printed and distributed on a demand basis?”

Digital print on demand has revolutionised what is possible with self-published books. Low cost, short print runs now make it easy for anyone to produce high-quality books that don’t cost a fortune and don’t require you to buy and store a huge number of books.

There are a couple of simple routes to producing your own printed books. I printed my first three novels using an online company called CompletelyNovel.com. You can sign up with a monthly fee, and depending on the deal you opt for, you can have a certain number of titles produced with no setup fee. They also offer publishing services like typesetting for a reasonable extra cost. There are limitations, as there are only two sizes available and you are restricted with regards to choice of cover finish. It is a simple process, the folks at Completely Novel are very helpful and there is also a community of readers and writers associated with the site.

Amazon is now offering a similar service in the form of Createspace.com. There is a greater choice of sizes and cover finishes available and there are no set-up costs. It is a comprehensive service but there is a problem; as it is currently an American-based site, if you are an author in the U.K. you will have to pay shipping costs from the U.S. that will push up your expenditure on every book. It’s a great service and hopefully it will be offered in the U.K. before too long.

My route to print is now through Lightning Source. It offers a vast range of sizes, covers, papers and print styles that you can combine to produce the kind of book you want. There is an initial set up fee for each title, but it's reasonable at under fifty pounds. A 300-page standard paperback will cost you about £4 per copy to produce, leaving you a decent margin to sell the books directly to readers and make a good profit. I have been very impressed by the service and the quality of the finished product from Lightning Source.

The best advice I can give is for you to explore the websites in more detail and find the service that is best for you. As I do all of the technical work myself, Lighting Source offers me the service I need, but if you don’t have the technical know-how, you may find that one of the others are more appropriate. This area is developing at an incredible rate and I will do my best to keep you informed. 

We cover print-on-demand books in great detail in the Indie Authors Scotland Bookcamp training course.