Print On Demand (POD) Lessons Learned
By: James E. F. Riley, Sr.
You wrote a book, a ‘brilliant’ work of art that is
all things to all people and amazingly, no publisher
will handle your book. You try to follow their
directions and get an agent, but amazingly again, you
find no agent will handle your work. After-all,
especially if your write fiction, you’re not famous,
well known and you can’t guarantee sales of any
substantial numbers.
Your manuscript sits on a counter, shelf or in your
computer literally of figuratively gathering dust and
on the Sunday news program this week…you watch a
commercial for something called ‘Print On Demand
(POD). It sparks an interest, but the commercial is a
brief thirty (30) seconds and only talks about the
concept where ‘everyone’ can get their book published,
it’s not for a specific publisher or printer, so maybe
you even forget about it.
I saw that commercial, students listening to a snobby
professor telling them how they all deserve to be
published, but it’s not likely because the costs for
publishers are too high! A student tells the
professor, class (and T.V. audience) about POD and
spoke directly to me about how now everyone really can
get ‘published!’ I was struck by the claim, but I
watched countless other ads before turning to my
computer and researching on my own.
I found a couple of companies that offered this
technology, many of their claims seemed a little
ingenuous at best with offers that ‘allow’ the author
POD services, after you buy several thousand dollar
packages. I found another local author with a bedroom
full of boxes of books. He told me he bought a POD
package, but that he had to buy all these books. I
have four children, several thousand dollars for a POD
package was simply not affordable.
Then one night, I found a company where you didn’t
have to buy hundreds, or dozens or any of your own
books. Yes, there were packages, like the one I did
buy, including an ISBN and placement with Amazon.com
and BarnesandNoble.com. But again, no books, no
hidden fees, it fit my small and limited budget.
If your work is already in Word format, the process
isn’t too hard. You sign up, upload your file, which
is converted into an Adobe PDF format, upload what you
want your cover to look like and – walla – you have a
PDF version of your book. With ‘Daydreams &
Nightmares,’ my collection of poems and dark, short
stories, it took a little work to get everything on
the right page with stories starting on their own
pages…but it worked!
I was a little surprised, as I went through the
process, re-checking my poems and stories at all the
mistakes, typos and problems I found (and later
realized that I didn’t find). So editing is extremely
important. This was a lesson learned, a very
important lesson!
Then there’s the marketing. I tried e-mails and group
notices on the Internet and found that it works, but
not enough to make a living off of. A book sold here,
another there…and pretty much every month I’d make a
sale or two then ten (yippee!). But it’s not what you
hope for, so I tried fliers at libraries, at literary
events (book sales) and around bookshops. Again, not
enough to make any kind of a living from it, but it
was a start.
I researched book signings, maybe the only way to get
your POD book into stores. But the thought of asking
a manager about setting-up a signing was a little
intimidating. I paused, I waited, I started to go up
to several desks and then, I wrote a letter to a local
bookshop manager. He didn’t respond.
Earlier this month, I found myself in the mall to buy
school clothes for my children. There is a bookshop
in the mall, part of a national chain and I pushed
myself to ask the manager about setting up a book
signing. ‘I can’t buy the books from you’; he
asserted: ‘It has to be available through our
distributor.’ ‘I think it is’; I told him (according
to what I was told by my POD publisher, Lulu.com). He
typed the title and my name into the database and in
less than a minute, he said: ‘Yep, we do have it…when
is good for you?’ ‘Would the nineteenth (19th) be
good?’ ‘About noon until four?’ I said yes.
I wandered back to my wife and children in a little
bit of a daze. ‘I have a book signing’; I told them.
In my head, I was still trying to
grasp the concept that my little book was now going to
be available at Walden Books! Back to the marketing
with e-mails to local people interested in poetry and
short stories, fliers (the store stuffed them into
customer bags now) and two local papers printed little
blurbs, but the biggest surprise was a local NBC
affiliate actually asking me to come for an interview
about my book and book signing.
Then…another lesson was learned. The books didn’t
show up on time. You have to check (and I did) and be
flexible. The bookshop people were more than kind and
apologetic and asked if I could come back on the
following week. The books arrived on Monday and I met
up with C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp, USA Today best
selling authors of Captive Moon. They said that this
has happened to them, sometimes the bookstores even
ordered the wrong book by the wrong author and Cathy
asked if she could do a signing the following week
with me.
The second signing date came and everything went
perfectly! Using a tri-fold for a display seemed to
attract a lot of attention to ‘Daydreams &
Nightmares.’ Again though, I learned something…about
the people interested in picking-up a copy. Talking
with Cathy was a valuable experience in itself. She
told me about her own marketing efforts, even though
her books are with a traditional publisher. She
advised me on trade shows and conventions in the area.
Also, this past couple of weeks found one of my short
stories, ‘Death’ featured in a play at the Edmonton
Theatre Fringe Festival performed by the Roguespeare
Players. Most of the play, ‘Tales of Death’ was
written by Don Nigro, the most published playwright in
America. The fringe festival brings an estimated
500,000 people a year into Alberta and is considered
the largest event of its kind in America. Part of our
agreement was that they would include my name in all
their advertising. Another great break!
My point? This is a wonderful learning experience and
maybe POD publishing isn’t for people looking for that
pie-in-the-sky free ride where getting your book out
is effortless. Yet if you are willing to work hard
and learn about the whole process of making your book
successful, POD can be a terrific way to go!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
James E. F. Riley, Sr. is a writer and his book,
‘Daydreams & Nightmares’ (ISBN: 1-4116-7924-5) is
available at http://www.lulu.com/content/210331,
www.Amazon.com, www.BarnesandNoble.com and through
most bookshops. He is currently working on publishing
two novels, ‘Frightened Whispers’ and ‘Miles the
Bolde.’
By: James E. F. Riley, Sr.
You wrote a book, a ‘brilliant’ work of art that is
all things to all people and amazingly, no publisher
will handle your book. You try to follow their
directions and get an agent, but amazingly again, you
find no agent will handle your work. After-all,
especially if your write fiction, you’re not famous,
well known and you can’t guarantee sales of any
substantial numbers.
Your manuscript sits on a counter, shelf or in your
computer literally of figuratively gathering dust and
on the Sunday news program this week…you watch a
commercial for something called ‘Print On Demand
(POD). It sparks an interest, but the commercial is a
brief thirty (30) seconds and only talks about the
concept where ‘everyone’ can get their book published,
it’s not for a specific publisher or printer, so maybe
you even forget about it.
I saw that commercial, students listening to a snobby
professor telling them how they all deserve to be
published, but it’s not likely because the costs for
publishers are too high! A student tells the
professor, class (and T.V. audience) about POD and
spoke directly to me about how now everyone really can
get ‘published!’ I was struck by the claim, but I
watched countless other ads before turning to my
computer and researching on my own.
I found a couple of companies that offered this
technology, many of their claims seemed a little
ingenuous at best with offers that ‘allow’ the author
POD services, after you buy several thousand dollar
packages. I found another local author with a bedroom
full of boxes of books. He told me he bought a POD
package, but that he had to buy all these books. I
have four children, several thousand dollars for a POD
package was simply not affordable.
Then one night, I found a company where you didn’t
have to buy hundreds, or dozens or any of your own
books. Yes, there were packages, like the one I did
buy, including an ISBN and placement with Amazon.com
and BarnesandNoble.com. But again, no books, no
hidden fees, it fit my small and limited budget.
If your work is already in Word format, the process
isn’t too hard. You sign up, upload your file, which
is converted into an Adobe PDF format, upload what you
want your cover to look like and – walla – you have a
PDF version of your book. With ‘Daydreams &
Nightmares,’ my collection of poems and dark, short
stories, it took a little work to get everything on
the right page with stories starting on their own
pages…but it worked!
I was a little surprised, as I went through the
process, re-checking my poems and stories at all the
mistakes, typos and problems I found (and later
realized that I didn’t find). So editing is extremely
important. This was a lesson learned, a very
important lesson!
Then there’s the marketing. I tried e-mails and group
notices on the Internet and found that it works, but
not enough to make a living off of. A book sold here,
another there…and pretty much every month I’d make a
sale or two then ten (yippee!). But it’s not what you
hope for, so I tried fliers at libraries, at literary
events (book sales) and around bookshops. Again, not
enough to make any kind of a living from it, but it
was a start.
I researched book signings, maybe the only way to get
your POD book into stores. But the thought of asking
a manager about setting-up a signing was a little
intimidating. I paused, I waited, I started to go up
to several desks and then, I wrote a letter to a local
bookshop manager. He didn’t respond.
Earlier this month, I found myself in the mall to buy
school clothes for my children. There is a bookshop
in the mall, part of a national chain and I pushed
myself to ask the manager about setting up a book
signing. ‘I can’t buy the books from you’; he
asserted: ‘It has to be available through our
distributor.’ ‘I think it is’; I told him (according
to what I was told by my POD publisher, Lulu.com). He
typed the title and my name into the database and in
less than a minute, he said: ‘Yep, we do have it…when
is good for you?’ ‘Would the nineteenth (19th) be
good?’ ‘About noon until four?’ I said yes.
I wandered back to my wife and children in a little
bit of a daze. ‘I have a book signing’; I told them.
In my head, I was still trying to
grasp the concept that my little book was now going to
be available at Walden Books! Back to the marketing
with e-mails to local people interested in poetry and
short stories, fliers (the store stuffed them into
customer bags now) and two local papers printed little
blurbs, but the biggest surprise was a local NBC
affiliate actually asking me to come for an interview
about my book and book signing.
Then…another lesson was learned. The books didn’t
show up on time. You have to check (and I did) and be
flexible. The bookshop people were more than kind and
apologetic and asked if I could come back on the
following week. The books arrived on Monday and I met
up with C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp, USA Today best
selling authors of Captive Moon. They said that this
has happened to them, sometimes the bookstores even
ordered the wrong book by the wrong author and Cathy
asked if she could do a signing the following week
with me.
The second signing date came and everything went
perfectly! Using a tri-fold for a display seemed to
attract a lot of attention to ‘Daydreams &
Nightmares.’ Again though, I learned something…about
the people interested in picking-up a copy. Talking
with Cathy was a valuable experience in itself. She
told me about her own marketing efforts, even though
her books are with a traditional publisher. She
advised me on trade shows and conventions in the area.
Also, this past couple of weeks found one of my short
stories, ‘Death’ featured in a play at the Edmonton
Theatre Fringe Festival performed by the Roguespeare
Players. Most of the play, ‘Tales of Death’ was
written by Don Nigro, the most published playwright in
America. The fringe festival brings an estimated
500,000 people a year into Alberta and is considered
the largest event of its kind in America. Part of our
agreement was that they would include my name in all
their advertising. Another great break!
My point? This is a wonderful learning experience and
maybe POD publishing isn’t for people looking for that
pie-in-the-sky free ride where getting your book out
is effortless. Yet if you are willing to work hard
and learn about the whole process of making your book
successful, POD can be a terrific way to go!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
James E. F. Riley, Sr. is a writer and his book,
‘Daydreams & Nightmares’ (ISBN: 1-4116-7924-5) is
available at http://www.lulu.com/content/210331,
www.Amazon.com, www.BarnesandNoble.com and through
most bookshops. He is currently working on publishing
two novels, ‘Frightened Whispers’ and ‘Miles the
Bolde.’
Aspiring Writers Christmas Edition 2006
Disclaimer for Aspiring Writers
Magazine. Aspiring Writers Magazine
has no affiliation with LULU (TM).
This article is published for your
information only.
Magazine. Aspiring Writers Magazine
has no affiliation with LULU (TM).
This article is published for your
information only.
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