Are POD Publishers Doing Authors Any Favors?
by Patricia Fry
The ballots are starting to come in with regard to POD Publishers. This new wave of publishing is rather impressive as far as their production numbers. Unfortunately for their authors, these companies aren't scoring very high when it comes to sales. Word is out that Xlibris, for example, has published a total of nearly 10,300 titles. But 85 percent of those titles have sold fewer than 200 copies. The average sale per title is a mere 130 copies.
Most POD Publishers offer book promotion services—some for an additional fee. Mainly, this consists of getting the book set up with Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com—something that you could do for free. They also make the book available to anyone who wants it via their Web site. But are they doing anything to lead people to their Web sites? I understand that some POD Pubs subscribe to a press release service on behalf of their authors. But even that isn't generating many sales. Besides, the press release service is one that you could hire for less.
Before going on, let me point out the difference between a POD Publisher and a POD printer. A POD Publisher will act as your publisher for your project for a fee. A POD printer is hired to print your book only. I use POD printers to produce my own books through my publishing company, Matilija Press. A POD printer simply prints the book to your standards. A POD publisher provides all of the services related to publishing a book.
I don't recommend POD Publisher such as Xlibris, AuthorHouse (formerly 1st Books) or iUniverse to first-time authors who haven't taken the time to understand something about the industry. Most of these hopeful authors don't know the scope of their responsibility to their project once it is published. Most new authors enter into an agreement with a POD publisher with unrealistic expectations and little knowledge. Most of these authors are deeply disappointed with the results of their contract with a POD publisher. I strongly discourage people from using a POD publisher unless they are savvy to their responsibilities to their project. Why?
1: This seems to be a rather expensive way to get a book in print.
2: Some POD Publishing contracts are much too vague.
3: There are few standards for book quality.
4: POD Publishers generally produce the poorly written books along with the good.
5: The author generally has little or no control of the book/cover design.
6: Some POD Publishers set the book price higher than the market will bear.
7: POD Publishing authors tend to lose a sense of intimacy with their book, thus they are not motivated to help market it themselves.
The POD Publishing industry definitely answers a need—your need to say something to the world without having to spend months/years trying to land a traditional publisher or without having to get involved in the details of self-publishing.
I would rather see an author spend his/her money with a good editor and then take the time to give his/her book a proper launch than to take the easy path toward authorship through a POD publisher.
Why not produce the best book possible, maintain the control and take responsibility for the gigantic job of marketing? You wouldn't hand your kids off to be raised by someone else, would you? Hmmmmm, now that I think about it, there are millions of children spending their days with babysitters. Maybe the POD Publisher is the new wave of publishing in America for a reason.
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