POD vs POD

There are 2 different PODs floating around in the literary world. One POD stands for print-on-demand. The other stands for publish-on-demand. They are two different processes but rather closely related.

Print-on-demand is when a company like Lightening Source keeps a book stored electronically then prints it whenever there is a request for the book.

Publish-on-demand is when a company will publish just about anything sent to them by authors regardless of editorial standard.

How are they related? Generally, the publish-on-demand companies use a print-on-demand company to fulfill orders for books. Traditional publishers have been known to utilize print-on-demand companies but not for new releases. Traditional publishers use print-on-demand for books that people are still buying once in a while but not enough to justify printing another run of books.

My issue with publish-on-demand should be transparent. Generally publish-on-demand gets authors' hopes up then sets them up for extreme disappointment when they aren't a best-seller. I think there is a definite place for print-on-demand in the literary world so that classics are still accessible to the general public. I don't think print-on-demand will ever be able to match the cover prices of traditional publishers for new works and should be avoided for a new release.

When is a POD/self-publishing/vanity press OK?

There are some situations where printers like Publish America have their place. These situations are when the authors are not looking to sell a lot of copies or only sell copies to family members. You may want to write your memoir for your children, your children's children, your children's children's children and so on. In this case, you don't necessarily want to sell thousands to strangers but you're not interested in paying thousands to a publisher either.

Maybe you just want to write something, print it then have a book with your name as the author. This is a good time to choose companies like Publish America.

I strongly encourage serious authors to avoid these options even if they want to retain editorial control. If the book idea is good enough, the editor lets you keep control. If your idea is close but not close enough, that's when you run into editors that take over and bring other people in. If you are serious about your idea, fight for the traditional publishing route first. You'll never regret it.

I honestly have never understood why an author would choose a company like iUniverse where you pay between $300 and $1000 to see your book in print, usually get pressured into mediocre editing services, end up with a high cover price and find out it's nonreturnable (which is a no-no for bookstores) when you try to set up a book signing.

I know, if I didn't work in the industry, I wouldn't know any better. This is exactly why I am posting this blog. I hope authors will enter the industry knowing what to look for and avoid these common traps.

The next step

So you have a few chapters completed? Now's the time for big decisions. Where do you really want your story to go and who is your audience?

Do you want to be a best seller?
Do you want to make a few sales on the side of your regular job?
Do you want to have something to pass along to children and friends but aren't interested in
appealing to the general population?

These are very important questions to ask yourself because this is where you make choices to determine the future of your book.

I want to be very clear on this next statement. You will only be a best seller is a MAJOR publishing house chooses to print your book under their traditional imprint.

This next statement is very important as well. Major publishing houses' traditional imprints will only look at manuscripts submitted by reputable agents.

If you want to be a best seller, right now you need to take the 3 chapters you have hammered out and make the chapters perfect. Edit, edit, edit! Once you are done editing, take it to your friends and have them make suggestions. After you gather all their suggestions, edit some more! Then, find a writing group and have the people in your writing group make suggestions and edit your chapters again. Once you think it's perfect, hire a top-notch copy editor (I'll discuss different editors and how to find them in a future post) to go over your work and make more suggestions. Then, edit your book again. Are you sensing a theme here?

I am jumping on my soap box for a minute here. I'll do this from time to time in my posts, so please bear with me. I work with many authors with all ranges of books. My biggest pet peeve in this industry is when an author says to me, "There's typos but they don't matter."

They DO matter especially to the people who you want to put their reputations on the line for you. This on top of the rudest thing I think a writer can do it care so LITTLE about their book but still expect some hard working Joe to spend money to read it or expect a member of the media to care enough to print something.

OK, stepping off the soap box...

My point is make sure you have the cleanest, most engaging 3 chapters you can possibly manage to write ready. I mentioned before you need an agent. I'll write another post on what I have learned about finding a reputable agent in a minute. Right now, you need to prepare a package to submit to agents. Agents get many submission and I am not an expert on what literary agents look for since I am not one. I only have a general rule.

The general rule is to have a well prepared cover letter with an outline of the book's story, why it is unique and your contact information. (Don't forget to tell them how they can get a hold of you!) Add that to your perfected first three chapters and send it off. Please don't forget details like printed submissions only and make sure each page is clean.

There are many services that will help you prepare a package, find agents and give addresses to top agents nationwide. I don't have those contacts to give to you but you can find them on this world wide web. I would do a google search for "literary agent" to get started.

Maybe you don't want to be a best seller but maybe sell some books or simply have something to pass on to posterity. Those are options as well.

Tune in soon for more information!