Print-On-Demand or NOT

Print-on-demand or Not

Many self-published authors and those who go the vanity press route find themselves in the print-on-demand market. Authors are told you only pay for the book when someone orders it. There are no storage fees. And my favorite, it can’t be returned. After an extensive look at the print-on-demand feature, several factors have come to light that authors should be weary of.

The first of these factors is cost. Authors may believe they are saving money with print-on-demand, but in almost every instance, the author actually pays more per book printing than they would have if they had bulk printed.

Second on the list is quality control. One of the most common complaints is when authors run low on books and orders a new batch from their print-on-demand supplier. The colors might be slightly different, paper shade is off, and some have even told me that the print quality is completely inconsistent. Some might say that a reader ordering the book only gets that one and won’t see any of these imperfections but imagine being at a book signing with books from two different print-on-demand orders.

Next, how about the lag time. While the time to print-on-demand is getting shorter it usually and again is at the cost of quality and consistency. Most books bulk printed and stored at a warehouse and distribution center can be overnighted (at a cost) in an emergency. This doesn’t happen with print-on-demand.

Lastly, and I saved this for last. Authors think they are saving money but, in reality, they could be leaving unknown amounts of dollars on a shelf they can’t get to. That’s because most brick-and-mortar bookstores will not stock print-on-demand books or do so at a steep percentage. Why? Because it is expensive to get them and more expensive to return them, if they can. So, they just don’t want to bother with them. Big national chains have told me they won’t even consider them. National distributors won’t even carry print-on-demand books for the same reasons. I’ll say it again. Authors are leaving dollars on shelves they can’t put their books on.

If I could tell the future of print-on-demand, my guess is that it’s in trouble and going that route is more costly than most authors might initially think. I hope this information was useful when deciding what to do with your next book. Please let me know your thoughts. For more information on bulk printing and storage please contact Luca at Luca@connecticutbookfestivals.com or Andrea at Andrea@connecticutbookfestivals.com