What is print on demand?
“Print On Demand” (or “POD”) is a term applied to two different printing/publishing models: a) The “One Off” or “True” POD model, b) The “Digital Short Run” POD Model. a. The “One-At-A-Time” or “One-Off” POD Model The original POD concept was that a book would be printed only after it was sold. A consumer places an order for a particular book; the order is forwarded to a printing facility where the book is printed and bound “on-demand”, and shipped to the bookstore or direct to the consumer. A variation envisions a printing/binding machine located in the bookstore to produce the book on the spot. In either case the books are printed on digital-laser, LED, or inkjet-printing devices, not on traditional offset presses. BookMobile does not produce books one at a time; instead BookMobile combines “Digital Short Run” printing (below) and fulfillment services to produce the benefits of one-off POD. b. The “Digital Short Run” POD Model Digital printing equipment can be used economically to pr
Print on Demand. You may have heard this phrase, especially if you’re a writer or in the publishing industry. What is it and how does it benefit the author? Read on for more information about print on demand publishing. Print on demand, or POD, is exactly what it sounds like. Being able to print up as many or as few books as needed at any given time. In fact, POD publishers can print one book at a time if they’re so inclined. This is proving to be the answer to many aspiring author’s prayers. Because there’s no major risk, as there is with traditional publishers who have to order large print runs, almost anyone can be a published author. There are drawbacks with print on demand publishing. When an author is signed to write a book with a traditional publisher, that author will, in most cases, receive an advance check to help pay for expenses until the book is published and begins to make money. In addition, publicists and editors are provided. With print on demand, the author does most
Its worth therefore starting with a definition. The traditional batch printing approach has been used by publishers to print a few thousand books at a time. Print on demand enables the books to be printed one at a time, literally on demand. The book, including the cover, is set up as a digital file. When an order comes through, the right file is selected by the computer, which then gives the instruction to the print on demand machine to produce it. There is therefore a set-up cost, which covers setting up the file in the system, and a small annual charge for keeping it there. The actual cost of producing each individual book is rather more than the batch printing cost per unit, but huge economies are made elsewhere. It has also enabled the overall cost of producing a book to be substantially reduced. (See Advantages of Print on Demand) Permanently in print Print on demand has the potential to revolutionise the way publishing works, although it has not yet been adopted on the kind of sc
