Finding a publisher for your novel or non-fiction book can be a daunting process, often marked by one rejection letter after another. It can take months or even years to secure a contract with a publisher. With the advent of print-on-demand publishing, a new crop of companies has emerged to provide instant self-publishing services to writers who do not wish to go through the process of finding a traditional publisher.
Through print-on-demand publishing, a writer can pay the POD publisher a fee to publish his or her book. The POD publisher accepts a manuscript from the writer in a file format such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect and then uses that file to create a digital copy of the book. Whenever someone orders the book (whether it is the writer, a bookstore, or a retail customer placing the order), the POD company prints exactly enough copies to fill that order.
POD companies do not stock copies of the writer's book in a warehouse to fulfill orders. Instead, the digital printing technology allows them to print copies only as needed. Unlike traditional publishing, in which print runs of smaller quantities are cost prohibitive, a POD publisher can print only one copy at a time without incurring any additional expenses.
The print-on-demand publishing method has its advantages and disadvantages, but in my view as a novelist, the disadvantages outweigh [click to read more]
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