The book industry is thriving. In the US alone, the industry made about $25.9 billion in revenue for 2020. Over 4 million new books were published in the past two years, including self-published and commercially published books. Even with the growth of technology and social media, the book industry continues to flourish.
But for self-published authors, it could be challenging to find a distributor or bookseller. Without the help of a publisher, they will have to take on marketing and finding their own distributor, among other concerns.
Looking for booksellers itself is a challenge as sellers might not like the idea of buying books in bulk because they’re not certain about the number of orders that will come in, or if there will even be enough orders to match their stock.
Print-on-demand publishing offers an alternative to bypass the time and risk associated with managing the bookseller’s inventory.
With this method, the book will become available once an order has been placed. This means that your bookseller won’t need to return any books that haven’t been ordered nor do they need to worry about any risks.
Here are more reasons to go for print-on-demand
1. You can publish any genre
Print-on-demand technology enables you to publish anything. You can do graphic novels, comics, children’s books, novels and textbooks. You can publish any kind of manuscript no matter how long it is, with or without graphics.
2. You never have to worry about going out of stock
The beauty of print-on-demand publishing is that you never have to worry about running out of stock or overstocking. Early on in 2021, publishers even warned of delayed supplies and shortages amid production issues.
A print-on-demand publishing service makes individual copies of your book upon ordering and then ships them to the customer or bookseller for you.
You don’t have to worry about stocking books yourself, while selling, packing, and delivering are all taken care of for you.
3. It’s easier to market your books to a booksellers
Unlike in traditional publishing where the publisher will take care of everything for you, you would have to find your own distributor and bookseller if you’re choosing to self-publish.
If you already know a bookseller or already have a business relationship with one, then it won’t be much of an issue. But for new authors, it can be challenging to gain a bookseller’s trust. They need reassurance that they can return stocks that haven’t been ordered, or that all the stocks they have will sell.
Print-on-demand publishing is an excellent way to put them at ease as they will only have stocks that have been ordered.
4. You can update information at any time
With print-on-demand, you can update any information on the book at any time. For example, after selling hundreds of copies of your book, you noticed that you have to change parts of the foreword, the index, or add some missing information, you can update succeeding copies since you have published a small number in the first place.
5. Easier way to distribute copies internationally
International distribution can be a challenge for both traditional publishers and self-publishing authors, not to mention, the huge costs of sending copies of your books to another country. With print-on-demand, the publisher can print stocks in different countries. This will decrease costs and make way for faster deliveries.
6. High-quality prints
Technology has made it possible to have enhanced the quality of prints when it comes to print-on-demand. Unlike before where authors had to do quality control to make sure that their books are printed to their satisfaction, now the print quality is high enough to ensure that the customers are satisfied.
7. Reduce overproduction
Since small quantities will be produced, you won’t have to worry about overspending or overprinting. This makes digital print technology a cost-effective way to publish books for both new and seasoned authors.
Modern technology has allowed authors to publish their books on their own. Print-on-demand can save you time and resources while making it easier for you to negotiate with distributors and sellers.
But as with all things, there are also disadvantages. It is indeed cost-effective and the quality of on-demand prints is better today compared to before, but you still have to choose the right company and check that they produce high-quality prints.
You can check out Kindle Direct Publishing or Blurb as they offer some of the best print-on-demand services in the market. The important thing here is to publish your book and make sure that it has the best possible quality in the market.
