06/06/2014
The Secret Hidden Revenue from P.O.D. Publishing.
After years of bad experiences and difficult decisions, I now have learned most of the hidden REVENUE secrets that are never shared with authors about P.O.D (Print on Demand) publishing. I think all authors need to know the different ways to publish a book before they jump into anything that may cost them a lot of money with little or no revenue in return.
Tradition publishing could be the best way to go if you could just find a publisher to read your manuscript. Just finding a publisher that will read one chapter of your book is difficult to do. You have to capture their attention with a one page query letter. After tons of rejections, you may start getting discourage like I did, and decide to try a different way to get your manuscript in print.
So now you have researched all the different P.O.D. companies and know what each one has to offer. Although you have to pay a huge fee to get your manuscript in print, you feel you will make the money back in sales. The truth is that a few authors might, but the majority of authors don’t ever recover their losses. Here are a few things that a typical P.O.D. publisher might offer you. They may tell you that you will receive anywhere from 35-50% off of net receipts when books are sold from their website. That sounds good to the ear but here is how it will work.
Example 1: You select to sells your book for $12.00. You will subtract printing cost off of that price, which I know now that a 200 page book would be around $3.50 to print. But of course, you, as an author, don’t know that, so the publisher could tell you whatever they want to. Let’s say they tell you it will cost $5.50 to print your book. So let us say that the actual cost to print your book is $3.50 and the publisher quotes $5.50. The publisher is making $2.00 off of each book already plus the huge amount they are going to charge you to set your book up.
Example 2: Let’s say publisher offers you 50% of net receipts when your book sells on their website.
Here is the math: retail – printing – 50% = your profit.
$12.00 – $5.50=$6.50
$6.50 – 50% off =$3.25 is your profit
Not too shabby, right? But if you go back and read what the company offered it says ‘profit from books sold off their website.’ Ah, there’s the catch. Well we all know that most book sales online are sold on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
So how does it play out if your book is sold on one of the major online sites? First you need to know that all bookstore and online stores are offered discounts on books they buy through the publishers, which makes sense because book store have to make a profit or they won’t want to sell your book for you .If Amazon sells one of your books, the printing company sends it directly to the customer not the publisher. The P.O.D. publisher may select to offer book stores and other distribution channels a percentage discount off of the retail price. The biggest discount that can be given is 55%.
What authors don’t understand is that these online book stores never have to order your books. They wait until one sells and the printing company automatically sends your book to the customer. Neither the publisher nor the bookstore ever touches your book. Turn-around time for a printer to print your book is only a day or two, so this works out for everyone and is why it is called ‘print on demand.’
Example 3: Let’s say one of your books sells on Amazon for $12.00. Your publisher has offered distribution channels 40% of retail price to list your book on their website. The retailer’s cost would be $7.20 (although he can actually list the book for any price he wants.) The printing cost of your book (according to your publisher) is $5.50 so that leaves $1.70 left. If your publisher offered you 50% of net receipts then your profit would be .85 per book.
Here’s the breakdown of your book sold online.
Online book store profit: $4.80
Printer’s profit: $3.50
Publisher profit $2.85
Author’s profit is .85
How do you actually know how many of your books are actually being sold? You don’t! They can tell you whatever they want. We are just expected to believe that it is all legit, but as you see, you might be a little leery now.
So you find your books being sold as used copies on Amazon or other online stores in other states. You wonder how that is even possible when you are told your book is not even selling. So you have enough of P.O.D.’s and decide to publish your book yourself, which is a good possible solution if you have money to invest. Be prepared to invest a lot of money and do lots of research. Here are a few tips: if you do go that route, the more ISBN numbers you buy at a time, the cheaper it is. One ISBN number cost $125.00. I also highly encourage Book Cover Pro software. You should also design an author’s webpage and list your books on it. You can do blogging and advertise your books through social media.
With all the cons I have told you about publishing, still seeing your book in print is the one pro that out weights all of the cons. It is one of the greatest feelings of accomplishments ever. Just don’t go into it with your eyes close, do your homework first and keep writing.
Now that I have talked terribly about P.O.D services, guess what my website offer now? That’s right – P.O.D. service! But I am not sugar coating anything to get authors to publish with me. I am a Postmaster so Fire Pit Creek Publishing is not my primary source of money. I truly enjoy writing and publishing, and I want to give other new authors a chance to see their books in print without having to pay a fortune. Although there are a lot of cons that come with publishing, seeing your manuscript in print is the one pro that outweighs all the cons. So don’t give up on your dream just don’t go into it with your eyes closed.
If you want to try your writing skills out with a short story, I am offering a no-entry-fee short story contest going now until June 15,2014. Selections will be published in a short story book Please check out my website for details and rules.
