There are key pieces of information every new authors or publisher needs to know before entering the industry.

One of the first questions anyone should ask themselves when they have a manuscript ready is: what do I want to get out of this experience? Many individuals print their book for prestige: to hold a copy of a book in their hand, others print books to make money, and to see their book sitting on a bookshelf. Whatever your reasons for choosing to print your book, or starting your own publishing company, we get asked the same questions about printing, marketing, and distribution on a day to day basis, so here are some basics you will need to understand.

POD vs. Digital Printing vs. Self-Publishing

Print on Demand, or POD, is simply a printing method where books are printed to meet every single order for your book. In other words, you have no books in inventory because a book is printed any time a customer orders your book. Although POD is cost-effective in terms of inventory, printing a book on demand increases your per book cost: it is more expensive to print 1 book versus 50 books are price breaks are given to customers who order larger quantities.

When talking about digital printing, industry professionals are talking about printing books in small quantities, 20-2,000 books. It is cheaper to print smaller quantities of books using digital technology versus an offset printer because the set-up time for a print run is a lot less. The term digital printing is not synonymous with POD. Many publishers use digital printing for numerous reasons: to print ARCs, because they don't want to print 5,000 books, to print brochures/guidebooks, to reduce storage costs.

Similarly, Self-Publishing does not equal POD or digital printing. Self-Publishing is a way to bring a book to market: editing, marketing and printing the book yourself. Self Publishers can choose to print their books using Print on Demand, or Digital Printing technology, but the terms should not be used interchangeably.

At NetPub, we offer digital printing and print on demand services, so you can choose how to produce your book. We also offer Self-Publishing services through Hudson House Publishing*.

Distribution

The most shocking part of the whole process of bringing a book to market is the percentage of sales taken by distributors and booksellers. As consumers, we don't think about how much a store bought a product for before we buy it from them. But, if you decide to distribute your book, you will need to know how book distribution works:

• If you decide to sell your books to a bookstore, it is expected that you sell your book to the bookstore at a discounted rate of 40%
• If you sell your book to distributors or wholesalers, then it is expected that you sell your book at a discounted rate of 55%.
  • NOTE: Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com (B&N) are considered wholesalers (B&N, the store, is considered a bookstore).

If you sign up for distribution, through NetPub, this is how your model would look:

At NetPub, you can choose who to sell your books to if you sign up for distribution, so if you don't want us to sell books to distributors, or booksellers, then we won't.

Also, note that Barnes&Noble.com is not the physical bookstore: your book is listed on their website. But, if a customer walks into one of their stores, the store can order the book for a customer. If you want your book to be considered for the bookshelves in their physical bookstore you will need to submit a full marketing plan via the B&N website.

ARCs

First and foremost, if you are serious about printing your book and bringing it to market then print Advance Reader Copies (ARCs). Printing ARCs are a great way to start marketing your book, and they can be printed before you are finished fully editing your manuscript. Print 10 or so books and send them to reviewers who can provide feedback about your work, and whose comments can be used as quotes on the back of your book.

Marketing

This is where the all important question mentioned above comes into play the most. If you are bringing your book to market to have your work printed, to show family and friends, then marketing is not going to play a huge role in plans for your book.

But, if you want to get your book into the hands of consumers, to make some money (or break even), then you are going to have to learn a few marketing basics.

We have mentioned ARCs which are a great way to raise awareness of your book before it is even brought to market. If you choose to market your book, you should have your own website to connect directly with readers (and to sell your book, especially as you can sell it without discounting the book as shown in the diagram above).

The most inexpensive way for you to market your book is going to be online, which also allows you to reach a wider audience. But, don't forget to utilize your local market too: take advantage of any press you can get from local media outlets.

Our basic marketing services help get anyone raise awareness of their book.

Printing, Distribution and Marketing are the three key elements which need to be considered after your book manuscript has been written and edited. Take your time, do the research into what you need to do to meet your printing and publishing goals. We offer services to meet any of your needs, from a quick print job, to full marketing and distribution.

More information about how to prepare your files for print, cover design tips and FAQs can be found in our Customer Support Center.

Terminology

Desktop: When a company talks about "Desktop Time", they are talking about the Design Department, and time it takes to work on your files to make them print ready.

Print Run: The number of books being printed at a time, " we are doing a print run of 50 books".

*Hudson House Publishing: Hudson House offers self-publishing services: we can provide you with an ISBN and barcode, sell your book on the Hudson House website, and provide you with a Hudson House logo to use on your book.