Despite the benefits of digital publishing and the epublishing business model, it’s understandable that there remains an allure for authors, holding their first, tenth, twenty-fifth novel in print format. No matter how much we talk about ebooks being “real” books, seeing that book in print, in the author’s hands, or on the shelves somehow makes that elusive dream of being a published author more of a reality.
Because of their desire to see their books in dead tree format, many authors will pick an epublisher based on the things I discussed in my earlier article, but also on the epublisher/small press publisher’s print program. I would caution that authors choosing digital publication shouldn’t choose their publisher based solely on their print program. Because that is not a digital publisher’s main area of focus or expertise, choosing based on whether a publisher does print or not could lead the author to be disappointed in the publisher for any number of reasons.
Because print is not a digital publisher’s main focus, most digital publishers utilize the print on demand method of publishing versus offset printing. It’s common for people to think of print on demand as what is known as “the book of one”, where an order for a single copy of a book comes in, is sent to the printer and one book is printed for that customer. However, many publishers now not only print to fill pre-orders, but also maintain a low stock with places like Ingrams, in order for there to be available stock for online and brick and mortar retailers. Doing it in this way allows the books to be fully returnable, and for a small print “run” to occur.
There are multiple reasons for this including saving money on staff and warehouse needed to keep inventory, low start-up costs to put books in print, and the print on demand technology allows publishers to print a smaller number of quantities in a cost effective way, versus the generally thousands of copies required by offset printing. Print on demand also has the advantage of having less actual stock and thus less waste of remaindered books.
On the other hand print on demand can have some drawbacks for the publisher. There is generally a lower profit per unit, because the cost of producing the book itself is higher. Few print on demand companies do a “mass market” size book but instead utilize what’s known as trade size format, which retails for a higher cost than the mass market book. In addition, there is still a general stigma attached to print on demand books, with both authors and retailers, and it can make it difficult for the author/publisher to get their product placed in retail stores.
In addition to print on demand, there are a select number of digital publishers who utilize other methods of printing, including self-owned printing equipment and offset print runs similar to those of traditional publishers. Larger print runs would mean a wider distribution in retail stores, larger per unit profit, but can also potentially mean a larger number of returns.
When researching and ultimately signing a contract with a publisher, there are several things it’s important for an author to know about the particular print program their publisher uses. One is whether the publisher’s books are fully returnable. Most retailers will not carry books which aren’t returnable, and there are many retailers who are under the misconception that all print on demand books are not returnable. Authors should also ask publishers what happens when their books are returned (and if we’re being honest, there will be returns. No book has 100% sell through). Does the publisher hold a reserve against returns? Or will authors have returns deducted from current royalty checks? Reserve against returns protects both the author and publisher—but most especially the publisher—against financial hardship in the face of returns. Digital publishers have folded due to bad decisions made in regards to their print programs, taking author royalties with them when they go.
Authors will also want to find out, prior to signing the contract, what the royalties are on print and whether all digital books go to print, or if the publisher has criteria that must be met before putting a book in print (as an example, some publishers base whether a book will go into print on the book’s digital sales numbers).
As an author, you’ll want to not only be familiar with your publisher’s method of printing, but also how it will affect your books and royalties, as well as the publisher’s business plan, in order to be well informed so you can answer questions when asking retailers and consumers to buy your books.
Angela James
December ’08 – January ’09
“Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Epublishing” © 2008 Angela James. All rights reserved.