Publish on Demand: Jeremy Robinson Talks POD

Posted by Miles Evans

I went to an expensive business conference recently and after the keynote speech the speaker handed out his professionally bound book with DVD for free to everyone in attendance. The book looked just as professional as anything you would find at Borders or Amazon. Cool factor: 5 stars.

Providing this free prize is not only easy but it has become incredibly affordable. At Lulu you can not only author hard cover books and paperbacks, but also CD’s, DVD’s, calendars, brochures, and even music and file downloads. And you better believe the publishers and major online sellers are taking notice with guys like Jeremy Robinson sidestepping publishers and emerging from obscurity to best selling author through the POD channels.

Jeremy has written top selling books including the popular print-on-demand Bible, Pod People: Beating the Print-on-demand Stigma. In the book Jeremy covers some of the secrets and pitfalls of becoming a best selling POD author as well as intimate details how he took his sci-fi hit The Didymus Contingency to bestseller status at giants Amazon and Barnes & Noble. His newest novel, Raising The Past, is already selling at a breakneck pace and early reviews are all glowing. For those not in the United States, Robinson’s books can all be found on the international Amazon sites.

Your book POD People has got a lot of attention and some great reviews. Congrats. In the book you talk about some of the things that really worked for you and why you managed to succeed and why so many don't. You also have a book on how to write screenplays. Do you plan on writing any more DIY style books?

Honestly, I didn’t plan on writing either POD People or The Screenplay Workbook. The Workbook came about when I was living in Los Angeles and a friend, who is a graphic designer created some character worksheets. When I realized how useful they were, I thought it would make a good book. We put the book together in a month and sold it the next.

As for POD People, this was written primarily in response to the droves of e-mails I receive every day in regard to print-on-demand publishing. I was spending considerable time responding to these e-mails. The result was that I was spending more time educating other authors about POD than I was writing. Which, for a writer, isn’t acceptable at all! So I wrote the book in order to answer all the question I receive. Now when I get questions I point people to the book.

In POD People you talk about how to beat the stigma that print-on-demand books are deemed not as polished or professional as normal books. As a successful POD authors are you finding that this trend is changing?

I’m hoping it will change, but I’m not counting on it. There are thousands of POD books released every month and about 99.8% of those shouldn’t be published ever, or are simply not ready. The result is that the market is flooded with bad books, and those that are good have a harder time standing out.

I should mention that for a great book, one with a professional cover, interior, editing and a gripping story (of course) the stigma doesn’t exist. The general public doesn’t know one publisher from another, and if your book is professional, they’ll never have a reason to wonder whether or not the book is self-published. Of course, getting into physical bookstores like Barnes&Noble will always be a challenge for POD books, because they’re generally not returnable.

Does a POD publisher really stand any realistic chance of reaching a large sized audience versus an author printed and distributed through one of the traditional publishing channels?

Nope. It’s not realistic to believe a POD book will get in front of as many eyes as a traditionally published book, mainly because of the bookstore issue. But the goal of POD self-publishers shouldn’t be to make a living, it should be to learn and attract attention through sales. While the majority of books are bought in physical stores, we still spend billions of dollars online every year. There is no reason, with good marketing, that really good POD books shouldn’t be able to tap online book buyers and sell thousands of copies...in some cases as many or more than some “traditionally published� books, which The Didymus Contingency has done.

I do think in the future this will change. When people can go into a bookstore...or a Starbucks and search through a digital catalog, purchase a book and have it printed and bound on the spot, I think things will change. The technology isn’t far away and some big companies are looking into it. Then the playing field will be a smidge more level.

You’ve put the term “traditional publishing� in quotes several times. What's up with that?

“Traditional publishing� has become a way of saying “not print-on-demand�. I put it in quotations because it’s not an accurate term. True traditional publishing involves submissions, editors, graphic designers, etc. POD has become synonymous with self-publishing, but this is not always true...and not all self-published titles are POD.

Print-on-demand is simply a printing technology. Some larger publishers are using it to bring out of print books back to life while some small publishers are using POD as an affordable way to break into the publishing business. Some POD books are also, “traditionally published.� A more accurate term would be “offset printing� as apposed to “print-on-demand.� Or “self-published� as apposed to “traditionally published.�

I’d also like to quickly point out that there is no difference between offset self-publishing and POD self-publishing, except that POD is often more affordable. Both technologies can claim their fair share of bad books. I mention this because the folks most adamantly spreading the POD stigma are those who have self-published the old fashioned way.

Do you think POD services can be seen as a legitimate entry point into the world of traditional publishing?

Absolutely. It’s happening more and more. Not only did I land a top agent two months after publishing The Didymus Contingency, but I was contacted by several foreign publishers interested in publishing translations. I have since signed with a few of these companies and am still receiving offers. So Didymus is both POD and traditionally published now.

Visitors to the POD-DY MOUTH blog, a review site for POD books, know that many of the books she reviews now sign on with top agents, sell film rights or sell book rights. If you can produce a quality POD book, you’re odds of landing an agent or publishing deal are much greater than if you submit your manuscript through the mail.

What do you think needs to change for POD to really reach a tipping point? Is it a matter of distribution or is the quality of the content really just not as good?

I’m slightly pessimistic on this point because I know that most writers (myself included) can’t usually see their own bad writing. We’re blind to it. So when we receive a slew of rejections on a manuscript we think everyone is crazy for not loving the book and decide to publish it ourselves, never realizing that our book was being rejected for very good reasons!

Beyond that, more distribution would help. If there was a safe way (financially) to accept returns and get the good POD books into physical bookstores it would be groundbreaking. But the key to all of this is quality. The books have to be as good as anything “traditionally published� or nothing will change. I’ve been promoting this for the last year, and a few authors have caught on, but most continue with their plans undaunted.

In an attempt to produce and promote quality POD books I have actually launched my own imprint, Breakneck Books. I’m publishing my second novel, Raising the Past, as well as those by other authors. The difference between these books and other POD books is that they have been edited, professionally laid out and have great covers. I guarantee that all of the Breakneck books will sell many more than the average POD book simply because they’re professionally produced books. I’m hoping to help other authors break in this way.

Which of the various POD services (Lulu.com, IUniverse, Booksurge, etc) do you think offer the most value to the author?

They all have benefits and pitfalls. I typically recommend Lulu over the others because they’re the most flexible and affordable. However, they’re so easy to use that an overwhelming amount of garbage is produced there. IUniverse is tempting simply for their Star program. If you can afford IUniverse and can sell enough books to make it into the Star program, they’ll make your book returnable and able to bought by physical bookstores. Booksurge has the nicest quality (printing) of any POD I’ve seen, but their books are not available on B&N or the international Amazon sites. So you’re limited to selling only on Amazon US. With so many of my sales coming from overseas, that’s a serious drawback.

I see your books are also being sold on Amazon. Does Amazon pick up the more popular publishers from the various POD services and add them to their inventory? Or how does that work?

All POD services offer distribution to Amazon, Barnes&Noble, etc...through a company called Lightning Source. They print and deliver the books working with Ingrams (a distributor). So all POD books have the potential to be sold everywhere online. Of course, it is possible to start your own company and publish directly through Lightning Source yourself, cutting out the middle man. But you’re really get your hands dirty with them and absolutely have to know what you’re doing. All of Breakneck Books’ titles are printed and distributed through Lightening Source.

Do you see POD services making up the long tail in publishing? By that I mean, by offering consumers endless choices and easy production and distribution, everyone in essence has the opportunity to carve out their own niche.

POD publishing is absolutely taking over the long tail of publishing. In fact, a New York Times article recently detailed how it’s happening. More and more “traditional publishers� are using POD to keep out-of-print titles available and selling.

As far as new niches are concerned, I believe this is one important quality of POD. While large publishers are more interested in producing product they know will sell, they’re less interested in taking chances on something new. This was ultimately my reason for choosing POD for The Didymus Contingency. Unlike most authors resorting to POD, I didn’t have stacks of rejections for Didymus.

I’d been told the book was great by enough professionals in the industry to believe it, but they also knew large publishers wouldn’t know what to do with it. The book is blatantly mainstream...but at the same time blatantly Christian. This is my niche and I’m still carving it out! I knew mainstream publishers would be afraid to touch it because of the Christian aspects, while Christian (CBA) publishers would shy away from the violence, language and alcohol consumption. Rather than waste time and money sending my book out to publishers and agents I took matters into my own hands. And I’m glad I did!

How important do you feel blogging is for the budding POD author? Should every writer have a blog by design?

Blogs are an excellent technology and is a great help for POD authors. Every author should do everything in their power to promote their book, including having a blog. The trick with a blog is that it has to be interesting enough for people to continue reading. If you don’t post that often or post interesting tidbits, it might not be worth the time it takes to create and maintain.

What are your favorite blogs or online websites?

My two favorite blogs are the previously mentioned POD-DY Mouth Blog and another POD review blog P.O.D.Lings. Of course, I’m probably biased because both have given my books rave reviews...but they’re really great blogs. POD-DY MOUTH has received a ton of exposure and is constantly watched by agents and publishers...and as authors start producing more and more quality POD books, I imagine that will be happening more often.

Jeremy Robinson (an all around good guys) can be found on his website, discussing self publishing, POD, and other topics of interest for the budding novelist. Support independent publishing ;)

Posted Oct 19, 2006 at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Trackback URL | Del.icio.us | DIGG!