Introduction to Publishing On Demand

You might have heard of a term called “publishing on demand” or “print on demand” in the publishing practice. This article will give you an introduction on the same.

Publishing on demand is when a copy of a book is kept in a digital format that is ready to print.  Traditionally, an offset printing process is used to print large number of copies of a book. An offset printing process will often require fairly high costs to set up. Some authors prefer to use publishing on demand which will allow them to print copies as and when they are needed. 

Here are some of the reasons why printing on demand is used.

• It allows the author to print only when demand is created. Thus, he or she will not have to maintain an inventory of books that will require handling costs, inventory management and so on. This form of publishing is also ideal for those who are uncertain about the projected demand of their books.

• The variable costs associated with publishing on demand are usually higher than the traditional offset printing process. Though the cost per book price might be high, some authors find printing on demand very affordable, especially in cases where very few copies are sold. When very few copies are sold, it would be unfeasible to set up an offset printing process that involves very high initial costs. An author would feel much better off to pay a little extra per book through publishing on demand and still save a lot of money in the printing process.

• There is no wastage with publishing on demand as all books are printed only after they have a purchase order against them. This is not the case with offset printing that can give you a very good deal on the price of a 1,000 books but leave you with a possibility of having too much inventory that might be hard to sell.

Printing on demand is very popular with Universities, Colleges and Schools that constantly change their text books and other academic curriculum. Large publishers rarely use printing on demand as they predominantly rely on the traditional offset printing process. 

Printing on demand is also very popular with authors who are making their debut. One would experience mixed reactions when trying to market a published on demand book as it is generally construed that printing on demand will often mean a reduced level of quality of the written material.