We hear the term print on demand all the time. Few really understand what it means. I didn’t either until I started my journey getting my books published. There are many print on demand publishers but I chose to go with iUniverse, one of the largest and most respected.

POD is not self-publishing in the true sense of the word. You don’t have to buy huge quantities of books and wind up with a few hundred or more copies you may not sell.  Print on demand means literally, if one person orders your book it will be printed and mailed out immediately. The price per copy on a smaller run is much lower for the publishers. The reason being, there’s no inventory anywhere or boxes of books stored in a warehouse or bookstore. In fact, they aren’t even on the shelves in the bookstores. In very limited circumstances, a few POD books are stocked in bookstores like Barnes and Noble but these books have done outstanding sales right from the start.

Where can you order POD books? In my case, my books are at iUniverse and can be ordered at any Barnes and Noble bookstore and of course Amazon and Borders.

I started my journey with iUniverse in September of 2002 when I had my short story mystery collection, The Writer's Club published. As of March 2005, I have published its sequel, Mystery is our Shadow, the third in the series, Christmas at Cliffhanger Inn and the fourth and final, Something Borrowed, Something Blue. These books are between 26,000-32,000 words.

I also published two middle grade books, Adventure on Apple Orchard Road and Twelve Months of Mystery. These short chapter books for ages 8-12 are 12,000 words plus. The word limit for books has been reduced to as low as 10,000 words.

If you are considering print on demand, I would suggest you read everything you can about this process. Don’t expect to make a lot of money unless you are prepared to work very hard marketing your book. Sales numbers are posted the beginning of each month to keep the author up to date on how their book is selling. Royalty checks are issued every three months. The writer earns 20% if their book is bought at iUniverse while around 13% at all other places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Learn about the different programs available. I was fortunate to get much lower prices than now offered. Currently at iUniverse the Select program costs $459, Premier $699 and Premier Plus $799. They now offer a program called Fast Track, which guarantees you a published book in thirty days or less! Maybe you’re looking to publish a book for friends and family. If you don’t want full retail distribution, this could be the program for you. This program will sell your book online at iUniverse only and the cost is $299.

One thing to consider with POD is any marketing that is done has to be done by the writer. Sure, they are posted at the most popular spots to buy books but how will people know they are there? That’s left up to the writer. iUniverse does offer many marketing tips and programs to help the writer achieve more sales. Their free marketing toolkit offers posters, business cards, bookmarks, sell sheets, etc. to help with your sales. All programs except Fast Track include a custom designed cover.

What are some reasons to go with POD?

1. Many times, you have a book that is unusual or has such a limited market no publisher will ever accept it.

2. You may not want to wait years finding a traditional publisher to buy your book.

3. You may want control over your book and want to own it from the start. You do not give up all rights at iUniverse. They have the right to sell it for three years but you retain control of the rights.

Print on demand is clearly not for everyone, it should be researched to the tiniest of details but two and a half years and six books later, I am happy. They have fulfilled all their commitments to me.

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Christine Collier has been published in many children's magazines including Guideposts for Kids, Young Bucks Outdoors, Wee Ones, Once Upon a Time, SIRS Publishing, Bible Pathways for Kids, Holidays & Seasonal Celebrations, Kid Zone with future publications at Brio, High Adventure, Hopscotch and Fun For Kidz.