Publishing Crash Course: POD, Digital, and Offset Printing

So you've written a story, figured out which publishing option was right for you and decided to go with some form of non-traditional publishing but when you look at different printers you see more confusing jargon about the types of printing like POD, digital and offset so what do all this terms mean and what's the difference? More importantly which is the right method for your book?

*As a general rule, as you order more books, the cost per book goes down, while the overall total goes up*

#1-Digital Printing

Think like a computer printer you would use to print out a word or google doc or clip art only much, much larger. That's basically what a digital printer is. While the two machines aren't the exact same, they function very similarly. Digital printing is often the choice of self-publishers because it's cheaper to print small batches in them. Small batches are considered under 250 or under 1,000 depending who you ask. The reason small batches are preferred by self-publishers is the author usually has to pay all the money out of pocket. Book printing can be very expensive and for an author just starting out with no experience and no feel for the market, printing more copies can be risky. The characteristics of digital printing vary, but generally (not always) these books are soft cover novels on white paper (white paper: Like a slightly thicker piece of computer paper). This is not to say that there aren't some books printed this way on cream paper (cream paper: standard book paper) or hardcover. In fact some digital publishers can handle the printing of color picture books and graphic novels. However, because the batches are smaller there can be limited material options like paper weights and styles which can lead to a lower quality book overall as well as a higher cost per book. Still, digital printing can be a good choice for your book printing if you only want to print a dozen to a few hundred copies of your book.

Pros:

• Less risk

• Inventory

Cons:

• Less options

• Generally lower quality

• High cost per book

#2- POD/Print on Demand

POD or Print on Demand is a form of digital printing and it's exactly what it sounds like, when there's a demand, a book is printed. This technique has been revolutionary in the self-publishing movement because it allows the author to be in control with a very little risk. This is one of the things offered by companies like Amazon CreateSpace. Basically as an author you would upload your book to CreateSpace (or another company but this is the big POD printer so I'll use it for this example). From there, you would choose which options you would like for when your book is printed (I believe your book is automatically loaded in Amazon as well). When someone orders a copy, a copy is printed just for them. On one hand this is really great because there's virtually no risk in the author. Instead of fronting the cost of books you don't know will sell, you're only charged when a book is printed. Even then, it's not really a big deal because the charge is just taken out of the cost of the book someone ordered, so really you aren't losing any money. However, because this is digital printing, and even more of a small batch than regular digital printing, your options for materials are even more limited, and the cost per book is higher. Still, POD can be a great option for authors just starting out with self publishing who are unsure of their market and want will risk with some pretty good returns.

Pros:

• Very little risk

• No upfront cost

Cons:

• Lower quality

• Higher price per book

• Even less options

• No inventory (can be a good or bad thing depending on your preference)

#3- Offset Printing

If digital printing is like a computer printer, offset printing is like silk-screen printing-it's really high quality and really expensive. However the extra cost stems from a larger number of books rather than a high cost per book. Ironically despite the high quality of these books, they cost less each to print. That's because offset printing is generally reserved for large batches of books, again over 250 or 1,000 depending where you go. The way this cost is then possible is by printing a huge quantity you only have one set up cost. This set-up cost is where the price difference comes in, for example if the set up cost is 200 dollars and you get 25 books, that's already $8 per book without material costs. But if your set up cost was 450 for 1,000 books it gets spread out to 45 cents per book instead. Also, because you're printing more books you have more options for less price. These options include lots of different paper styles and weights as well as textures and covers. The colors from offset printing are also a lot richer than digital printing making this an especially good option for Picture Books and graphic novels. This is the type of printing used by almost all big name and indie publishers but it's much less common in self-publishing because of the high cost and large risk. Basically, you would be ordering hundreds if not thousands of books which can be a lot of pressure for someone just starting to publish with no gauge of the interest level. However, if you're really serious about competing in this industry, the quality levels through offset printing cannot be ignored.

Pros:

• Low cost per book

• More options

• Higher quality

Cons:

• High total cost

• Risky

*This is the option I chose for Princess Pretend and The Not Knight and I'm very happy with it. If this is the path you choose to take, I highly recommend my printer PrintNinja. Their quality and customer service are through the roof and they help navigate you through every step of the printing process*

Like publishing, there are lots of different paths to choose from when it comes to printing. However, you should make your decision based on what works best for your situation and book type.

Enjoy this post? Have any questions? Tried one of these paths? Leave a comment down below!

Additional Resources/Sources Used in This Post:

https://www.fionaraven.com/resources/book-printers-offset/

https://www.createspace.com/

http://www.printninja.com/