Publishing House

On Demand Book Publishing: The New Way

On-demand book publishing is a relatively new concept which has come up. It has the capability to solve problems associated with a conventional publishing house. Basically, it proves to be less time consuming and cost effective as compared to the publications that take place in publishing houses. Gone are those days when large print runs were obligatory and people were bound to go through lengthy production cycles. With on- demand book publishing, both authors as well as the publishers tend to make more money in royalties. On-demand book publishing is when the number of books printed is directly proportional to the demand produced by the public. Sometimes, the books are produced in quantities as small as one!

The major difference between on demand book publishing and publication in publishing house is in the technology used to put marks on the paper. Making plates from film negatives and subsequently printing with ink on a large printing press is worthy only when thousands of copies are to be produced. In comparison, on demand book publishing prints one copy at a time using equipment that evolved from office laser printer. And most people do not find any significant difference in the printing quality. Not only is the on-demand publishing process faster, but it is also economical. The same principle holds for the binding process as well.

There are different types of on demand book publishing. Though they share the same technology, they differ in some aspects. The first being the digital vanity press. These companies require the author to compensate for the initial set- up costs associated with the production of the book. However, this amount too is still of a far lesser magnitude than that of conventional publishing house. Authors provide word processor files, which in some cases are PDF files. This is incorporated by the publishers' staff into a standard template along with the cover art. Some of these companies have ties with both online as well as conventional book stores. Hence, they have access to both the distribution options which tend to facilitate higher sales.

Another type of on demand book publishing is technical books created by hardware and software manufacturers. They do not publish books by independent authors and their fee is higher than that of vanity press. Yet they charge much lesser than the publishing houses.

Though there are many advantages associated with on demand book publishing, it has its fair share of disadvantages as well. By its own nature, it entrusts the author with the editorial content. Although some on demand companies offer editorial services as part of the deal, most of the books churned out by them have admittedly never been seen by an editor. In this matter, book published by publishing houses can be trusted far more in terms of content quality.