My post on promotion prompted some questions regarding POD vs. mainstream publishing that I felt important enough to answer here.
If authors have to promote themselves and sell their books themselves without any help from the printers or editors or anyone else involved in the process, what’s the difference between going POD and going with a publisher?
What I tried to convey in my original post is that selling books is a two-pronged attack – marketing and promotion, which comes down to support and money.
The mainstream published author has the full support of their publisher working with their sales force to market their titles for national sales. Meanwhile, the author promotes locally. Publishers invest thousands into producing a quality product. They have to because those books are headed for store shelves. PODs don’t have those same constraints
POD authors also have publisher support, as in, “gee, I hope that author sells a lot of books.” PODs have very little money, so they don’t have a national sales force, and they don’t have distribution, which means POD authors don’t have anyone marketing for them. This puts them in the position of being the unpaid sales and promotional force for their publisher, and that is where sales are generated. The POD makes their money off of authors buying their own books.
If no author ever bought their own books, PODs would cease to exist. Mainstream publishers will sell books to their authors if they want a few, but we certainly don’t depend on those sales because they are a drop in the bucket compared to store sales.
Further complicating things is that stores don’t stock POD books in great numbers because their business plan doesn’t allow for large print runs and a whole host of other factors that make them largely ignored by the bookstore industry.
Conversely, mainstream authors aren’t a sales force, they are promoting their books – letting their local audience know about their book’s existence. It’s like actors who go on press junkets to promote their new movies. The publisher and author make money from those books being on store shelves. Authors don’t have a big enough reach to make much of a dent in overall sales.
Isn’t promotion one of the aspects where I’d expect the agent to help out? I see that as division of labour: I write, the agent books me at various promotion happenings that (s)he thinks are relevant to the book, I go there and smile at people and try to convince them I’ve written something interesting.
Your agent’s main purpose is to sell your manuscript to a good editor. The agent isn’t your PR person – for that, you would either hire a publicist, or if your publisher has one in-house, they’ll help you (but not to a large degree).
Now agents have the responsibility to prepare their clients for the rigors of promotion. After all, they do have to put together some sort of promo plan when they query the editor. Problem is, the Cosmic CEO didn’t create all agents equally. So while some are fabulous at working on promotion ideas, others sit on their hands.
And this is the point I was trying to make; BE PREPARED. Your book’s success depends on the public’s acceptance of your book, and they’re only going to know about it if you’re out there showing your pretty face. I’ve known too many authors who were very well-published and have marvelous distribution only to experience dismal sales. Why? Because they weren’t actively involved in promoting their book. Yes, Gertrude, big publishers can suffer from a book’s tanking just like us mortals.
So the choices are pretty clear. Mainstream publishing has a lovely umbrella that protects and supports their authors with national distribution, an excellent product, and a great reputation. POD offers . . . a book. And your hard sweat and ability and willingness to sell books out of the trunk of your car. The choice seems pretty clear.
*Thanks Aloria and Pelo. Great questions!
If you want the inside scoop on what floats our boats, 
Very useful comments, Lynn. So often I hear authors bitching that (mainstream) publishers do nothing on promotion. And arguably some could do more. But the author is the human face of the book – like it or lump it, getting out there and promoting is an essential for the author. I leap at every opportunity! Did I tell you about my latest book? Okay, not EVERY opportunity, but every suitable opportunity.
Of course you leap at every opportunity, Brian. You’re a professional in every sense of the word. And I’m beyond thrilled that your book, Before the Big Bang is in Kindle format. I just ordered it. And I recommend that everyone else do the same.
Thanks for putting it out there in black and white. I think many writers are introverted by nature and don’t understand that getting the book published is not the final step. We need to step up to the plate and swing for the bleachers if we want our books to really succeed.
Hi, I have a question that’s tangentially related to the mainstream-POD divide.
I’m an editor who does some freelance work with a POD publisher of theology and philosophy books, including the occasional acquisition. This POD happens to operate several bookstores that specialize in the sale of these kinds of books. Their editors also boast about having good relationships with other academic and university bookstores and within the academic community. With that said, my impression is that even their bestselling titles tend to only sell around 3500 copies in any given year.
First, I’m curious to know what you think of a POD like this. Do you see any value to PODs that operate in niche fields like this where the publishing landscape for authors is already potentially less lucrative than other nonfiction areas?
And second, this POD is thinking of expanding their catalog to include some creative nonfiction and perhaps even some fiction. These new titles would have something of a theologyish angle, so they wouldn’t be out of line with the overarching vision of the publisher. However, even if it’s true that the POD is situated to be competitive in the narrow not-so-lucrative publishing field of academic theology, they certainly don’t have the same presence in CNF or fiction publishing or in bookstores like B&N or Borders. As a young editor who dreams of working with CNF and literary fiction yet doesn’t live in NYC, I’m not sure what to think of this. On the one hand, I’d like to seize the opportunity to get some experience here. But on the other hand, I feel kind of like any projects I work on are in some way prospectively doomed, as if it would be in an author’s best interest to NOT work with me. I don’t want to be an agent of evil…Thoughts?
Thanks!
Hi Andrew. Thanks for stopping by.
Do you see any value to PODs that operate in niche fields like this where the publishing landscape for authors is already potentially less lucrative than other nonfiction areas?
Absolutely. This is where I feel PODs can shine – taking on niche genres. They specialize and have contacts for that particular niche. This company appears to have built relationships with people who will shelve their books and get them out to the marketplace. How bloody marvelous. And let me say that a POD selling 3500 units of a title is very good.
this POD is thinking of expanding their catalog to include some creative nonfiction and perhaps even some fiction.
I think as long as they are staying within the realm of their overall niche, they’re going to cautiously experiment with some fiction. That’s great. The nonfiction will probably sell better.
I’d like to seize the opportunity to get some experience here. But on the other hand, I feel kind of like any projects I work on are in some way prospectively doomed, as if it would be in an author’s best interest to NOT work with me.
I’m not sure I’m understanding you.If you want to gain some editing experience, then how is working for what sounds like a pretty solid POD not to your benefit? I wouldn’t call 3500 in sales at all bad, so how would these authors be “doomed” by working with you? This is a niche publisher and seems to be pretty solid as PODs go.
Thanks for the feedback and for reassuring me a bit! I’ve really enjoyed working with the people at this POD so it’s good to hear that PODs aren’t all bad.
Well, 3500 titles being the high point. I’m guessing that the last book of theirs that I worked on (a collection of CNF that we got reviewed in Publishers Weekly) will sell 500-1000ish copies.
I guess I mean that the fiction and CNF authors I’d be going after are significantly less niche. They’d be “theological” in the way that Marilynne Robinson or David James Duncan are theological. They’d be writers who seem like they could potentially sell more books at a mainstream press. Perhaps when I say “doomed” or “evil” I’m way overreacting to all of the negative stuff I read about POD publishers, but I’m a little worried that many of these POD sales come from sources that don’t report sales to BookScan and therefore even publishing through this solid POD might harm the authors when they go to publish their next book…
500 – 1,000 is still pretty good. Many PODs report far less in sales per title. The important thing is they aren’t dependent on their authors to buy books to remain afloat.
Keep in mind that fiction is harder to sell, so the stronger the author’s platform and promo plan, the better the sales. Bookscan sales can be tricky because they aren’t always representative of true sales. But when a mainstream publisher is looking for the author’s imprint, it’s nice to see solid BS numbers.
Yes, I had a feeling I knew what you meant by “evil.” You can’t worry about author’s ability to publish their next book with someone else. Your job is to focus on producing a great book with this company. It’s the author’s job to worry about making decisions that will be most advantageous to their writing career, whether it’s with the POD or another publisher of bigger means.
I agree with you, Lynn. It’s the naive author who thinks the work ends with the sale of the book. As my good friend Cheryl K. Tardif (the book marketing guru) says (and I’m paraphrasing her here)– the author should expect to promote his or her own work. The work only becomes more intense when the book sells– not less. It is the author’s responsibility to do all he/she can to work hard for success. The thing I really like about promoting my work is that I get to interact with readers and find out from them directly that my book, Courage in Patience, touched them in the way I had hoped it would. I can best compare my book and my job as an author to the students I have in my job as a teacher. No one else on staff knows my students as well as I do or loves them like I do, and I can’t expect anyone else to advocate for them as hard as I do, because they are MY babies. While others on staff care about them and want them to do well, I’d never expect others to fight for them like I do. It’s the same with my book.
Beth Fehlbaum, author
Courage in Patience
Seeking new publisher!
http://www.bethfehlbaumya.com
Ah, brilliant, thanks for the clarification Lynn. Another item, then, on my sheet of questions to ask an agent, should the day ever arrive when one of their number expresses an interest in my writing. Because it will, to some extent, have to be on-the-job training – there’s bugger elsewhere to get it
Pelo, I have no doubt that you’ll be infinitely prepared when that day arrives.
You know, that’s one thing I worry about: I call it “preparation” but it would not be unfair to call it “procrastination”
Beth, you bring up a wonderful point. I agree that there is nothing more fun than talking to readers, as they are the end result of our hard work. It also takes the fear out of author events. Either that, or I’m just an incurable hambone…
I think you’ve got your terminology incorrect. POD means print on demand. What your aritcle refers to is Vanity or Subsity Publishing, like with Author House (aack!), Book Surge, Create Space, etc.
POD simply refers to the way a book is printed. But if you’re right, whether someone launches their own small press (buys their own ISBN’s, hires editors, illustrators, etc) and prints via POD or signs up with a Subsidy Press (which also print POD) then the marketing/publicity/etc. yada yada falls onto the author’s own shoulders.
Just thought I’d clarify.
Melissa, POD is a business model. Digital printing is the way a book is printed. If you read my blog, you can see that I make this distinction all the time because it causes so much confusion.
As for promotion, there is a huge difference between having a trade publisher and their distribution channels behind your promotional efforts than a one-man press who has no one. In the former case, the book will get stocked. The latter will be sold out of the trunk of their car.
Just thought I’d clarify.
Hello Lynn,
Sorry, but I couldn’t resist picking a grammatical nit about your sentence “Problem is, the Cosmic CEO didn’t create all agents equally.”
I sincerely hope your use of “… create … equally …” is ironic. “Equal”, the adjective, is in fact correct. I don’t think the sentence structure actually permits us to call it a predicate adjective, but its role is analogous. It is like making somebody brown, or making them left-handed. It does not describe the manner in which the operation is performed.
Best wishes,
-Steve
Steve. Dude. Relax. Ease up on the caffeine. It’s a blog, and I think my meaning is clear enough, yanno? I don’t need a lesson in grammar.