Why Traditional Publishers Love POD

Since its inception, print on demand has been under a microscope in the publishing industry. In the beginning, it was a curiosity. The technology was suspect and the process was in its infancy. Traditional publishers shunned it, but there must have been some sense of the potential if the quality and turn around time improved. It was placed on the industry radar and the powers that be waited.

Fast forward to today. The quality is virtually indistinguishable from books printed on off-set printers. Books can now be printed and delivered as quickly as 24 hours. Traditional publishers are not only paying closer attention to print on demand, they are embracing the technology. They use print on demand for backlist titles (books that only sell a few dozen to a few hundred copies a year).

Print on demand has one added benefit they may not have predicted. It’s reducing their risk when acquiring new material. Print on demand has become their minor league program. They monitor the market for books that are selling well, and find material that has already built an audience and with more marketing dollars has the potential to build an even bigger audience. Joe Wikert, Vice President and Executive Publisher in the Professional/Trade division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., writes about this aspect of Print on demand on his blog. He’s a member of the traditional publishing world who gets it. You can read his blog by clicking here.