How Print On Demand Works
Gone are the days of having to go to a local printer, order 1,000 copies of your work, and hold on to stock until people purchase it all. Print-On-Demand (POD) services changed the game, and it’s easier than ever to make your book accessible globally.
Here’s the skinny on POD services. (Psst. I’m calling these “services” and “platforms” interchangeably because they mean the same thing.)
Services like Lulu, KDP, BookBaby and other POD platforms print and ship your books only when someone (a person or retailer) orders it. So that means you don’t have to handle a bunch of stock. You can sell your book easily to wholesalers, retailers, and individual buyers without having to worry about the mess of printing, shipping, delivery, and the whole crazy mess. The POD service you’re using will take out the manufacturing costs from your royalties, and the shipping cost will be handled by the buyer.
If it seems simple, that’s because it is. But what happens when you make your book live on one platform?
Make your book available via Global Distribution
Okay so your book is about to be live. Wowza. You did the hard part, though the rest can often be more challenging, especially for authors who like to remain hidden. But if your book is eligible for Global Distribution through the POD service you’re using, then your book will be listed on a buncha* websites for retailers, wholesalers, and stores like Amazon, Powell’s, Bookshop.org, and others.
To make your book accessible for Global Distribution, you’ll want to follow the book sizes at the POD service you’re choosing. Read up on distribution details from Lulu, KDP, BookBaby, and Blurb.
Once your book is live on a Print On Demand platform (like IngramSpark, Lulu, BookBaby, KDP, and Blurb), you’ll be able to sell it on that platform and through up to 40,000 other distributors.
The way it works is that your title is listed for sale at other retailers (so if you put it on Lulu, it’ll also be available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever books are sold. But that doesn’t mean that Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the other stores will actually carry copies of your book. In most cases, once an order is placed at the wholesaler or retail chain, they’ll order your book from the Print-on-Demand platform that sells it.
So the book delivery process gets automated.
Get the most royalty payout
Just because your book can be available everywhere, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t direct your audience to buy from your preferred platform. Basically, the thing to keep in mind is that you want people to purchase your book directly from the platform on which you released your book on. So if you uploaded your book to Lulu, you’ll want to link out to your Lulu sales page more frequently. Why? Because you’ll get a bigger royalty cut.
*That’s the legal term.
*These numbers are for educational purposes only. I truly have no idea if they will reflect the same numbers you’ll see with your book.
Get paid
Each platform will have their own pricing breakdown, so make sure you choose a POD service that you like.
Print Cost: This is a set cost. Your list price must be at least twice the print cost in order to cover production and Distribution Fees.
Distribution Fees: 50% of gross revenue goes to distribution channel. There are no Distribution Fees for books sold on the Lulu Bookstore.
Gross Profit: Revenue remaining after Print Cost and Distribution Fees.
Lulu Share: 20% of Gross Profit
Your Revenue: 80% of Gross Profit
Set Price By Fixed List Price: This option allows you to pick a set price in each currency (AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, USD) for your book. It must cover minimum of Print Cost and Distribution Fees.
Set Price By Revenue Goal: This option allows you to set a price for you book based on how much you want to earn in Your Revenue per sale.
KDP offers a fixed 60% royalty rate on paperbacks sold on Amazon marketplaces where KDP supports paperback distribution. Your royalty is 60% of your list price. We then subtract printing costs, which depend on page count, ink type, and the Amazon marketplace your paperback was ordered from. Learn how printing costs are calculated.
(Royalty rate x list price) — printing costs = royalty
For example, your list price is $15. Your book is a 333-page paperback with black ink sold on the US marketplace:
(0.60 x $15) — $4.85 = $4.15
If you enable Expanded Distribution, the royalty is 40% of the book’s list price effective in the distribution channel at the time of purchase minus printing costs.
(Royalty rate x list price) — printing costs = royalty
For example, your list price is $15. Your book is a 333-page paperback with black ink sold through Expanded Distribution channels:
(0.40 x $15) — $4.85 = $1.15
Notice how in the KDP details above, the royalty rate for books sold on Amazon is higher than the one sold on expanded distribution channels, so if you release your book on KDP, link out to KDP first. If you release your book on Lulu, link out to your Lulu page first. People will always be able to purchase the book wherever books are sold, but directing your audience to the platform you released it on will give you a higher payout.
And that sounds pretty cool.
Sell on your own
Even if you publish through a POD service, you can still purchase a bunch of author copies and sell the book to friends and family on your own. Here’s an example of how that can work:
- Set up a way to get paid — PayPal, Stripe, Square? Make an easy way for people to pay for the book.
- Market the book — Use your newsletter or website to drum up interest.
- Ship the book — Since you want to sell the book yourself, you’ll have to handle the shipping and distribution, so make sure you have an easy way to ship the book, and consider including shipping prices in the final cost. This means postage and packaging costs.
- Save for taxes — When you sell through a POD service, they calculate your tax details. When you sell on your own, you should keep in mind the sales tax details required by law.
Read the terms
Before you release a book through a POD service, make sure you understand the terms. If you receive a POD-assigned ASIN, you can only release the book through that platform. If you purchase your own ISBN through Bowker, you can release your book on any platform. That way, you can get the most out of the royalties from each platform.
So that’s the deal. Have questions, shoot them to hello@telltellpoetry.com!
