This article is about P.O.D. technology, not P.O.D. publishers.  The author of the article does not claim that P.O.D publishers are superior to traditional publishers, or vice versa.  In the end, the quality of a book should stand on its own regardless of the publishing process. However, we believe it is important to educate consumers on what P.O.D. really is, so they can ignore the hype and stereotypes and simply focus on judging the book by its words, not just its cover.

Imagine running a retail establishment where you had to return over 40% off your stock on a regular basic because you couldn't sell it.  Imagine running a wholesale outlet where almost 40% of the merchandise you shipped to retailers was returned 3 to 6 months later, damaged and unsellable, and you had to eat the cost.  How long do you think you would stay in business?  How could you possibly make any money?

These are questions to ask the publishing industry.  Book returns are the dark secret of the publishing industry.  According to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg of The Wall Street Journal, in 2004 over $800 MILLION in books were returned to publishers[a].  This is the wholesale cost of these books, and it doesn't include warehousing and transportation costs.

No other industry allows this sort of process to go on.  Why does the book industry?  Angela Hoy at Writer's Weekly notes that during the Depression, book publishers allowed the practice in order to encourage bookstores to order more books.[b]   This practice made sense then, when mom and pop shops were struggling to stay open and it was vital for the industry to do whatever it could to help.  But in these modern days of Wal-Marts and mega book chains, why does the practice persist?

Consider that if a publisher prints 500,000 copies, at least 150,000 will be returned.  Consider the number of trees required to produce that many books (since most books are not printed on recycled paper).  Consider the amount of storage space needed to house them.  Consider the amount of fossil fuel needed to ship them to the warehouse, then to the retailers, then back to the warehouse, and finally to ship them off for destruction.

This level of inefficiency ultimately affects consumers, who end up paying for it in terms of higher prices.  The retail price of books of hardcover books has risen by 200% since the 1970's, leading to hardcover novels selling for an average of $40 or more.  "When you're buying a book, you're not only paying for that book, but you're also paying for the book that will be returned and destroyed," explains Jason Epstein, former editorial director at Random House and the author of Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, Future.  "That means you're actually paying for a book-and-a-half, or a book-and-a-quarter." [c]

Why does such a ridiculous system persist?  Retailers won't change it willingly, as it allows them to push off the cost of poor planning and inventory management onto publishers.  And publishers aren't quick to change it, all of those big over-orders are used to determine the New York Times Bestsellers list and other bestseller lists.  As Nina L. Diamond pointed out, "To get on a bestsellers list, a book doesn't ever have to have been bought by an actual human being - a reader - it just has to have been ordered in large enough quantities by bookstores. That's why books often hit the lists before any readers have bought the book at a retail outlet."  And then booksellers use this faux bestseller rating to promote the paperback version of the book later![d]

So who suffers in this?  Customers, in the form of higher and higher book prices.  And authors, who suffer in the form of lower and lower advances and royalties.  Remember, publishers only pay royalties to book sold to customers, not retailers.  Authors typically only get a royalty of 10-15% off the retail price of the book.  Forget the numbers you heard regarding the latest Harry Potter book.  That isn't the norm.  The average book produced by a traditional publisher sells less than 100,000 copies.  According to Christopher Dreher, "Except for a handful of bestselling writers, the overwhelming majority of authors make only $5,000 or $10,000, if that, on projects that took them years to complete. (Most must rely on other sources of income, such as teaching, journalism or a gainfully employed spouse to get by.)"

Make Trees Happy! Join the Exchange. If you are a POD author or publisher, or if you are a bookseller who carries POD books, e-mail us to get added to our list below.  Just post a link to this article on your site, and feel free to use the "Happy Tree" graphic below.

Enter POD.  POD stands for "Print-on-Demand" technology.  POD relies on digital technology instead of traditional offset printing to produce books.  This means books are only printed when ordered.  So if you order a POD title through Amazon, your book is printed and shipped to you, normally in less than five days.  This means that there is no wasted paper, no wasted warehouse space, no wasted transportation charges.  Because there is no inventory requirement, online retailers are more likely to carry works by smaller, edgier, niche authors, giving readers a greater variety of to choose from.

And you might be surprised to learn that some of the most popular titles on the market right now are POD.  Jordan Maerin's Raw Foods for Busy People, has been one of the top selling health food books for almost a year.  J.L. Borne's Day by Day in Armageddon is a hot selling horror title.   Unfortunately, you'll probably never see these titles in brick and mortar stores, because retailers won't order unless they can OVERORDER, and then return the ones unsold!  Moreover, many book reviewers, including the NY Times, won't review POD books because they aren't sold in brick and mortar stores (the term normally used is that they won't review books that are not "widely available.").

Consumers need to encourage the publishing industry to do away with the archaic practices of the depression.  The traditional system kills trees, waste natural resources, and consumes millions of dollars in revenue yearly.  Ask your local bookstores to stock POD titles.  Support POD technology by buying POD products.  Ultimately, consumers have the power to change the system for the benefit of everyone.  It's time to drag the rest of the industry into the 21st century

[a] "Quest for Best Seller Means Lots of Returned Books", Post-gazette.com, June 3, 2005.  Jeffrey A Trachtenberg

[b] "Why All Books Should Be Unreturnable, Part II" Writer"s Weekly, September 21, 2005. Angela Hoy

[c] "Why Do Books Cost So Much?" Salon.com, December 3, 2002.  Christopher Dreher

[d] "Things are Not What They Seem" Independent Publisher, 2002.  Nina L. Diamond

The Following Authors and Businesses Support POD Technology

Gigi Miner Judith Laura Chris Dauten Chris Gerrib Dana Davis David Lawrence Anne Rogers