Knowing what you pay for the service is grand, but most authors don’t know about the other end: the required discounts for sales through bookstores.

If you want your books to be stocked by a bookstore (instead of special order only), you need:
–a competitive list price
–discounts of 40% to the store and 55% to wholesalers
–full returnability for a refund, not a credit

You also, of course, need a strong marketing plan, dynamic design, and solid content.

Most subsidy press books like at least 1, and usually 2, of the 3 financial requirements. And getting dynamic design at a few hundred dollars per title is unlikely as well.

That doesn’t mean that subsidy presses aren’t good options for some authors. They are, but not, as a rule, if you have plans for volume sales through bookstores.

And beware of such phrases as “listed at all major bookstores” or “available for purchase through all major stores.” They emphatically don’t mean what many authors have interpreted them to mean.

Again, thanks for helping to spread the word: know what you want, think about what you can get, and do your research before committing your ms to any option.

Marion Gropen

That sounds like the in-between land (neither an obvious traditional trade route nor a clear case for vanity) which is a tough place to be.

I suggest that you check out the following site:
http://skintwriter.com/
Skint has pursued a path to POD publishing to some success and has published not just his own work but that of others. His experience aside form being interesting is also very informative. He has been very straight up about the costs and all the details!
Eoin

I’m almost finished my draft of my first manuscript and already getting shaky legs in regards to the next step. I’m honest enough to say that I want to sell heaps of copies, but I’m realistic enough to know that the chances of that happening are 100 to 1.

xx

KS

Good to have you comment here! Make it more regular!

As to Trafford I really dislike them. They do their best to come across as author friendly doing them a real favour but they are pretty steeply priced for very little return!

Speaking of book costs, I have just had a look at the variation in Lulu.com’s pricing when it comes to Euro/Dollar/Sterling prices. It’s huge and the discount for large orders in Dollars is 18% and on my example was 2% f0r sterling!

Eoin
Eoin

I came across this one today, interesting to see one that operates internationally. They’ve got a publishing profit calculator that makes for interesting clicking.

Sarah