POD vs. EBook – Which Should You Publish?
POD vs. EBook – Which Should You Publish? (via 21C Woman)
You’ve written an incredible book, and it’s your baby. You want to take care of and nurture it, and you want the world to love it, too. Whether or not a major publisher is interested, you’ve made the decision to self-publish. Self-publishing is a noble decision, and it means a lot more work ahead. You’re now entirely responsible for marketing your book and generating sales. Your book is depending on you.
You’ve written an incredible book, and it’s your baby. You want to take care of and nurture it, and you want the world to love it, too. Whether or not a major publisher is interested, you’ve made the decision to self-publish. Self-publishing is a noble decision, and it means a lot more work ahead. You’re now entirely responsible for marketing your book and generating sales. Your book is depending on you.
With self-publishing, you have two options: you can sell a printed version of your book, or an electronic one. For printed books, print on demand (POD) is probably your best bet. With POD, you don’t have to pay upfront for hundreds of copies of your book before they’re even sold.
Your book is printed only when it’s demanded. With an eBook, you don’t have to worry about printing at all. You only have to format it correctly so eReaders like the Kindle can accommodate it. So which do you choose? Should you publish your book via POD or as an eBook?
POD
Print on demand gives you something an eBook doesn’t – the appeal of a tangible, physical book. While many people love eBooks, there is nothing that can replace the lure of a real printed book.
There’s also something about a printed book that gives you a greater sense of pride as an author because you can see your printed book as a greater accomplishment than a modified file. With POD, you can list your book with major online retailers like Amazon and cut out the middle men.
Using a POD company like CreateSpace or Lightning Source, you can set the terms of your sales and retain full control of your baby. It also helps you maximize your profits. Because you can sell a printed book for much more than an eBook, you can earn more money per POD book as compared to eBooks.
EBook
With eBooks, you also control your baby entirely. You can use companies like Smashwords and PubIt to easily convert your book to the type of file needed to be listed in eBookstores. A great advantage to an eBook is that it will potentially cost you nothing to convert and list.
Any profits you earn are entirely yours, while POD requires you to offset the cost of printing. However, eBooks are sold for a much lower retail price than POD books. You won’t make quite as much money off of each one, so having a higher volume of sales is crucial.
Both
So with POD and eBooks having some key differences between them, which do you go with? You can choose one over the other, but why not do both? There’s no reason you can’t publish an eBook version of your baby and have a dead tree version available through POD.
The benefits of having both are that different people prefer each. You’ll appeal to more potential readers by diversifying, and hopefully you’ll increase sales. Whether you go with POD, eBook, or both, the key to generating sales is the same – dedicating yourself to marketing and standing behind your baby no matter what.
Terry Ford loves a good book whether it’s in her hand or on her Nook. Each piece she creates gets the seal of approval from the world’s best grammar checker. When it’s time for a larger production run, this Florida gal chooses a Miami printing company, Associated Printing Productions, Inc.
Your book is printed only when it’s demanded. With an eBook, you don’t have to worry about printing at all. You only have to format it correctly so eReaders like the Kindle can accommodate it. So which do you choose? Should you publish your book via POD or as an eBook?
POD
Print on demand gives you something an eBook doesn’t – the appeal of a tangible, physical book. While many people love eBooks, there is nothing that can replace the lure of a real printed book.
There’s also something about a printed book that gives you a greater sense of pride as an author because you can see your printed book as a greater accomplishment than a modified file. With POD, you can list your book with major online retailers like Amazon and cut out the middle men.
Using a POD company like CreateSpace or Lightning Source, you can set the terms of your sales and retain full control of your baby. It also helps you maximize your profits. Because you can sell a printed book for much more than an eBook, you can earn more money per POD book as compared to eBooks.
EBook
With eBooks, you also control your baby entirely. You can use companies like Smashwords and PubIt to easily convert your book to the type of file needed to be listed in eBookstores. A great advantage to an eBook is that it will potentially cost you nothing to convert and list.
Any profits you earn are entirely yours, while POD requires you to offset the cost of printing. However, eBooks are sold for a much lower retail price than POD books. You won’t make quite as much money off of each one, so having a higher volume of sales is crucial.
Both
So with POD and eBooks having some key differences between them, which do you go with? You can choose one over the other, but why not do both? There’s no reason you can’t publish an eBook version of your baby and have a dead tree version available through POD.
The benefits of having both are that different people prefer each. You’ll appeal to more potential readers by diversifying, and hopefully you’ll increase sales. Whether you go with POD, eBook, or both, the key to generating sales is the same – dedicating yourself to marketing and standing behind your baby no matter what.
Terry Ford loves a good book whether it’s in her hand or on her Nook. Each piece she creates gets the seal of approval from the world’s best grammar checker. When it’s time for a larger production run, this Florida gal chooses a Miami printing company, Associated Printing Productions, Inc.