Are there any Trade Customs that POD Publishers adhere to?

Are there any Trade Customs that POD Publishers adhere to? Unfortunately most of the POD publishing industry operates somewhere between, There’s a sucker born every minute and Ignorance is Bliss. The only rule is that there are no rules. It’s strictly Buyers Beware.

Dorrance, now Dorrance Publishing, the self proclaimed first vanity press in the United States, has been around since 1920. Vantage Press, another old time vanity press, lists the #1 requirement for authors to use their service as “Can you afford the fee?”. Vanity presses like these two now call themselves subsidy presses but they are not much different than when they began. They charge authors ridiculous amounts of money to see their names in print. However, the good news is that since there is so much money involved, the average (and dare I say starving-artist-type) author cannot afford to use them. That leaves just a few “rich folks” to have their pockets picked.

The same cannot be said for the current POD publishing craze as it affects thousands of authors from all walks of life and all social and economic backgrounds. The “seeing your name in print” business has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. This industry currently operates without guidelines of trade customs. The general rule is that there are no rules. With few exceptions, the POD publishing industry operates much like the wild west; a complete free for all where infinitely more effort is spent on selling authors to sign up for services than selling books for these authors Most of the larger publishers are being run by venture capitalists, not publishing people. Many of the companies are for sale. Who knows if any of them are really making any money, yet tens of thousands of new authors join the ranks of “published authors” each year. The result of all this is that the POD publishing industry finds itself in a state of turmoil.

Last week I attended a Book Summit, sponsored by Dan Poynter and Infinity Publishing in Valley Forge, PA. Guests included representatives of various POD publishers as well as other publishing professionals. While the theme was stated as Industry Leaders Discussing the Future of Publishing in a Flat World, it was really about the future of POD publishing in a very round world. Noticeably absent from the group was a single representative of a major book retailer. This tells a lot about the industry. The POD publishing industry may think they are about selling books, to people other than the authors, but this does not seem to be shared by booksellers.

One of the participants brought up the name Publish America. Nobody seemed too crazy about them because of their deceptive trade practices. At this point the microphone came over to me. I explained that while I was in the middle of investigating all the claims against Publish America, I felt that the problem was industry wide, not just with Publish America. I stated most POD publishers relied on deception to make sales and that the only way I could see POD Publishing moving beyond the vanity press level and for the rest of the publishing world to take them seriously was for the POD publishers to get together and agree on a “Code of Ethics” that they would all follow. While you could have heard a pin drop on the POD publishing side of the table, the rest of the publishing professionals at the table welcomed the idea as long overdue. I wasn’t able to stay to the end of the conference to see if there were any plans to move forward as a group but there was enough positive talk during private conversations with participants to convince me that the time is right for writers’ groups and other concerned publishing professionals to start the push. My contribution to the effort starts right here. Below is just a start. I would very much like to hear from any of you with anything you think should be added or subtracted. If you are in a writer’s group, talk it up.

I offer these points as a starting point towards a Code of Ethics,

1. Clearly explain the differences between self publishing; being a self publisher and being a published author. There is a big difference. You can’t be a self publisher without first being the publisher.
2. Clearly explain the ISBN ownership. Assigning an ISBN to an author is not a “$225 savings” as claimed by some. The ISBN is owned by the publisher and not the author. It is NOT transferable.
3. Clearly explain the printing file ownership situation. While it is made very clear that cover design and book layout is covered in the publisher’s setup fee it is rarely pointed out that the publisher, not the author, owns the file that the author paid for.
4. Clearly point out the odds of becoming successful. An average number of books sold would be a start. If the publishers do not think that is fair, then the average number of books sold by the top 25% of their titles in print and the middle 33%.
5. Clearly state the benefits and downside of any programs being offered. For example, offering a return policy option for retail stores is a benefit. Charging $700 for this option when the average number of books sold is 50 is a downside. So is a return policy where books can only be returned for store credit.
6. Offer an editorial evaluation process whereby authors can receive an honest evaluation of their writing skills prior to choosing any expensive additional publishing or marketing programs.
7. Honest disclosure of exactly what POD distribution consists of and what it doesn’t

The above points are just a start. If POD publishing is going to move from vanity publishing to a true “farm system”, as some claim, for traditional publishing, something needs to be done. I believe that every reputable “pay to be published” publisher has the same ultimate goal of allowing anyone who wants to be published the opportunity to be published. If this industry is going to survive, it is going to be because the authors, who chose to publish in this manner, trust the system. A unified code of ethics is a start.

Thinking of publishing with one of those online Print on Demand publishers? Get an insiders look at the POD, Vanity and Subsidy Press industry by listening to my new PodCast show on Publishing Basics Radio where weekly I help you navigate the self publishing minefield. www.WBJBRadio.com

If you have a question pertaining to the publishing production process, please feel free to contact me at ron@rjcom.com.

Ron Pramschufer

Ron Pramschufer has been in or around the printing and publishing industry for over 35 years. His experience, including working in the pressroom, bindery, production office and estimating department helped give him a firm foundation to build on when he entered sales and management. He was partners in a small press publishing company in Annapolis, MD in the late seventies and co-invented and marketed two controversial political board games which sold over 100,000 copies in the early eighties. Moving from his home state of Maryland to New York City after his game experience, Ron sold printing services to, primarily, small to mid-sized book publishers for over a decade before founding RJ Communications with an old friend. Ron recognized the potential of the Internet very early as a powerful communications tool. In 1997 he started one of the first printer related websites, www.rjcom.com, which caters to the professional print buyer. This evolved into www.BooksJustBooks.com and more recently www.selfpublishing.com which target the print buying novice, primarily self-publishers. All three sites are still operating successfully and SelfPublishing.com was named as one of Writers Digest’s, 101 Best websites for writers for 2006. Educating the novice print buyer has been a top priority from day one. To help address this issue, Ron co-authored the popular title Publishing Basics- a Guide for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher, now in its Third Edition, as well as Publishing Basics for Children’s Books, in its Second Edition. He is the organizer of the monthly Publishing Basics Newsletter where he writes a sometimes controversial Ask Ron column which addresses various aspects of the publishing process. On the same note, he started the Publishing Basics Radio PodCast in 2005 and serves as the show’s host. A wide variety of topics are covered including a very popular series titled, The Truth Behind POD Publishing, where he conducts interviews with a select group of industry insiders. Since its inception, RJ Communications has helped thousands of customers print over 105 million books. Ron is married and has three children. His daughter, Stephanie, teaches second grade and recently self-published her first children’s book in the Oliver the Clownfish series. Matthew, his oldest son, owns a website design business and Erik, the youngest, is enjoying high school.

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