POD and traditional production

The integration of a POD production system with a traditional offset one should not cause great problems for publishing companies. However certain factors should be considered in relation to the types of projects which publishers develop, for which we offer the following advice:

Designing a publishing project to be produced exclusively on demand.

Any publishing project which a publisher has undertaken can be designed to be produced exclusively on demand. The publisher can get an on line quote for the cost of the project, the price given will remain the same during the life of the publication, any changes will occur due to variations in the RPI. The price of the project includes delivery to the points indicated by the publisher, for which we recommend that the publisher produces the minimum quantity required to supply their distribution network or retailers, the production will be dispatched once they have been produced. Periodically, the publisher will give reprinting orders depending on the sale of their publication and this production will be dispatched, again to the places indicated on line by the publisher. The price of this reprinting will be the same as that given to the publisher in the online quote as it is the exact and exhaustive price of the publications. There are no additional costs such as transport, storage, stock control etc. As a result what is produced is what can be sold, printing on demand involves fewer risks and little financial investment.

Designing a project complementary to traditional offset production.

The characteristics of many projects lend themselves to be fundamentally produced using offset, POD can also have a role here. The publisher can make a first production of the publication in offset but can also get an online publication quote for POD and even make a small production. This first production, with identical characteristics to the offset one, can be used to launch a part of the product into immediate circulation, with the possibility of testing the market, through presentations etc. But for these types of projects POD can be used to fill in the gaps during times where the traditional product is out of print. POD means the publisher can always have sufficient stock levels, even though a reprint in offset is being waited for. Also there may be times when you may be unsure if a large number of copies should be reprinted or not, POD can extend the life of a publication at a similar cost to that of offset, but producing exactly what is requested and sending it directly to the places where required. You are advised that when an out of stock publication first printed with offset is then reprinted using POD, a series of payments which will have already been covered through the sale of the first edition, will not be included in the POD production which will then be made. For example pre-printing costs will have been paid for in the first print run.

New editions of out of print titles.

POD offers the publisher the opportunity of recovering all the out of print titles in their catalogue. Having a digital copy of all the titles is not necessary, almost all of them will be suitable for scanning, from which a digital copy can be made. It is not always clear if is worth carrying out a major production when recovering old collections or putting into circulation a book which is being requested. The costs which are generated from making up the texts and incorporating images make the traditional production of many previous editions almost unfeasible, but they are entirely possible using POD. A good strategy to "test the water" for publications which have previously been successful, is by producing a minimum quantity for your distribution network, sending them, waiting for confirmation of demand and then ordering small reprints. Minimum investment, maximum presence and a competitive difference.