Page Contents
Introduction
How Print On Demand Works
Here's How I Can Help You
Typical Digital Formatting Required
By Print-On-Demand Companies For Incoming Book Files From Authors
Introduction
Print on demand is great for the authors who want to self-publish hardcopies of their works in all of the major online bookstores. As a self-publishing author, I’ve been using print on demand to sell hardcopies of all of my books and am very satisfied with the experience (and the money!).
Self-publishing is definitely the most profitable way to go for new authors. Print on demand is the tool that enables self-publishing authors to sell hardcopies in the major online book stores easily and with very little investment.
Here’s How Print On Demand Works
A self-publishing author submits a new book in digital format to a print-on-demand (POD) company. The POD company stores the book digitally. The POD company then submits details of the book to all of the major online book stores, such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. These online book stores then list the book in their online catalogs.
When an online customer places an order for the book, the online book store passes that order to the POD company. The POD company prints a single copy of the book and ships it to the customer. The self-publishing author is then paid royalties directly from the POD company.
I have been using the leading print-on-demand company in the business, Lightning Source, and have found the process to work quite well. They handle all interaction with the online bookstores and my royalty payments have been prompt.
Here's How I Can Help You
Most self-publishing authors find the bottleneck of the process to be converting their manuscripts into digital formatting that complies with the numerous detailed and rigorous specifications that the POD companies require for professional printing.
Converting a manuscript correctly into the rigorous and detailed digital formatting requires expert knowledge of printing standards, PDF manipulation techniques, and printing processes such as preflighting.
I can convert your manuscripts quickly and professionally into the required files, formats, and specifications required by your POD company. I can also advise you on how to work with your POD company to expedite the process and how to obtain maximum profits for your works.
If you are interested in using Print-On-Demand services to create and sell hardcopies of your manuscript on all major online book stores, email your manuscript to me along with any image and cover files as per the instructions in the left upper panel on this page. I will give you pricing, evaluation, and my best advice on how to achieve your publishing goals.
If you need help with your cover or images, I am an excellent graphic designer and can very definitely help you in this area as well.
Typical Digital Formatting Required
By Print-On-Demand Companies For Incoming Book Files From Authors
A digital file must be sent “print ready” to ensure that no problems occur during the manufacturing process.
All content and cover PDFs must be created should be Acrobat Professional Version 6 or Higher and meet PDF/X-a1:2001 standards.
PDFs should be generated using Acrobat Distiller.
PDF security must be set to “No Security.”
Colors of all objects must be expressed in CMYK.
Spot colors and ICC profiles must be removed.
Elements in RGB or Lab color spaces or tagged with ICC profiles are prohibited,
PDF/X-a1:2001 does not address the use of spot colors. Use of spot colors will cause issues in the printing process.
All PDF files must have embedded font information to ensure proper printing representation of the book cover or interior.
Graphics, illustrations, and color intended to print to the end of the page should bleed 0.25 inches past the trim.
There should be no ink within 0.125 inches of the Blind Side of the page.
Interior files must be submitted in single page layout. No spreads are allowed.
The final PDF document size should be built to the final bleed size.
Images should be 300 resolution CMYK files.
Any book with elements closer than 0.5 inches from the trim is noncompliant.
Safety area specifications vary for the different types of bindings. No text, borders, rules, or boxes be outside of this areas.
Bleed specifications vary for the three interior sides of each page, depending on the type of binding chosen.
Cover artwork must be contained within a single PDF file that must exactly match the template for the given type of binding. All crop / trim / printer / registration marks must be removed.
Interior PDF submissions that do not adhere to the stated bleed specification for that type of binding are noncompliant.
Bar codes should not include pricing information.
PDF page size must be changed from 8.5” x 11” (or A4) to the correct trim size.
The one-piece Cover PDF must be sized properly to take into account the number of pages.
Cover and interior PDF files must be named according to the naming convention required by the POD company.
No spine text for page counts below 80.
Text must use 180 LPI (Lines per inch).
Files are processed with page counts divisable by 2.
Saddle stitching is often used for smaller page counts.
Perfect binding is normally used for larger page counts.
Text files must be submitted as a single PDF file. Submissions with multiple files will not be accepted.
When using the PDF cover templates, the red and blue dotted lines must be removed prior to submission.
