Richard Hoy on Print-on-Demand Publishing

Richard Hoy is co-owner of Booklocker.com , a print-on-demand subsidy publisher. What sets Booklocker apart from most of the rest is the very small fees associated with it and the fact that they regularly reject manuscripts. Booklocker earns its from book sales and not from selling services to writers.

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1. What are the advantages of using a subsidy publisher to do print-on-demand books? What are the disadvantages?

One big advantage of POD publishing is that it can be (depending on who you use) a cost-effective way to initially get a book into the market to see if the book has potential. For one flat fee you get a turn-key printing, distribution, and fulfillment operation for your book. Plus there is no inventory, so money isn't wasted on thousands of copies of the book if it doesn't sell.

A disadvantage of POD publishing is that you, as an author, are very much on your own. Self-publishing is just like running a small business and most authors don't understand what this entails or aren't fully prepared to do this.

2. What type of books are best suited for POD companies? What type of books are poorly suited?

The books best suited for POD are niche, non-fiction books with high list prices. It is fairly easy to find buyers for such books, especially online.

The books that are not well-suited for POD are fiction books. If you look at the buying pattern of most fiction, people do it based on who the author is and not on the plot of the book. This is not to say that a fiction POD book can't be successful, but the author has to spend a lot of time building up a name for themselves before people have the confidence to buy. What is  more likely to happen is the author will use POD to sell some books, build a following, and then leverage that success into a contract with a traditional publisher who is better suited to commercialize the book. That has happened with at least six fiction books here at Booklocker.com in the past eighteen months.

Some of our non-fiction authors have also landed traditional contracts after proving their market through POD.

3. What do you think is the future of e-books?

One of the most undersold benefits of e-books is their ability to be delivered instantly. I think you'll see that quality leveraged more in the future. For example, with one of the technical, high-end books we sell, Drilling Down: Turning Customer Data into Profits with a Spreadsheet, we offer a combination print/download package. For a special price, the customer buys the print book and the e-book. While they wait for the print version to arrive in the mail, they can start reading the material using the e-book version.

I think you'll see those sorts of benefits being exploited more in the future rather than the lofty and challenging technology of multimedia books and portable electronic readers.

4. What makes Booklocker unique in an increasingly crowded field of POD companies?

The dirty little industry secret is that the biggest POD firms use the same backend service to do the actual printing and distribution of the books. So the quality of the books and the distribution channels are identical. The only real differences are the prices we charge, the quality of our customer service, and our business models.

My wife, Angela, and I have tried to build a business that walks the line between subsidy publisher and traditional publisher. We are selective about the kinds of books we accept because we are looking for books with sales potential. And we've created an environment for authors that favors book sales to the public. It's obvious to anyone coming to our homepage that we are, first and foremost, an online bookstore.

Most of the other POD companies have a business model built around selling a base POD publishing package, and then upselling authors on additional POD services as well as copies of their own books. Whether you sell a copy of your book to anyone in the public or not doesn't really matter to them because their profit comes from upselling the author.

We feel the Booklocker.com approach is a better way to do business. It is a sustainable model for us and the author because our interests are aligned. And because we keep the POD setup costs low, it is a low-risk way for an author to test the market for his or her book. If successful, we both win. If it isn't successful, neither of us loses our shirts - the author is out a few hundred dollars and we've covered our labor/setup costs to find out if the book has potential.

Comments

[Michael Caprez]

I would love to know more about this pricing, how it works and my cut. I cannot find this info on your site ?

[Thomas Nixon]

I haven't provided specific information on *his* website, but you can find out all you need to know at http://www.booklocker.com.

Tom Nixon

[Michael]

I recently completed the publishing process with Booklocker.com. As a first time author I needed guidance and an opportunity to build my own confidence. I know, if I am going to go outside of traditional publishing roots, I will ultimately be the one who will have to market the book I have written.

So, my choice to go with Richard and Angela Hoy was simple; they are not affraid to share with EVERYONE what it takes to create a saleable product that will help you succeed. They are a ready team or staff of advisors available to answer important questions.

When you visit their site www.booklocker.com you will first experience its simplicity. Then, before you know it, you are immersed in a sea of invaluable information that will HELP YOU market your book. If you are a first time author, this experience you WILL NOT find with the big three POD companies. In fact, such help is either absent or for FOR SALE.

I have come to understand, through Richard and Ang Hoy, writing and getting your book between the covers is pretty darn easy. However, writing and getting your book between the covers is a much different story than the frighten thought of the sales and marketing of your book online or to the brick and mortar stores in town and around the country. It is here where Richard's invaluable background with online sales and Angela's vision and perspective for what should be written and understood to sell a book appears on their site. Again, this kind of cooperation from the larger PODs is either absent or FOR SALE.

The sales and marketing reality in publishing and selling your book during a time when "The Boomers" are all writing is going to be a tough row to hoe. The more information you have as a first time author is best for you.

With that said, both business models and companies want you to succeed. Choose carefully, thoughtfully, and strategically what fits your need. If you need a small fuel efficient vehicle and your looking at a gas guzzler in times like these...THINK Booklocker.com!

I felt far more comfortable with Booklocker.com because I was spending far fewer dollars for the same publishing services while at the same time I was feeling more confident knowing something about what it was I was doing.

And that, for me, is what life and writing a book is all about; learning about how great it feels when you accomplish a goal (like writing a book) on your own, all alone, all by yourself with a little help from your friends.

Thanks Richard and Angela.....

www.booklocker.com/books/2980.html

[Yvonne DiVita]

We're POD publishers, also. We operate much the way you do - with a focus on helping authors create a truly professional product they can be proud of. Much of our work is in the upfront work - coaching and editing and cover design, and building authors blogs.

In a column I write at BeneaththeCover.com , I often recommend Booklocker. I think you are one of the best POD companies online. I wish I'd used you for my book, four years ago. But, I didn't. And, it inspired me to open up a POD firm of my own.

So, all in all, things work out. I will still recommend Booklocker - because I think you do it right.