On our recent trip to Turkiye, my husband and I spent quite a bit of time visiting historical sites. Most of that involved wandering among ruins on foot, but we had one day booked to kayak over a sunken city, which sounded really cool. And it was, even though our excellent guide made it clear from the outset that we would not be seeing anything akin to Atlantis. The weather and water conditions were perfect, the scenery was stunning, and swimming in the Aegean Sea was delightful. And while the sunken city was decidedly not Atlantis, that fact did not detract from our day because our guide had set realistic expectations and other elements added up to an overall positive experience.
Wondering what this little travel snippet has to do with publishing? I share it in the spirit of setting expectations. Authors should be equally aware of both the strong and not-so-strong points of the print-on-demand (POD) technology that drives self-publishing. When you know what to expect, you can plan accordingly to get the best result possible.
Think of it as playing to one’s strengths, much like we pursue a career or sport or musical instrument that is suited to our skills and interests. We may not excel at every aspect, but we strive to maximize what we’re best at and work around the bumpy spots.
A while back, I wrote this article about what POD is and isn’t. It presents a comprehensive list of the various options offered by KDP and IngramSpark. Now let’s take a closer look at POD in practice in three key areas and how to use it to our best advantage.
Design Outside the Box
My first caveat is to avoid borders on both covers and interior pages, especially close to the edge (which is pretty much the definition of a border, right?). That’s because with POD, alignment is not a perfect science. A cover design that incorporates precise framing may look stunning on screen but when printed, alignment can vary slightly, sending that perfect balance right out the window. Same goes for the interior pages, where minor shifts in trimming and binding become more noticeable when borders are involved. Skip that disappointment by designing without borders.
Continuity over Contrast
I love the look of a contrasting spine, but that love tends to be unrequited. By that I mean POD doesn’t return the love with precision. As with borders, the spine can be a victim of less-than-perfect alignment, so my recommendation is to continue the front cover design onto the spine whenever possible. If it can extend onto the back cover too, even better. That way, it’s much less obvious when (not if) the spine slips a bit onto the front or back cover.
The Last Last Page
This one isn’t an avoidance issue, just one for the “good to know” column. Both KDP and IngramSpark will add a page (or pages) at the end of your book. This additional page contains information about where the book was printed and is part of each company’s inventory control process. It’s required, so simply be aware that the last page of your content will not actually be the last page in the book. It’s also possible that more than two pages will be added, which is done to achieve better printing efficiency, but that’s more likely to happen with color interiors, rather than black and white.
Go Forth and Publish
Now that you know about these realities of POD, you can plan accordingly. The technology may not be perfect, and there are certainly tradeoffs to consider. But overall, it is pretty amazing to be able to produce a book and share it with the world without incurring a sizable upfront printing expense or having to manage inventory. Those two factors are pivotal to the power of self-publishing.
