Article Freedom

Book Making in 1947

This video shows how books were made in 1947. It’s interesting to see how much work was needed just to print text onto a page. The amount of manual labor involved is amazing, especially compared to today’s technology whereby a book can be printed on a lazer printer and bound in a desktop book binder.

The Downside of Vanity Publishers

Some vanity or subsidy publishers are unethical publishers who expect authors to incur all production expenses of publishing, and more often than not fail to satisfy their end of the deal, which includes effective marketing or sales.

Some publishers may still send copies of the titles to reviewers and bookstores but it is unlikely that in the absence of an aggressive marketing strategy any sales will occur. Under most circumstances reviewers and bookstores are familiar with the tactics of vanity presses and will avoid these scammers at all costs.

Several subsidy publishers, sometimes called ‘POD Publishers,’ often offer low-cost publishing and tantalize authors with promises of ‘royalties,’ but fail to deliver on these promises.

Some vanity and subsidy presses, unlike traditional publishers, will often threaten authors after the contract period with destroying the books have not garnered sufficient sales. Unless the author buys them, that is.

Sometimes the author may have assigned the copyright to the publisher and in these cases is forced to ‘buy back’ the rights. Thus there are really very subtle but important differences between ethical and traditional publishers and unethical subsidy or vanity publishers.

It is important to fully research the credentials of a prospective publisher before signing a contract or rendering deposits and upfront payments. Undue assurances of great services and frequent insistence for immediate action on the part of the author are some tactics employed by scammers. Anybody looking to self publish or co-publish must therefore be fully equipped with information before entering into a binding arrangement.

Publishing Scams to Look Out For

The world of publishing, for all its literary glory, is not free from fraudsters and scammers. There are various scams associated with small time publishers as well as literary agents.

Before authors or anybody seeking a publishing arrangement signs an agreement it is important to do a little background research.

Small publishers often disguise themselves under various names in an attempt to protect their scamming intentions. Since vanity presses are sometimes referred to as scammers, the terms co-publisher and subsidy publishing have come into common usage.

Unethical vanity publishers or subsidy presses will burden all production costs on the author with promises of handling marketing and sales, as well as obtaining copyrights and an ISBN. The overall impression that the vanity press intends is that they would put in substantial efforts in an attempt to market the book. In reality however, little or no effort goes into selling the titles, leaving the authors high and dry, or forcing them to buy back rights once the contract period expires.

It is therefore highly recommended that when looking for publishers, authors seek legal assistance, and review contracts and paperwork with a competent lawyer well versed in intellectual properties. A review by attorneys familiar with the world of publishing will not only bring out any possible loopholes in the deal but also help understand if the arrangement has the indications of a scam.

As is true with most frauds, promises of fantastic returns and tall claims are best viewed with suspicion. As they say - ‘if it is too good to be true, it probably is’.

Journal Book Making

This video shows how to make a journal book and a matching slip case. With some basic materials, almost anyone can make their own books, even perfect bound paperback books, all by hand.

Publishing and the Associated Legal Issues

As a publisher it is important that one understands fully the complex legal parameters that surround the publishing of a book. The publishing business requires a vision and a full understanding of the future scope of proposed projects.

There is a substantial risk that one faces in the absence of adequate knowledge. From acquiring the appropriate rights to handling book production and distribution, printers are not immune to the legal intricacies of publishing. The maze of intellectual property rights and legal contracts are not mere ‘add-on’s to the business but legal agreements are more often than not a good way of protecting one’s best interests.

Most lawyers suggest that the publisher establish at least a bare minimum of contractual agreement with authors which clearly lay out rights, liabilities and royalties, as well as the sharing of costs and expenses. Depending on the nature of each book project, publishers may choose a certain level of contract to be signed with authors. The various documents may cover the agreements signed with the author, distributor and other licensing agreements as necessary.

The potential threats and risks of unsuccessful projects are greatly mitigated by laying down on paper the issues that will be used in negotiating losses. In these cases the concept of preventive law serves better causes than remedial legal action.

Fully contemplating the extent of efforts expended and costs incurred, as well as understanding the parameters for potential success, is of great value in the world of publishing.

Print On Demand - An Overview

Print on demand or POD is a printing technology in which new copies of a book or other published material is printed only after an order is received. Print on demand is a smart way to print a limited number of books quickly while maintaining the high quality standards of book publishing.

So how exactly does print on demand work? It’s a pretty simple process actually. Once a book is typeset and print ready, the orders to print are sent to the digital press. When the pages and cover settings are complete, the book pages are ready for the cutter and then the binding procedures. The final stage in book production is trimming which ensures that the books are evenly cut and bound.

Rapid advancements in printing technology have made print on demand possible and accessible to the average user. Even small presses these days have switched to this technology that offers several advantages and benefits over traditional offsetting. POD service providers offer ‘Print on Demand’ using digital technology all at fixed per copy rates. This removes the need to order bulk printing, allowing publishers to request as many or as few copies of required material. They are also saved the laborious task of going through the usual re-print process.

Also, print on demand is more eco-friendly than conventional lithographic printing where copious amounts of ink and chemicals are wasted, not to mention the paper wastage from unsold books.

Although per unit pricing using print on demand is higher than with offset, the setup costs are less and the need for maintaining a large inventory is minimized with print on demand. Hence ‘Print on Demand’, especially for a small press, essentially works out to be more cost effective than traditional offset printing.

POD and Self Publishing

The development of print on demand (POD) technology has led to the concept of publishing houses offering services directly to authors who are keen to self-publish.

Book packagers, who take the risk of production by offering the work to a prospective publisher, offer a good place as starters for a novice self-publisher. The cost for this type of publishing usually covers printing as well as the handling of author royalties. Sometimes the book packager may cover in the printing fees, the editing and production charges, or may charge additional rates to cover the administration and project management.

Several ethical subsidy presses offer printing assistance to authors looking to self-publish their work and authors are well advised to seek the services of only reputable printers.

Some also offer a co-publishing arrangement where the author may opt to pick up the tab of the production and printing expenses. The printer/small publisher takes the responsibility to obtain the technical aspects of ISBN and LOC as required as well as the distribution costs. Likewise other typical co-publishers may choose to incur the production costs and withhold royalties until these expenses are recovered.

One can consider self-publishing to be a viable option if one wishes to be an independent publisher in the event that a regular publisher is unavailable.

Understandably authors might lack the range of abilities that take to publish their work; howeverin today’s competitive world there exist publishing consultants, small presses and firms that provide all the required assistance to successfully self publish.

POD and Book Publishing

The concept of print on demand (POD) works with the techniques of digital printing to offer several options for book publishing. This means that books can now be printed at fixed rates per copy, mitigating the need for bulk printing.

POD services often also include printing and distributing services as part of the package deal and such value added services are gaining popularity. POD minimizes inventory maintenance and stock keeping, since the books are published only when sold. Also there is little or no wastage from unsold copies since printing is carried out per requirement only.

These factors reduce the risks associated with publishing books; however efforts must be taken to keep quality in check and maintain rigorous control parameters.

POD is also used to print niche books and specialized titles that garner a premium retail price but have limited markets. Academic publishers may sometimes keep stocks of such titles, although the markets for these books are often a closed group and this may often make POD an uneconomical option.

However many small presses and micro-presses rely heavily on POD technology because they invariably cater to a smaller market that make traditional printing unprofitable.

It is inevitable that with all its advantages POD has a downside in terms of average cost per copy which runs to be relatively higher than with conventional offset printing. The higher costs may make some bookstores less enthusiastic about POD books.

However the primary advantages of POD compensate for this, and make POD an attractive proposition to book publishers.

POD and Digital Printing - Hand in Hand

Digital printing involves reproducing digital images or text onto a physical surface, such as photographic paper or film, and is markedly different from conventional litho printing.

Print on demand (POD) became commonplace only after digital printing was established, since printing of individual copies via traditional printing techniques such as letterpress or offset printing was neither practical nor economical.

POD eliminates the issue of unsold books that are usually pulped, because only the required numbers of books are printed. It usually minimizes the usage of chemicals and printing ink, and also reduces paper wastage. POD is the perfect solution for rapid prototyping, or smaller print runs and this makes it much more suitable for a range of designers.

POD works hand-in-hand with digital technology as a way of printing material at a fixed per copy pricing, irrespective of order size. This may work out to be a slightly higher average rate for each printed copy as compared to offset printing. However this is compensated by the reduced setup costs of digital POD, especially when this is limited to small print runs.

With the advancement of digital printing technology and digital photography, the concept of self-publishing has become the accepted norm in photo printing. Several well-established companies are now adopting individual printing of photo books on demand. Thus digital publishing is the cutting edge, state of the art technique with a promising future.

Innovation in printing technology and newer discoverys will ensure that POD and digital printing see further progress and evolution.

Electronic Rights and Publishing Contracts

The electronic rights covered in a book publishing agreement are ruled by several sensitive parameters that must be reviewed by both the publisher and the author so that a mutually beneficial arrangement is reached.

So what exactly do ‘electronic rights’ cover? In some cases this may merely indicate a grant of ‘electronic rights’, the entire scope of electronic publishing may not be included in the deal. What this means is that the nuances of electronic database and storage rights need to be clearly stated in the agreement to cover the entire scope of electronic publishing of the title and who retains these copyrights.

The issue of whether or not the author owns electronic rights is key, but in many cases, the author is not the sole owner of the title. This means that all quoted and third party material rights will need to be granted to the author for him/her to claim complete rights to the published title. Thus the subtleties of how these rights are established and the need to obtain the required license for other material, as also permissions and such must be legally binding in an author agreement.

The area of electronic rights publishing and electronic print on demand cover several nuances that require qualified legal assistance to avoid hassles once the contract is in place. Thus a traditional book publishing agreement which does not make a provision for electronic rights may become an issue later on. A clear agreement is in the best interest of all parties concerned and minimizes issues that arise out of uncertainties in contract terms.