Print On demand - Free

By the end of this post, you will be able to self publish, sell and recieve money for writing your own book, without having spent a dime. Writing this post for writers like me, stumbling and taking little baby steps towards a bit of fame and a slice of the book writers' pie. Not to mention the artistic satisfaction of having written and published a book.

First, I thought self-publishing help for writers was just a hustler's avenue to making a few quick bucks off of a few unsuspecting and naive writers. But as I dig into it, it looks like there's a genuine possibility that you could write a book and self publish it, by means of a system called "print on demand".


First you write a book. Are we done yet? No? Take your time. Done? Let's move on to how to get it published. C'mon. You can't seriously expect to learn how to write a book from reading some ultra-trashy trailer trash blog, can you? You want to write a book? Start writing.


Self Publishing for book writers. Step 1 : Print on demand :-
The concept is very simple.
1. You write the book.
2. You upload your book to a print on demand ( POD ) publisher.
3. You decide and set, with a few clicks, what sort of book you want and how it should look.
4. You promote, the publisher accepts orders and payments, prints and ships the book and sends you your cut.

And you're done. As simple as that. Here's a small list of publishers who offer freelance writers free print on demand publishing:

• CafePress - When a customer orders your book, we will produce it, charge your customer, ship the book, and handle the customer service using true print-on-demand technology.
  
• Lulu.com - Lulu.com lets you publish and sell print on demand books and eBooks, online music and images, custom calendars and books. Free self-publishing.

The two publishers above will not charge you anything. You write and promote, they print and you split the profits.

Secondly, there's the question of an ISBN number and bar codes for your book. No bookstore will stock your book unless you have them. Do the above mentioned companies print your books with an ISBN number and a bar code? Yes, they do. Do other POD publishers provide one? Check first.

Book Promotion :
So what exactly are you going to do, other than write your book? You promote and publicize it. How? There's two ways and you should probably be doing both.

The first and traditional method is the old fashioned way. Word of mouth. Submit your book to book reviewers and any and all sites, magazines and publications, both online and in print, which are willing to talk about your book.

The second method is to start an affiliate program for your book. For every person or webmaster who sends you a visitor, who then buys a copy of your book, you split the profits with your affiliate. Part profit is better than no-profit.

To wrap it up, this may sound nutty, but it's true. Print on Demand is also a trademark of Cygnus Business Media, Inc. Finally, here's a couple of great resoures for POD or print on demand.
An Incomplete Guide to Print On Demand Publishers
POD-dy Mouth