An Incomplete Guide to POD Publishers

An Incomplete Guide to Print On Demand Publishers

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Publisher's name	Kind of contract	Manuscript Screening	Distribution	Paperback*	Hardcover*	Combo*	Color*	Royalties and discounts
Virtual Bookworm	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$360.00	$430.00	$590.00	$625.00	Royalties are 50% of net receipts. Basic discount is 30%, bulk discounts may apply.
Lulu	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$99.95	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 80% of net receipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs (a word of caution here: their direct printing costs are $3.00 more expensive than their external printing costs).
WingSpan Press	Non-Exclusive 2+2=5	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$499.00	Not Available	$699.00	$899.00	Royalties are 20% of retail price on external sales. There is a 15% fulfillment charge on direct sales. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
iUniverse	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$499.00	Not Available	$698.00	Not Available	Royalties are 20% of payments received by the publisher. Basic author discount is 20%, bulk discounts are available.
1st Books Library	This publisher has renamed itself. It is now 'AuthorHouse'.
Action Tales	This publisher has renamed itself. It is now 'ForemostPress'.
AuthorHouse	Non-Exclusive 2+2=5	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$698.00	Not Available	$1048.00	$999.00	Royalties range between 5-15% on external sales and between 10-50% on direct sales (see 2+2=5). Discount equals royalties on direct sales.
Authors Online	Unknown 2+2=5	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	£750.00	Not Available	Not Available	£750.00	Royalties are 60% of net receipts. Authors can buy copies of their own books paying their printing costs plus 25% of retail price.
Aventine Press	Non-Exclusive	No	Through online retailers mostly	$399.00	Not Available	$694.00	Not Available	Royalties are 80% of net receipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying their printing costs plus 10% of retail price.
Biblio Books (Exclusive Service)	Unknown 2+2=5	No	Their site and some online retailers	$1450.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalites are 10% (of retail price?) on external sales and 20% on direct sales and 7% on sales to libraries. You can buy your book at a discount but that discount is not disclosed.
Bookbooters	As of July 2003 this company has suspended its publishing activities.
Booklocker.com	Non-Exclusive 2+2=5	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$217.00	Not Available	Not Available	$467.00	Royalties are 35% of retail price on direct sales, 15% of retail price on extenal sales. Discount is 35% of retail price, some bulk discounts may apply.
Bookpublisher	This publisher has renamed itself. It is now 'Wheatmark'.
Bookstand Publishing	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site	$559.00	$699.00	Not Available	$929.00	30% of retail price on direct paperback sales, 15% of retail price on external hardcover sales. It is unclear whether or not paperbacks have any distribution beyond their site. Basic discount is unclear.
BookSurge Publishing	Non-Exclusive 2+2=5	No	Their site and some online retailers	$599.00	$697.00	Not Available	$699.00	Royalties are 25% of retail price on direct sales (15% for hardcovers), 10% on external sales. Discount is 30%, some bulk discounts may apply.
Cork Hill Press	This publisher is now out of business and its site is no longer available.
eBookstand	This publisher has renamed itself. It is now 'Bookstand Publishing'.
Equilibrium Books	Non-Exclusive 2+2=5	Yes	Through their site	AUD $249.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 13.5% of retail price. Discount is 27.5% of retail price as listed on their website plus royalties.
First Publish	This publisher is out of business and has been for a number of years now.
ForemostPress	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$347.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 20% of retail price on direct sales and 10% on external sales (it is unclear whether this is 10% of retail or wholesale price). Discount is 50% of retail price.
Global Book Publisher	This publisher has renamed itself. It is now 'BookSurge Publishing'.
Golden Pillar Publishing (Bronze)	Exclusive 2+2=5	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$500.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 70% of net receipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
Golden Pillar Publishing (Gold)	Exclusive 2+2=5	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$3500.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 90% of net receipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
Golden Pillar Publishing (Silver)	Exclusive 2+2=5	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$1500.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 80% of net receipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
Gom Publishing	For the time being this publisher is closed to submissions. No information about its sevices is available.
Great Unpublished	This publisher has renamed itself. It is now 'BookSurge Publishing'.
Heliographica	This publisher is out of business.
IndyPublish	They have been under a moratorium since early 2001.
Infinity Publishing	Non-Exclusive	No	Their site and some online retailers	$499.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 30% of retail price on direct sales and 15% of wholesale price on external sale (roughly 9% of retail price). Discount is 40% of retail price plus wholesale 10% royalties.
Inkwater Press	Unknown 2+2=5	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$499.00	$899.00	Not Available	$1299.00	Royalties are 40% of net receipts (25% for color books). Authors can purchase copies of their book at a 40% discount (minimum order is 12).
Instabook	Non-Exclusive	No	None	$150.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	100% of net receipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
iPublisher	This publisher has renamed itself. It is now 'Wheatmark'.
Llumina Press	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$799.00	$859.00	$999.00	$699.00	Royalties are 10% of retail price on externa sales and 30% on direct sales. Discount is 30% of retail price bulk disconts are available.
Outskirts Press (Diamond)	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$999.00	Not Available	$1198.00	Not Available	Royalties are determined by the author by choosing an amount on top of a base price. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only the base price.
Outskirts Press (Pearl)	Non-Exclusive	No	Their site and some online retailers	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	$999.00	Royalties are determined by the author by choosing an amount on top of a base price. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only the base price.
Outskirts Press (Ruby)	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$599.00	Not Available	$798.00	Not Available	Royalties are determined by the author by choosing an amount on top of a base price. Unclear how it works for direct sales. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only the base price.
Outskirts Press (Sapphire)	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$399.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are determined by the author by choosing an amount on top of a base price. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only the base price.
PageFree Publishing	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$459.00	$609.00	$659.00	$589.00	Royalties are 75% of net receipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs (these costs are higher than the ones paid by bookstores).
Pleasant Word (Blue)	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$1999.00	$1999.00	Not Available	$2999.00	Royalties are listed as 100% of net receipts but this is based on artificial figures (see comments). Discount is 62% of retail price.
Pleasant Word (Red)	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$1499.00	$1499.00	Not Available	$2249.00	Royalties are listed as 100% of net receipts but this is based on artificial figures (see comments). Discount is 60% of retail price.
Pleasant Word (White)	Non-Exclusive	Yes	None	$799.00	$799.00	Not Available	Not Available	No royalties paid as no distribution is available. Discount is 42% of retail price.
Pleasant Word (Yellow)	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$999.00	$999.00	Not Available	$1499.00	Royalties are listed as 100% of net receipts but this is based on artificial figures (see comments). Discount is 58% of retail price.
Prairie View Publishing	This publisher seems to have disappeared.
Protea Publishing	This publisher is now out of business and its site is no longer available.
Trafford (Best Seller)	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$1399.00	Not Available	Not Available	$1199.00	Royalties are 60% of gross profit (though unlike most publishers their online bookstore takes a discount, effectively profiting twice from the same sale). Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
Trafford (Entrepeneur)	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site	$999.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 60% of gross profit (this figure is misleading because, unlike most publishers, their online bookstore takes a discount, effectively profiting twice from the same sale). Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
Trafford (Legacy)	Non-Exclusive	No	None	$699.00	Not Available	Not Available	$999.00	No royalties paid as no distribution is available. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
Universal Publishers	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$495.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royalties are 20% of retail price on external sales and 40% on direct sales. No royalties are paid on the first three copies sold in each quarter. Discount is 40% of retail price, bulk discounts may apply.
Unlimited Publishing	Exclusive 2+2=5	Yes	Through online retailers mostly	$500.00	Not Available	$625.00	Not Available	Royalties are 50% of net receipts. Authors can buy their books paying their printing costs plus a small administrative fee ($1.00-$1.75 per copy depending on page count).
Wheatmark	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$799.00	Not Available	$1448.00	Not Available	Royalties are 20% of payments received by the publisher on external sales and 40% on direct sales. Discount is 40% of retail price.
WideThinker.com	This publisher seems to be out of business.
Writers' Collective, The	As of February 2005 this company no longer offers POD services, insisting instead on authors paying for an offset print-run of several thousand copies and with a price estimate approaching $20,000.00.
Writersworld	Unknown 2+2=5	No	Through online retailers mostly	£1598.00	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available	Royatlies are 100% of net recipts. Authors can purchase copies of their book paying only their printing costs.
Xlibris	Non-Exclusive	No	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$499.00	Not Available	$899.00	$999.00	Royalties are 10% of retail price on external sales, 25% of retail price on direct sales. Basic discount is 40% on paperbacks and 35% on hardcovers.
Xulon Press	Non-Exclusive	Yes	Through their site and online retailers mostly	$1499.00	Not Available	$1648.00	Not Available	Royatleis are 100% of net recipts on external sales and 75% of net receipts on direct sales. Discount is not clearly defined (up to 70% on bulk orders, not defined for a single copy).
YBK Publishers	This publisher has changed its business model and no longer qualifies to be included in this comparison.

*In most instances these figures refer to the least expensive option offered by the publisher in question.

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