Print-on-demand options?
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Can anyone recommend a print-on-demand book printer alternative to Ingram Spark and KDP? Can be anywhere in the world. Reason I'm asking is I'm working on a book (graphic novel) I'd like to self-publish. However, shipping from Canada is far too high. I thought a POD company that lists on Amazon and other book sellers around the world may be my best alternative to shipping myself.
I'd go with Ingram and KDP no problem, but they both seem to only offer 50 to 55# paper which, from what I've read, has ink bleed through the pages.
Lulu uses a thicker paper, however, they don't offer the book size I'm looking for
Hence, my search for any others in the world. -
@danielerossi first, it should be said that while print-on-demand might be a good fit if you're publishing with a very small budget, that budget-saving alternative has some tradeoffs. A POD book will not have the same high quality as a book printed on an offset press (traditional bulk printing). A lot of that is because of the printer that is used for print-on-demand -- it's a different machine that prints on different paper with different ink and uses different printing & binding techniques. A POD book will also be more expensive to produce, so your profit margins go way down. Both KDP and Ingram offer price calculators that give a realistic estimation of what the costs actually will be, and what your royalty will be per book.
While Ingram and KDP are the big players in the POD game, there are other printers that offer print-on-demand services. Usually, though, they are more costly.
Sheridan Printing Group offers print-on-demand services. While I don't have first-hand experience with their POD, a few clients of mine printed their picture books through Bang Printing, which Sheridan took over earlier this year. The books printed by Bang were high quality.
Barnes and Noble also offers print-on-demand services. However, they look to be quite expensive and I don't have personal experience so can't comment on their customer service or print quality.
Reedsy recently published this blog about PODs they recommend. Might be some information you can use there.
Based on experiences with clients using Lulu, I don't recommend their POD. (Granted, this was years ago, but from what I've read, their practices haven't changed and their print quality hasn't improved.)
