What is P.O.D.?
P.O.D. most commonly stands for Print On Demand, a system used by traditional publishers utilizing digital reproduction methods in order to keep printing, warehousing and other overhead costs down. In particular, it helps traditional publishers keep older titles in print without having to print thousands of books once a book is past its prime sales life. In terms of self publishing, P.O.D. stands for Publish On Demand. Most P.O.D publishers are fee-based, meaning, like X-Presso, they charge for services. Unlike X-Presso, they also place heavy demands on the author, subject authors to restrictive contracts, create poorly-designed books, and often charge such a high price per book it too often makes it impossible for the author to sell the book for a profit. For an eye-opening discussion of P.O.D. publishing posted by the Science Fiction Writer’s of America, click here. (You can also download a .pdf version of the article here.)

Is X-presso Books a P.O.D.?
No. Nor is it a “traditional” (commercial or trade) publisher, nor is it a traditional vanity publisher. For a clear explanation, read “What is X-Presso Books”?

Does X-presso Books review each book?
Yes. While most P.O.D. and fee-based publishers will publish anything that’s not considered pornographic or hate literature, X-Presso Books reviews each book not only for content, but also for quality of that content, including whether the project needs a simple copy edit or an extensive content edit. And while we’re hardly prudes, neither X-communication nor X-Presso will help you publish anything pornographic or offensive to those of any race, religion, disability, or sexuality. We reserve the right to review each incoming manuscript and to reject those we would rather not have associated with X-communication or X-Presso Books. You can rest assured that no other book wearing an X-Presso logo will diminish your book by association.

Are there any hidden costs?
No. Some Fee-based P.O.D. publishers and vanity publishers claim they are publishing your book, then later charge you for fees hidden deep in your contract. Always keep this in mind: If you pay for the book’s production and manufacturing, you are self publishing. We’ll explain all the cots to you right up front. X-Presso may provide you with production services, give you one of its ISBNs, arrange for printing, and make your book available through its Web site and brick-and mortar store, but you are paying for the book to be designed and printed: you are self publishing in every aspect of the word. You are paying us as a service to help you facilitate the process.

Who owns the rights?
You do—all of them. Most fee-based P.O.D. publishers retain the rights of the books they produce, limiting what you can and cannot do to distribute and market your book—and may well control your book’s subsidiary rights (audio book rights, film book rights, e-book rights, etc.) for a set period of time. With X-Presso, you retain 100% of the rights to your book.

Who is responsible for editorial content?
You are—it’s your book! If you wish, we offer a variety of editorial help from our staff of freelancers, from basic proofreading for typos and punctuation usage to copyediting for grammar and style to complete content editing (essentially, a “manuscript overhaul).

Who designs the book?
We do—but always at your direction. The last thing you want is for your self-published book to look self published. We take great pride in the interior designs we’ve developed for freelance clients and national publishers. Our staff can help your book’s look complement its content, whether your work is illustrated or consists solely of text, in order to make it both beautiful and readable. And whether we develop a cover illustration ourselves, use one of yours, or work with an outside artist, X-communication can put it all together for you with a look that will help your book jump off store shelves and into the arms of readers.

Who does the printing?
A variety of commercial book printers. Depending on your book’s needs (digital printing, offset printing, or color lithography), X-presso will broker printing services for you as part of our publishing packages. After putting in all the time to create a book, the last thing you want to do is trust it to your local copy shop or even a commercial printer that does not specialize in books. X-communication will take on the task of acquiring bids from a number of quality printers in order to find the best reproduction services at the best price available—and do its best to find one close to you in order to keep shipping costs down.

How important is Marketing, Publicity, & Distribution?
We like to say that “all it takes to publish a book is money.” Of course, once you have the books, you have to sell them, and that means both getting them into stores and letting readers know your book is available. Marketing, publicity, and the right kind of distribution are absolutely vital to a book’s commercial success. To find out more about book distribution, please read “Introduction to Book Distribution.”

Do you offer distribution?
Yes…and no. If you choose one of our digital printing packages, we can make your book available to traditional and Web-based stores throughout the U.S. for no additional costs.  If you choose traditional (offset) printing, we can connect you with regional distributors, but we cannot guarantee they will take on your book. And we’ll help get you started: every X-Presso Book gets its own page on the X-presso Books Online Bookstore which will either allow readers to buy the book through us or direct them to your own site if you have one—and we offer every X-presso book for sale at our brick-and-mortar shop in Duluth’s historic Garfield News Building.

Who does the Marketing and Publicity?
You do. Whether you use a P.O.D. or X-Presso, you will be responsible for getting your book publicity. P.O.D.s will not publicize your book. But X-Presso does provide help—in fact, no other self-publishing service offers the full range of marketing and publicity services we do. We’ve successfully publicized books in regional and national newspapers and magazines, including People magazine, Time magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. We’ve arranged for authors to appear on hundreds of radio programs (from regional talk shows to National Public Radio) and regional and national television, including “Crook & Chase,” “CBS This Morning,” and “Talk Soup.” For more information, go to “Marketing Services.”

How experienced is X-presso Books?
X-communication, X-presso’s parent company, has been helping individual and organizations self publish since 1994, and our publisher has worked in the industry since 1988, creating national bestsellers like the Duct Tape books and calendars. Our staff has worked with publishers and distributors throughout the country. We’ve already learned from our own mistakes, so we can save you the trouble of making your own. And should something not go smoothly, we have the experience to help you find the best solution.