Print On Demand

so you want to be a poet

Poetry is one of the smallest genres in terms of book sales yet to write you have to read. Right now poetry is in chaos, the web has changed the balance between poets, publishers and readers. Perhaps the most revolutionary change is POD (Print on Demand), this is where the poet manages to retain a decent slice of any earnings from sales, however meagre.

Beware, there all kinds of companies posing as POD specialists, even pretending to be publishers yet many are using the same backend printer.

Writing poetry is a job ...maybe you can jump up in the middle of the night write it all down and in the morning it looks perfect, can it be improved ? will somebody somewhere take solace from what you have written, will it make people laugh, cry, sad or angry. Writing poetry is a gift, it is an affliction, it is rarely perfect, it improves with practice and polish.

Do You Have Patience ?

A famous poet - Suinbai Aronuly (1815-1898) on 3 Tenge 1993 Banknote from Kazakhstan

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Print On Demand - My Recommendations

Thomson-Shore a company with a great reputation;-
On Lighting Source and Thompson Shore you will find all the material you need to educate yourself about POD. Yes yes I know it seems like work, do you expect that someone will 'discover' you without work.
Lighting Source a print on demand specialist
I could add dozens more here (and might) but these are my top 2 picks

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Points to Remember

POD allows you to become familar with the technology, either directly or via an 'expert' you pay to do it for you.

A small run via POD may not be as lucrative as you might like yet;-

it provides you with a product to sell.
It allows you to do your own 'signings'.
It can help open doors to sales deals.
It is a serious boost to the morale.

Overall it is more promotional than emotional.

Think outside the Box

One method of Do It Yourself POD is the trusty pamphlet, which is making a comeback here in Europe simply because it is cheap, less than a packet of cigarettes in many countries...

or Make it a Very Limited Edition, numbered, perhaps 300 or 500..

The Traditional Route

..on the other side of the coin is the traditional route, you slave and slave and build your profile and following and exposure... BUT.. if you look at the sales figure detail here it just might be worth it over the longer term. In my mind POD opens that door to other opportunities, as long as it is approached professional and the end product is not balderdash, the balderdash quotient of any given publication is of course highly subjective... ;-)

Source of Above Sales Table

Report on contemporary poetry sector in England and Wales 2010
This is a very interesting report on behalf of the independent, Arts Council supported publishing sector by three publishers from that sector, with input from many relevant parties.