Are there any other free self-publishing POD services besides Amazon KDP and Lulu?

maggiee19 · Nov 5, 2018

Hi

I was wondering if any of you guys knew if there are any other free self-publishing POD services besides Amazon KDP and Lulu. I have tried them both, but I want something different. I remember when there was Wordclay and CreateSpace is not open anymore. What are my other options?

maggie.

Marissa D · Nov 5, 2018

If you're publishing in the US, Barnes and Noble has a print option. I've also been hearing rumors about Draft2Digital branching into print. And there's always IngramSpark, which theoretically charges $49 to upload to but for which discount codes for free uploads are almost always available.

Jason · Nov 5, 2018

I remember from my background with photography a company called Blurb that does photobooks.

http://www.blurb.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blurb,_Inc.

It looks like there either is or used to be a plugin for Word, so it would logically extend the likelihood that they do POD for writers too...

maggiee19 · Nov 6, 2018

Thank you so much for the help. I currently don't have $49, so I need a free POD service. These POD services charge my buyers too much for my books. I have a 6x9 book that's only 350 pages and it's $16.50 for my buyers, and then I have a pocket book of the same series that's $16.02. I was looking for a company that would charge my books just a bit less per copy. Nobody wants to buy my POD books because they're so expensive. That's the only problem I have with Amazon KDP and Lulu.

Al X. · Nov 6, 2018

maggiee19 said:
Thank you so much for the help. I currently don't have $49, so I need a free POD service. These POD services charge my buyers too much for my books. I have a 6x9 book that's only 350 pages and it's $16.50 for my buyers, and then I have a pocket book of the same series that's $16.02. I was looking for a company that would charge my books just a bit less per copy. Nobody wants to buy my POD books because they're so expensive. That's the only problem I have with Amazon KDP and Lulu.

The nature of POD is that it is expensive, and there is not too much you can do about that. You might find someone that will do it for a little bit less per copy, but only a little bit less. One thing I might suggest is that you review your book layout and font size. If you can reduce the page count without going to a ridiculously small font, e.g. 12 point to 11, possibly even 10, you could significantly reduce your printing costs.

AW Admin · Nov 6, 2018

maggiee19 said:
Thank you so much for the help. I currently don't have $49, so I need a free POD service. These POD services charge my buyers too much for my books. I have a 6x9 book that's only 350 pages and it's $16.50 for my buyers, and then I have a pocket book of the same series that's $16.02. I was looking for a company that would charge my books just a bit less per copy. Nobody wants to buy my POD books because they're so expensive. That's the only problem I have with Amazon KDP and Lulu.

Learn about typesetting. I'm serious. You can make a readable, aesthetically pleasing book and take less pages for the same amount of text, if you typeset properly.

It won't cut the price in half or anything, but it will save a few dollars.

cool pop · Nov 6, 2018

Draft2Digital

maggiee19 · Nov 6, 2018

Al X. said:
The nature of POD is that it is expensive, and there is not too much you can do about that. You might find someone that will do it for a little bit less per copy, but only a little bit less. One thing I might suggest is that you review your book layout and font size. If you can reduce the page count without going to a ridiculously small font, e.g. 12 point to 11, possibly even 10, you could significantly reduce your printing costs.

Thanks. I will try that.

AW Admin said:
Learn about typesetting. I'm serious. You can make a readable, aesthetically pleasing book and take less pages for the same amount of text, if you typeset properly.

It won't cut the price in half or anything, but it will save a few dollars.

I have to do my research to know how to do that.

cool pop said:
Draft2Digital

Thanks. I will look into that.

Jason · Nov 6, 2018

Sorry, I missed the "free" part of the request for info on POD...not sure about other options, but would agree that font parameters and typesetting can reduce page counts to save a few bucks. And, as others said, don't go crazy with it and make it unreadable...that's where Google is your friend. I've not vetted these, but just a quick Google search yielded some results like these that show promise:

https://blog.reedsy.com/what-is-typesetting/
https://www.designersinsights.com/designer-resources/learn-to-typeset-like-a-true-print-designer/
https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/5-tips-for-better-typesetting
https://study.com/learn_to_be_a_typesetter.html
https://1106design.com/2016/01/how-to-typeset-a-book/

Al X. · Nov 6, 2018

As far as I know, the D2D POD service has not been rolled out yet. I'm on the beta waiting list. But unless I can submit a formatted PDF like KDP print, I probably won't bite.

maggiee19 · Nov 6, 2018

Jason said:
Sorry, I missed the "free" part of the request for info on POD...not sure about other options, but would agree that font parameters and typesetting can reduce page counts to save a few bucks. And, as others said, don't go crazy with it and make it unreadable...that's where Google is your friend. I've not vetted these, but just a quick Google search yielded some results like these that show promise:

https://blog.reedsy.com/what-is-typesetting/
https://www.designersinsights.com/designer-resources/learn-to-typeset-like-a-true-print-designer/
https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/5-tips-for-better-typesetting
https://study.com/learn_to_be_a_typesetter.html
https://1106design.com/2016/01/how-to-typeset-a-book/

Thanks. I will check those out.

Al X. said:
As far as I know, the D2D POD service has not been rolled out yet. I'm on the beta waiting list. But unless I can submit a formatted PDF like KDP print, I probably won't bite.

Thanks.

Are there any other free self-publishing POD services besides Amazon KDP and Lulu?

maggiee19

Marissa D

Scribe of the girls in the basement

Jason

Ideas bounce around in my head

maggiee19

Al X.

AW Admin

cool pop

It's Cool, Miss Pop if You're Nasty

maggiee19

Jason

Ideas bounce around in my head

Al X.

maggiee19