Print-on-Demand publishing offers an incredible new opportunity for writers and publishers to release books to a worldwide audience with little up-front financial risk. This group is for keeping up to date with the latest news, the best workflows, and new opportunities as they develop in the world of PoD publishing.
Digitally Printed Postes as Room Decorations (2)
Finding an extra large, extra great clarity digital poster produced might not be as difficult or even expensive as you would believe. Big digital posters are an excellent methods for beautifying your kid's room, making use of their image, their dog's image, family images or even a combination of the above mentioned. The new technologies in digital printing provide absolutely no restriction as to what can be carried out together with digital photographs. You may be accurate, innovative, or contortive in your digital layout. The best of this is you do not require expensive software program to acheive it. Photoshop Elements or even some of the current computer software enabling you to edit digital pictures is fine. Numerous offers like PhotoPlus and also Picasa 3 are free of charge to obtain from the web and provide trustworthy enhancing features.
Following are a handful of things you can do to make some great posters for your child's bedroom which will be a long lasting memory for your kids and in all probability your grand children.
Decide how many posters you would like inside your children's bedroom.
Select how large the posters shall be. The final dimensions of the posters determines the resolution which the original digital pictures must be taken in. As a result of dimensions of top quality photographic paper used in posters, you'll generally always be constrained to merely below 5 feet for one of your dimensions, but the other can go up into 100 feet. The 5 by five poster framed and held on a wall is often a striking as well as desirable center piece for every room in your home. Read more »
Four Color Prints Produces the Best Output (1)
A picture merits a lot of thoughts. Shapes, colors as well as shadows contribute to create the spirit of significance. Four Color Poster Printing is the method which makes everything achievable in a single flick of the computer mouse.
When having a full-color poster imprinted, make it the objective and also the publishing company's pursuit to do the picture justice. Do not let the complexity of the image, or the power of the feelings, and the impression of the colours become muddled up through dull printing.
Attaining high quality prints is not really like hard the way it was once. Pictures could be digitally improved in order to enhance sharpness and contrast. Graphics application can certainly change images to produce varying effects and quickly add on facts. All of this technology is in your own fingertips.
With regard to perfectionists just like you, the sole thing you might have difficulty with, is finding a printer you can depend on your posters with. Here are several issues you may want to know:
• Four-color printing on the right fingers may offer photographic good quality. Never mistake four-color printing with only having four colored print-outs or perhaps cartoon-like appearing pictures or perhaps colour quality. Alternatively, it layers four colours of inks to create a number of colours.
• Each variable data printing poster is actually imprinted 4 times; just one for each and every of the CMYK colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). Tonal values can be found throughout every print, then when combined, this shapes a photograph like print.
• Computer displays, TV screens, and a lot medium which emits light uses RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color method. Like the CMYK, that uses these kinds of three as the primary colours, combining them to generate assortment. Transforming RGB colors will not guarantee 100% precision. It usually is better to begin developing with CMYK. Read more »
How do I use Lightning Source as a distributor ?
Hi,
Can anyone help me get my head round something ?
I have set myself up as a UK publisher so I can use Lightning Source and as such have bought myself 10 ISBN numbers via Nielsen.
Nielsen have announced my book via their network so my first ISBN for my first book is now in the public domain (even though I had not finaliased the printing !) - As such it is showing up on many on-line booksellers.
I have now though accepted the proof from Lightning Source and the book is "Live" and thus in print via their POD service.
They also have announced my book through their channels.
As a customer then I would have 2 ways to get the book without knowing that there was a difference.
1) Buy it from a store that got to find out about it from Nielsen - This would mean I would get an order and would have to service that order (I don't fancy that)
2) Buy it from a store that are part of Lightning Source's distribution (Which I like as I just get the commission)
The questions is:- What do I tell Nielsen to change on their records so that ALL shops point towards Lightning Sources distribution chain ?
Can anyone help ?
Thanks,
Justin
Alternating Gutter in LSI Text Submittals
I’ve seen inconsistent text block instructions from LSI on formatting the text block file to be submitted as PDF.
They state that you can send a file with text centered on 8.5x11 pages. They also explain the divisor issue because they will be printing these up on 2-page or 4-page signature sheets. And that they work from center of your page out to the trim size.
But in a front-back print, the gutter must shift from left to right.
Above in the posts, someone got a message back from LSI that they had text in the gutter. I can only assume that this is due to sending in perfectly centered pages for all pages – no allowance for gutter.
Has anyone here who has submitted their text block to LSI had to do make sure their setup in their editor ensures alternating gutter?
Mike
Lightning Source and Localis(z)ation
I'm about to dive into the dark waters of Self-Publishing, and have placed Lightning Source (for now) at the top of my list.
However, I do have one question. They distribute to the US, UK and now Australia, and as you know, the UK and Australia uses proper English, whilst the US (no offense) use lazy English :P
Is it possible to release or submit a text to LIghtning Source in two forms: UK/Aust and US versions for the localised text?
My book is an illustrated children's book, and I am NOT going to release a book in Australia and UK without the correct spelling. At the same time, I don't want to ignore the US spelling requirements and want to ensure the book honours the requirements of each country.
All advice welcome and appreciated!
Thanks :)
Lightning Source : the new "Soup Nazi" -- NO questions allowed! No Soup For You!
Attempted to register a new publisher imprint with Lightning Source -- they provide NO online assistance with the application. Asking a question is forbidden: they are the latest SOUP NAZI : no questions! Go away! NO service for you! The process went on for over one week due to their delays. If one persists in trying to receive assistance, one is given the boot from the queue and contacted by semiliterate yahoos who tell you to read the manual. Duh! Obviously the online manual does not answer the entire universe of possible questions which arise during the online application. Lightning Source personnel cannot be reached in person and take up to 24 hours to reply to voicemail or email. There is NO assigned customer service rep until one completes the application to become a POD client. There is NO assistance for simple questions, and the application form is inherently flawed but -- do NOT ask questions! Lightning Source is ripe for a good RICO lawsuit since they control access to other small publisher services. Similar complaints are pandemic on the web re: their shoddy service and arrogant attitude.
Lightning Source in Australia
Australian publishers (such as myself!) will be very happy to hear the news that print-on-demand giant Lightning Source is setting up a facility in the land down under:
Ingram Content Group Inc. today announced it will expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific market by establishing a full-scale Lightning Source print-on-demand book manufacturing operation in Australia.
“The expansion of our Lightning Source global print solution into Australia is a significant step in the ongoing mission of Ingram Content Group to help content reach its destination swiftly and efficiently to retailers and readers worldwide,” said David “Skip” Prichard, President and CEO, Ingram Content Group. “This expansion of Ingram’s global presence, from the United Kingdom to France and now Australia, provides publishers with expanded market reach and sales opportunities, as well as makes thousands of books available quickly and affordably to booksellers and their customers.”
Great news for us Aussies!
Mike Shatzkin on Royalties
Mike Shatzkin has two interesting posts exploring the philosophies and economics of royalty percentage, as it applies to old-style publishing, print-on-demand publishing, and eBooks:
- The royalty math: print, wholesale model, agency model
- The other comparison: ebook royalties versus ebook self-publishing
Do you have anything to add?
Wall Street Journal on Espresso Book Machine
The Wall Street Journal has a recent news item discussing book retailers who have implemented the Espresso Book Machine system in their store:
Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass., installed an Espresso machine with Xerox's printer last September and prints about 1,000 books a month on it, says print-on-demand manager Bronwen Blaney.
The bookstore, which isn't affiliated with the university, makes less profit on books it prints, because the cost to print and license the book is generally higher than the cost of buying an already printed book, says Ms. Blaney. But she says it's worth it because the store is getting a sale it otherwise wouldn't.
Blackwell, a book chain in the U.K. with 40 stores, installed an Espresso machine in its London flagship store in April 2009 and is considering adding around six more machines over the next 18 months. Blackwell CEO Andrew Hutchings says his only gripe is that the selection of contemporary titles it offers isn't as robust as he'd like it to be.
Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookstore chain by revenue, doesn't have on-demand printers in stores. Analysts say that smaller bookstores have more reason to buy the in-store printers because they don't have the storage space the big chains do.
Two things come to mind. Is the EBM worth it if the profits (and publicity) don't recoup the initial cost? And conversely, is this the direction that B&N and Borders need to take in bricks and mortar stores to counter the online dominance of Amazon?
An Espresso Bookstore?
Publishing Perspectives asks: "Could You Run a Bookstore With Just an Espresso Book Machine?"
$150,000 is a large sum of money to invest in a machine, but it is not much more then a small-to-medium sized, new independent bookstore might make in its initial inventory buy-in. With the many possible uses of the Espresso Book Machine, do you then think — assuming the cost will come down even further — it will be long before we see a bookstore that exists solely as an Espresso Book Machine and assorted promotional material? Could such a store exist? Would it be successful? And what would be the inherent compromises (reliability, for one)? Perhaps of most importance, would you shop there?
What do you think?
25 Things to Know About Self Publishing
Marketing help
Has anyone used a marketing service and gotten results? I get several email offers from Global Book Services to show my book at worldwide book fares. Also the Jenkins group offers marketing. Do you know anything about these two?
The Rise of Self-Publishing
From the New York Times, no less: "The Rise of Self-Publishing.
Last year, according to the Bowker bibliographic company, 764,448 titles were produced by self-publishers and so-called microniche publishers... This is up an astonishing 181 percent from the previous year. Compare this enormous figure with the number of so-called traditional titles — books with the imprimatur of places like Random House — published that same year: a mere 288,355 (down from 289,729 the year before). Book publishing is simply becoming self-publishing.
The figures don't lie...
