Print on demand: how books are printed one at a time
For most of publishing history, a book had to be printed in thousands before it could be sold. Print on demand reversed that. How it works, what it changed, and where it still falls short.
The old way: offset printing and the print run
Traditional book printing uses offset lithography. Each page image is transferred to a metal plate, the plates are mounted on a press, and ink is offset from the plate onto a rubber blanket and then onto large sheets of paper, which are folded, trimmed and bound. Setting up the press is expensive; running it is cheap. The more copies printed in one run, the lower the cost of each one.
That economics shaped the whole trade. A publisher had to guess how many copies a book would sell, print that many or more, pay to store them, ship them to shops that could return unsold copies, and pulp what was left. A wrong guess in one direction meant warehouses of unsold books; in the other, a book that sold out and could not be reprinted quickly enough. When demand for an older title fell below the level that justified another run, the book went "out of print", sometimes for good.
How print on demand works
Print on demand (POD) uses digital printing presses, which work more like very fast, industrial versions of office laser or inkjet printers. There are no plates. The press prints directly from a digital file, so the setup cost for one copy is close to the setup cost for a thousand. A typical POD workflow looks like this:
- The publisher uploads two files: a print-ready PDF of the interior and a PDF of the cover, including the spine and back.
- The printer's system stores the files and makes the book available to retailers and wholesalers, listed as if it were in stock.
- A customer orders the book from a retailer.
- The order reaches the printer, which prints the interior, prints and laminates the cover, binds the book (usually as a perfect-bound paperback, often also as a case-bound hardback), trims it and ships it, sometimes within a day or two.
Nothing is printed until it is sold, so there are no unsold copies to store or pulp.
What it changed
Books stopped going out of print
For publishers, POD made it economical to keep slow-selling backlist titles available indefinitely. A book that sells a few copies a year can remain on sale as a POD title rather than disappearing. That has been good for readers of specialist subjects and for authors whose earlier books would otherwise have vanished. It has also complicated contracts: many publishing agreements let rights revert to the author when a book goes out of print, and authors' organisations have pushed for out-of-print clauses that depend on sales levels rather than on whether a copy can technically be printed.
Self-publishing became practical in print
Before POD, an author who wanted printed copies had to pay for a print run and find somewhere to keep the boxes. POD removed that barrier. It is the reason a self-published paperback can be listed alongside books from large publishers, and it underpins the print side of most self-publishing services.
Small presses and academic publishers could take more risks
Small presses, university presses and academic publishers, whose books often sell in modest numbers, can publish titles that would never justify an offset run, and can print short runs digitally for events or courses.
Printing moved closer to readers
Because the file can be sent anywhere, a book can be printed in the country where it is ordered, cutting shipping time and cost. A few bookshops and libraries have even installed in-store printing machines, such as the Espresso Book Machine, that can print and bind a paperback while a customer waits, though these have remained uncommon.
The limits of print on demand
- Unit cost. Each POD copy costs more to produce than a copy from a large offset run. For a book that will sell in large numbers, offset printing is still cheaper, and large publishers use it for their bestsellers.
- Retail price and margin. The higher unit cost, plus the discount retailers and wholesalers need, squeezes what the author or publisher earns, and can push the retail price of a POD book above that of a comparable mass-market paperback.
- Quality and options. Digital printing quality has improved a great deal, and for plain text most readers will not notice the difference. But choices of paper, trim size, binding and finishes are narrower than with offset printing, and colour printing, especially for photographs and art, is more expensive and less consistent.
- Bookshop stocking. Being available to order is not the same as being on the shelf. Shops buy books they expect to sell and want to be able to return the ones they do not. Many POD books are offered on terms, such as low discounts or no returns, that make shops reluctant to stock them. See how bookselling works.
- Proof copies matter. Errors in the file go straight to print. Always order a printed proof before approving a POD book for sale.
POD, short runs and offset: choosing
| Method | Best for | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Print on demand | Uncertain demand, backlist, self-publishing, books that sell slowly over many years | Higher cost per copy, fewer production options |
| Short-run digital | Hundreds of copies for events, launches, courses or a cautious first printing | You hold the stock |
| Offset | Large runs, illustrated and colour books, special editions | Large upfront cost and the risk of unsold copies |
Many publishers combine them: an offset run for the launch, then POD to keep the book available once sales slow. For the wider business context, see how trade publishing works.
Environmental questions
Print on demand is often described as greener because it avoids printing books that are later pulped. That is a real benefit. But the comparison is not simple: per copy, digital printing and single-copy shipping can use more energy and packaging than a large, efficient offset run sent in bulk. The honest answer is that it depends on how many copies a book would otherwise have wasted, and on where it is printed relative to the reader.
Sources and further reading
- IngramSpark (print-on-demand and distribution service; file requirements).
- Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (paperback and hardcover printing help pages).
- Authors Guild (guidance on out-of-print and rights reversion clauses).