September 12, 2007

POD SECRETS REVEALED: Tempted by "Free" Author Copies Offered by Your POD Publisher? Don't Be Fooled! By Angela Hoy
printable version

I am often asked by authors how many free copies of books they'll receive if they publish with Booklocker.com, which I co-own. I then have to explain to authors that, when a POD publisher offers "free" copies, those copies are anything but free. The cost of those copies are usually grossly inflated, and they're built into your setup fees without your knowledge. They may even be priced higher than if you'd purchased them separately!

Here's how it works. When a POD publisher signs a new author, they offer a bunch of bells and whistles up front, hoping to lure the author into their clutches. Offering "free" copies may look like a great deal. But, what you'll likely find is that not falling for that "free copies" deal will probably save you money later. The POD publisher hopes you'll fall for the "free" copies offer because, while they HOPE you'll buy copies from them after your book is published, there's really no way to FORCE you to do so, other than to offer "FREE" copies. If they offer 5 "free" copies, or even 40 "free" copies, they've built the cost of those "free" copies into your setup fee, thus forcing you to buy those 5 or 40 copies.

Let's look at the cost of these "free" copies at the major POD publishing houses:

NOTE: Setup fees below are based on the least expensive package offered by each publisher on similar offers targeting U.S. authors. Fees include setup, original cover design, print proof, ebook creation, up to 25 interior photos/graphics, an ISBN, barcode, a listing on the publisher's website and distribution by Ingram, all within 6 weeks. Book prices below based on a 248-page, 6 x 9 paperback with black and white interior and a full-color cover.

AuthorHouse - $1567.00 Setup
GOOD NEWS - No "free" copies
BAD NEWS - Their fees are so high it really doesn't matter anyway. AuthorHouse does not publish its author discounts online and one new author in particular had a dickens of a time getting this information out of them. To see why we don't know exactly how much those 5 copies will cost, read THIS ARTICLE.

iUniverse - $599.00 Setup (NOTE: This company was just purchased by AuthorHouse so don't be surprised if this price goes up in the near future.) Includes 5 "free" copies. If you compare this to Booklocker's setup fee below, you can see these 5 "free" copies actually cost the author more than $20 each! If you purchased those 5 copies separately, they would have cost you $9.87-$12.07 each (depending on your list price), plus shipping. This is a 45% discount off the list price. After you place your initial author order, future small orders will only get a 30% discount.

Xlibris - $1383.00 Setup
Includes 5 "free" copies. If you purchased those 5 copies on your own, after publication, they'd have cost you $15.39 each, plus shipping.

Lulu - $595.00 Setup
Includes one print proof. If you want to buy 5 copies of your book, they'll cost you $11.39 each ($9.49 plus Lulu's 20% profit.), plus shipping. (Note: Lulu.com claims their services are "free." However, they refer authors to third-party service providers and Lulu.com then profits from those transactions.)

Booklocker.com - $492.00 Setup (deduct $175 if submitting your own cover) Includes one print proof. If you want to buy 5 copies of your book, they'll cost you $9.72 each, plus shipping.

NOTE: The author prices above are for low-quantity purchases (5 copies only). If you purchase additional copies, you can get lower unit prices. To see the author discounts for the publishers above for orders of 100 copies, click HERE.

Here's my take on this "free" copy business. If you want to buy copies of your own book, that's fine. If you don't want to (or can't afford to) buy copies, you shouldn't be forced to do so by paying inflated setup fees. At Booklocker.com, we don't force authors to buy copies of their own books by masquerading them as "free" while inflating the setup fees. We just don't do business that way.