Publish on Demand

Publish on Demand is a term which is mistakenly used to refer to publishing using print on demand (POD) technology. The increasing difficulties for authors to be published through traditional methods combined with the low cost of POD has caused the technology to be associated with subsidy publishers and vanity presses. Vanity and subsidy presses often intentionally confuse the terms "publishing" and "printing," the publisher being the entity that pays for the printing and dissemination of literature or information.

Unlike vanity presses, print on demand publishers register and market the book, as well as pay royalties to authors for books sold. All or part of the cost is borne by the publisher and editorial control of the work is taken as by traditional publishers. The use of the word “publishing” in this term refers to marketing and distribution of the book, and should not be confused with the vanity presses, which do not provide such services.

The “demand” aspect to this term refers to Print on Demand as a method of publishing where, rather than print hundreds of copies on a press and physically store the books, digital methods are used to store the books upon completion of editing and typesetting and anywhere from a handful to hundreds of copies are produced “on demand.”

Both traditional publishers and POD publishers pay their writers and distribute the book. As with most small presses, POD publishers sometimes share costs and sales with the author, while vanity presses print books at a cost to the writer without funding the book’s distribution or sales.