Author Topic: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand  (Read 7689 times)

Gerri Attrick

[Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« on: October 31, 2018, 05:07:51 AM »
I’ve just had an email from D2D who are now offering print on demand.

Anyone else had this? Thoughts?
 

ragdoll

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2018, 05:15:57 AM »
Still in Beta and not for immediate use (or even target date) if one isn't in the Beta group, but it's a promising development.

I'm waiting to see how the royalties will be, what countries it includes, and whether there are indicators that it will be better than going to ingram in terms of likelihood of getting books into physical bookstores.


 

Leo

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2018, 05:19:06 AM »
I think it is a great service they can provide authors, POD is good for promotion, like audio.

I just sent them an email asking if I can put some of my books up as print only. My fiction series is with a publisher who has exclusive control of my ebooks but not print. I asked if I could put them up as print only books. I'll let everyone know their response.
Post-apocalypse or epic fantasy anyone?
Or perhaps tarot and astrology are more up your alley?

 
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guest819

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Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2018, 05:45:41 AM »
They do not offer ANY distribution. Your outlets have to order from them, or from you. I'm not sure that's going to be much use in the short term, but then I don't sell many PODs anyway.
 

MelanieMRodriguez

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2018, 06:23:25 AM »
I don't know what to make of it, but I already know Amazon decided to toast createspace for KDP Print on like a whim. That's what they do, change things on a whim. So, I don't know what it could do in the future but I think it'd be good to have a non Amazon owned set of print books as well in the back pocket.

I signed up for the waiting list.
 

She-la-te-da

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2018, 06:44:24 AM »
I got the email, haven't looked into it further. If they could do decent print and didn't have the issues KDP has, it would be nice but I don't see the point if they have no distribution?
I write various flavors of speculative fiction. This is my main pen name.

 

Leo

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2018, 06:59:56 AM »
I got the email, haven't looked into it further. If they could do decent print and didn't have the issues KDP has, it would be nice but I don't see the point if they have no distribution?

They are aggregators, they provide a catalogue of books, audiobooks, print books, etc. I find them useful and make a little cash through D2D, I can't complain. Marketing and promotions are the independent author's job although we'd much prefer someone do it for us.

I think POD through D2D is just another opportunity to get eyes on my books and visibility is everything.
Post-apocalypse or epic fantasy anyone?
Or perhaps tarot and astrology are more up your alley?

 

ragdoll

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #7 on: October 31, 2018, 07:35:20 AM »
Adding that I think certain retailers would be likely to include them in their online print offerings, like B&N (despite having it's own POD facility) and Books-A-Million. I would hope D2D will pursue developing a relationship with automatic listings provided to those outlets.
 

Maggie Ann

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #8 on: October 31, 2018, 08:45:25 AM »
It sounds as if they will be doing for print formatting what they do for ebook formatting. If that's the case, I may use them for any new work. Mostly I do POD so I have my own books on my own bookshelf.
           
 

LilyBLily

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2018, 09:49:33 AM »
A surprising number of people have bought my women's fiction books at $16.99. Maybe they really do take them to the beach. grint

I have no interest in my books being in physical bookstores, but some people are reporting having problems with KDP print, and an alternative is a good idea. An alternative to Ingram, too, although it seems to have decided it won't get the indie business if it pecks us to death with fees; their current discount runs through the end of December.

But there's no reason not to go through D2D. POD is POD and D2D will probably use the same printers Amazon does. If Amazon laid off its CreateSpace staff--quite possible--those people might have been hired by D2D and know what they are doing. One can hope.
 

RappaDizzy

Draft2Digital is thrilled to announce D2D Print!
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2018, 09:59:12 AM »
Got an email today & looking forward to not having to use Amazon  :clap:

Right now we are beta testing our new print on demand (POD) service,
finding and eliminating any bugs and technical challenges, and making
this a resource that will help you expand your author business in an
exciting way!

Unlike some POD services,

**D2D Print** will have

**no upgrade fees, no recurring fees, and low-cost author copies**.

We'll also offer some pretty amazing features, including:

*

**Cover Converter**-If you need a print-ready version of your eBook
cover, we'll generate one for you automatically!

*

**Cover Templates**-If you want to supply your own existing print
cover, you can use our free cover templates to ensure it is the perfect
size and dimensions

*

**A variety of trim sizes**-All of the POD industry-standard trim
sizes are here

*

**Widow & Orphan Control**-If you use our auto-generated interior we
can help keep the weird line breaks and pesky widowed and orphaned text
to a minimum

*

**All the choices you're used to**-Matte or glossy finish for your
cover, cream or white paper for your interior, a free ISBN from D2D or
bring your own-we have you covered!

*

**Brick & Mortar Distribution**-Physical bookstores will be able to
order copies of your books, to place on their shelves.

****

**NOTE:**

**This does not mean your books will automatically be available in
physical bookstores. You will need to request that a store order and
carry your books, and they can order them through their regular
channels. Draft2Digital does not distribute directly to physical
bookstores.**

And of course, you'll get our famous author support and customer
service, to help you the whole way!

The beta test for this service is in full swing, and though we can't
immediately add everyone we do have a waiting list you can join! If you
would like to be considered for addition to the beta, please click the
button below-

I WANT TO JOIN THE WAITING LIST! 

We believe D2D Print will make it easier for authors to expand their
catalogs to include paperback books with just a few clicks. It's never
been this easy.

If you have any questions, please contact us at
support@draft2digital.com .

Happy writing,

**The Draft2Digital Team**
 
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Leo

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2018, 11:31:02 AM »
I think it is a great service they can provide authors, POD is good for promotion, like audio.

I just sent them an email asking if I can put some of my books up as print only. My fiction series is with a publisher who has exclusive control of my ebooks but not print. I asked if I could put them up as print only books. I'll let everyone know their response.

This is the D2D reply, I am quite satisfied to go with them for POD Print.

"Once we offer our print solution, you will have the option to list it in print only without also distributing in digital format.

We used to offer publication in print through CreateSpace, but phased them out once they announced they were moving under KDP for print... Often times, authors aren't expecting high sales from print listings, but still want the option to give out signed author copies to ARC readers, family, friends, or at conferences at part of their marketing strategy.

Best Regards,"
Post-apocalypse or epic fantasy anyone?
Or perhaps tarot and astrology are more up your alley?

 

A. N. Onymous

Re: Draft2Digital is thrilled to announce D2D Print!
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2018, 11:44:13 AM »
Yep, got their email today as well. I will be following their progress with interest. Especially, if they send proofs and author copies to Australia. I don't mind having my own ISBNs and ABN, required for IS, but I don't like their set-up fees and revision fees. I know there are promo periods for avoiding the set-up fees, but I don't like having to wait for them.
 
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guest819

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Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2018, 06:17:54 PM »

But there's no reason not to go through D2D. POD is POD and D2D will probably use the same printers Amazon does. If Amazon laid off its CreateSpace staff--quite possible--those people might have been hired by D2D and know what they are doing. One can hope.

You will still be adding a 10% partner to the book chain. If a book is already expensive via POD (most are) then adding an extra layer of profit taking is going to leave you with that much less. IMO
 

Michelle Louring

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Re: Draft2Digital is thrilled to announce D2D Print!
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2018, 07:52:39 PM »
This sounds very promising.
If for nothing else to have someone offering the same features as KDP Print. I'm not saying having more competition will get Amazon to up their game a little and be faster about fixing stuff, but a girl can hope!


Crazy owl lady. I also occasionally write Fantasy books, but the owl is really all anyone cares about.

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Jo

Re: Draft2Digital is thrilled to announce D2D Print!
« Reply #15 on: October 31, 2018, 08:00:45 PM »
Yes, I wonder whether they plan on taking up where Createspace will leave.
Jo
 

Mark Gardner

Re: Draft2Digital is thrilled to announce D2D Print!
« Reply #16 on: October 31, 2018, 10:32:35 PM »
Hmmmm.... No email here, but I'm very interested in the service.

I'm dubious that their per-unit cost will be lower than CS, KDP or IS, but I welcome the alternative, especially if they have saddle stitching available.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2018, 10:41:09 PM by Grim Gardner »
 

YouMeWe

Re: Draft2Digital is thrilled to announce D2D Print!
« Reply #17 on: October 31, 2018, 10:48:54 PM »
Exciting times!
Pleez scoose n e errers, eyes lerrnin diktashun.
 

Mark Gardner

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2018, 10:58:14 PM »
I'm interested.

I sell quite a few paperbacks while attending conventions, festivals and fairs. To me it's all about the per-unit cost and a return on investment. With Createspace, a 300-page 5x8 with white or cream pages is $4.50. I amortize my shipping across all units, and have come up with a per-unit cost of $5.00. I price my paperbacks at $14.99, so I'm left with a margin of $9.99. I don't offer discounts at shows, so I know how many books I need to sell at an event to break even. I offer to drop-ship units with a 33% discount ($9.99), and still make a per-unit profit of $5.00.

Unless D2D is at this price point or better, and their refund policy is as generous as Createspace, I won't be switching.
 

Denise

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #19 on: November 01, 2018, 02:06:13 AM »
I wonder who'll distribute for them, though? I didn't see this anywhere.

Ingram, like KDP? Or are they going to use a different distributor? I'm curious.

Simon Haynes

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #20 on: November 01, 2018, 03:14:43 AM »
Hmm. Any idea on whether they ship to Australia?  We poorer cousins can't order author copies from Amazon any more, and I'm definitely not going through Ingrams again.

 

ragdoll

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #21 on: November 01, 2018, 04:10:22 AM »
Non-sequitur of sorts, but is it not possible to use the ingramspark calculator to find out what your author compensation would be without creating an account with them and giving them ALL your information to include payment information when you have yet to buy any services from them?

That kind of policy (sales tactic that forces a relationship before you ever decide to deal with them) will keep me from using IngramSpark. Without being logged in, you can download a tool from KDP Print (https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201834340). So why must IS hide the ball?
 

Tom Wood

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #22 on: November 01, 2018, 04:14:35 AM »
IS provides several calculators that do not require an account login:

https://myaccount.ingramspark.com/Portal/Tools/PubCompCalculator
 

ragdoll

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #23 on: November 01, 2018, 04:26:02 AM »
IS provides several calculators that do not require an account login:

https://myaccount.ingramspark.com/Portal/Tools/PubCompCalculator

Thank you, Tom. But I tried those before posting above using my macbook on safari, firefox and chrome. In all cases, it won't accept any trim-size as valid or any page count. Those boxes remain red no matter what I put in them. (And a 5x8 at 300 pages should always work IMO.) When I hit calculate, it tells me I have those two errors. That's when I figured it might be an issue of not being logged in.

The only problem I generally have with my mac software is with flashplayer (like the interior file previewer for CS/KDP-P, but that works for me if I use firefox). So I don't know why the IS calculator won't work for me. I'll try on my two tablets, one still IOS, the other Android.
 

Tom Wood

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #24 on: November 01, 2018, 04:38:23 AM »
Weird.

I remember them not working on my Android phone, but they work from a PC desktop running Chrome.
 

notthatamanda

Re: Draft2Digital is thrilled to announce D2D Print!
« Reply #25 on: November 01, 2018, 09:01:19 PM »


Even if their customer service and product are excellent, what do they bring to the table that IngramSpark doesn't? Ingram has had bookstore distribution sewed up for decades, so how could D2D possibly help there?

Print on demand for Walmart, I hope.  I have no evidence that they are going to, just hope.  I've asked Kobo and Lulu if they had any plans, both said no.  Not that the reps I asked necessarily could have, or would have, told me if they had plans, but I did ask.


 

Alice Sabo

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #26 on: November 03, 2018, 07:37:30 AM »
They do not offer ANY distribution. Your outlets have to order from them, or from you. I'm not sure that's going to be much use in the short term, but then I don't sell many PODs anyway.

For print, the term "distribution" is a little different I think. They get you into catalogs that bookstores order from. No one automatically ships print books to stores, as far as I know. So your local indy or Barnes & Noble, etc might order a couple to have on hand if they think there will be interest. Otherwise it's up to the customer to order the print book through their bookstore.
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notthatamanda

Re: POD via D2D
« Reply #27 on: November 03, 2018, 10:12:23 AM »
They do not offer ANY distribution. Your outlets have to order from them, or from you. I'm not sure that's going to be much use in the short term, but then I don't sell many PODs anyway.

For print, the term "distribution" is a little different I think. They get you into catalogs that bookstores order from. No one automatically ships print books to stores, as far as I know. So your local indy or Barnes & Noble, etc might order a couple to have on hand if they think there will be interest. Otherwise it's up to the customer to order the print book through their bookstore.

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't know anything about that.  I don't expect to ever have physical books in brick and morter stores.  Of course if that happens, I won't complain.  For Walmart I'm hoping they'll eventually offer hard cover or paper back that can be ordered on Walmart.com and printed on demand and shipped directly to the customer, like Amazon does, unless I misunderstood how that works, entirely possible.  There are still people who prefer a book over an ebook.
 

Leo

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #28 on: November 03, 2018, 10:17:24 AM »
Hmm. Any idea on whether they ship to Australia?  We poorer cousins can't order author copies from Amazon any more, and I'm definitely not going through Ingrams again.

Simon, I can only imagine that they provide the print copy via the company that you purchase through. I'm not sure if they offer discounted author copies.
Post-apocalypse or epic fantasy anyone?
Or perhaps tarot and astrology are more up your alley?

 

Wonder

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #29 on: November 07, 2018, 06:22:07 AM »
I'd love it if D2D provided a method for authors to sell paperbacks directly through their own websites.  Once you've set up a POD system, all you'd need is some sort of sales integration, either a packaged storefront or a Wordpress plugin.

Wonder
 

lyndabelle

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #30 on: November 07, 2018, 06:50:57 AM »
I'm so frustrated with KDP and the Createspace merge, I don't really want to use their print service. I'm very excited to see this new service for D2D. I hope it goes through beta fast. I will be wanting to do some new releases in print next year.
 

She-la-te-da

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #31 on: November 07, 2018, 11:56:05 PM »
I got the email, haven't looked into it further. If they could do decent print and didn't have the issues KDP has, it would be nice but I don't see the point if they have no distribution?

They are aggregators, they provide a catalogue of books, audiobooks, print books, etc. I find them useful and make a little cash through D2D, I can't complain. Marketing and promotions are the independent author's job although we'd much prefer someone do it for us.

I think POD through D2D is just another opportunity to get eyes on my books and visibility is everything.

Thanks, but I know what D2D is and how it works. I have books out through them. What I was wondering, and I think others are as well, is what do we do with the POD books? Will they go through some channel where people can order them? Can we offer them on some site like we do the ebooks?

A lot of people are quick to jump on the latest thing without seeing if it is worthwhile. Maybe this is a way to break Amazon's hold on print books. I don't know. I haven't seen anyone who does, or how this thing is supposed to work.
I write various flavors of speculative fiction. This is my main pen name.

 

Bill Hiatt

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Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #32 on: November 08, 2018, 02:13:29 AM »
I got the email, haven't looked into it further. If they could do decent print and didn't have the issues KDP has, it would be nice but I don't see the point if they have no distribution?

They are aggregators, they provide a catalogue of books, audiobooks, print books, etc. I find them useful and make a little cash through D2D, I can't complain. Marketing and promotions are the independent author's job although we'd much prefer someone do it for us.

I think POD through D2D is just another opportunity to get eyes on my books and visibility is everything.

Thanks, but I know what D2D is and how it works. I have books out through them. What I was wondering, and I think others are as well, is what do we do with the POD books? Will they go through some channel where people can order them? Can we offer them on some site like we do the ebooks?

A lot of people are quick to jump on the latest thing without seeing if it is worthwhile. Maybe this is a way to break Amazon's hold on print books. I don't know. I haven't seen anyone who does, or how this thing is supposed to work.
Those are definitely good questions. I ended up going with KDP Print myself (despite my earlier reservations), but someone who is interested should probably just ask D2D and see what response they get. In my experience, D2D is usually fairly helpful when contacted. It makes more sense to do that than to keep speculating among ourselves with no real evidence to go on.

I think it is possible to say with some justification based on experience that the D2D folks typically know what they're doing. If I had to guess, I would imagine they'd distribute through someone like IS that already has the infrastructure rather than trying to build their own. They know they have to have a mechanism for making the book available. The terms might be better than what they were doing before (going through CS) because there's one less middleman.

As far as mechanisms for things like allowing authors to sell from their websites, I'm pretty sure if that was included in the package, D2D would be advertising that like crazy. That doesn't mean they won't do it in the future, and emails suggesting authors would like that might help. (Authors have been expressing themselves about being able to get into store promotions, and recently D2D got D2D authors into a couple of Kobo store promotions, so it appears D2D is listening.

For those of you who really want to sell paperbacks from your own site, for the moment I'd suggest Aerio. If you've never heard of it, it's a website bookstore provided purchased a while ago by IS. I tried it before deciding it might not be for me. (Your books will always be cheaper on Amazon than what you can do through Aerio.) That said, Aerio has no setup fee, at least the last time I looked, handles all the things you'd expect, like payment processing and shipping, let's you set the price, and can be used to sell other books as well. Setting up titles is kind of a pain (you have to do one at a time), but you can also enable a search box that lets customers search the entire IS catalog. If they buy through your site, you get a standard piece of the sale price. (You can't set the price with a global IS search.) If you have enough site traffic, you'll probably make a little money that way.



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She-la-te-da

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #33 on: December 05, 2018, 12:05:40 AM »
I just received a reply from D2D.

They will not have their own PoD equipment but will outsource the work.

That makes sense. It would be expensive and time-consuming to set up a print facility. Why not just outsource it?

I can't conceive of what possible advantage it would be to use D2D for print books. I am completely baffled by why they are even doing this.

Probably because writers keep asking them for things, and for competitors for Amazon, and they want to find another revenue stream. If they can distribute books widely while allowing us to make a profit, I'd say it's a good thing. We'll have to wait and see if it turns out to be better than Amazon after the Create Space fiasco, but it's going to take a while.


I write various flavors of speculative fiction. This is my main pen name.

 

Bill Hiatt

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Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #34 on: December 05, 2018, 01:47:19 AM »
I just received a reply from D2D.

They will not have their own PoD equipment but will outsource the work.

I can't conceive of what possible advantage it would be to use D2D for print books. I am completely baffled by why they are even doing this.
She-la-te-da is correct. I'll also mention another reason: D2D has been offering POD for years through Createspace. In this case, what they're doing is simply finding a replacement. I'd expect them to outsource printing and distribution. They've been doing that for years. A positive difference, however, is that Amazon outsources, too. I don't know how it handle printing now, but it certainly uses distributors to get the books distributed outside the Amazon ecosystem. Going through CS, as D2D used to do, meant CS was getting a piece, the distributors were getting a piece, and the storefronts were getting a piece. Depending on how D2D handles the process, distributors will get a piece, and storefronts will get a piece. Amazon no longer gets an automatic piece, except as one of the storefronts. Therefore, royalties might be slightly higher because one middleman has been eliminated. Until people are actually using the system, we won't know for sure, but that's my educated guess.


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123mlh

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #35 on: December 05, 2018, 06:06:52 AM »
I can't conceive of what possible advantage it would be to use D2D for print books. I am completely baffled by why they are even doing this.

For me it's that I could do discounting for bookstores without having to invest in ISBNs since D2D will provide those for free.
 

Tom Wood

Re: [Merged] Draft2Digital announces Print on Demand
« Reply #36 on: December 05, 2018, 07:06:38 AM »
No middlemen are being eliminated. CS is being replaced another PoD, probably Lightning Source. So the PoD gets a piece. D2D gets a piece. The distributor gets a piece. The storefront gets a piece.

If you want to eliminate a middleman outside the Amazon umbrella, use IngramSpark, not D2D.

I think all the alternate routes end up going through IngramSpark (IS) anyway, even KDP when it comes to expanded distribution. What the alternate routes are doing is adding themselves (and taking a cut) as a buffer so people can avoid dealing with IngramSpark's tougher direct-distribution requirements - Your own ISBN, an annual market access fee per book, and a per-revision fee to discourage ill-considered submissions. KDP/D2D/CS-clones have likely cut a deal with IS whereby they will handle the messy part of interacting with authors and setting up the titles so that all IS has to do is list the titles in their catalog. Since a single ISBN costs $125, but KDP and D2D can buy them in blocks of 1000 for $1 each, the maths start heading their way from the start.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2018, 07:27:35 AM by Tom Wood »