I am looking to publish a book on foster care and adoption and I have just learned about 'publish-on-demand' and I think this would be a good way to get my book into print. However, there are tons of sites that offer this service. Is there anyone out there who has had experience with this or could help guide me in choosing a reputable company that isn't a rip-off?
My understanding - I did a bit of research and a lot of listening - is that one of the best is http://www.lulu.com. The person who set it up did so after monitoring the 'rip-off merchants' and decided to do something better.
However, there is a huge difference between getting your book printed and getting it sold in shops. For a book to make it onto the bookshelves of your orthodox bookshops you really need a professional publisher with a sales force. And even if you're publishing an e-book you still have to let people know about it.
The M.D. of Lulu - I heard him being interviewed - made a point of saying that there are plenty of specialist books which it wouldn't be cost-effective for an ordinary publisher to take on, but where the author already knows that there is an (albeit limited) market for it and is already in contact with it. He gave the example of highly specialist topics where the author knows that X number of people will buy the book as and when the author tells them about it, and that's the service he's there to provide.
I hope that helps.
I've been dealing with POD and eBooks since the 90's. There's a Yahoo Group that has a lot of information from people who are going that route. The link is below. Good luck!
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Print-On-Demand
I've used two different POD companies and run a self-publishing group on writing.com:
http://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/971987
You would have to join the site to join the group, but they have free memberships and I highly recommend all that is offered there.
I love Infinity Publishing: http://www.infinitypublishing.com but http://www.lulu.com is a viable option for those who can't afford better package prices and more service. You have to do more of it yourself, but if you can figure it out, it works well.