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Print on demand

Publishing process

Also called: POD

Manufacturing a book only after someone orders it. There is no print run, no inventory, and no minimum quantity — and the per-copy cost is the same whether you sell one or a thousand.

Traditional printing works on economies of scale: you commit to a run, pay up front, and the per-copy cost falls as the run grows. Print on demand removes both the commitment and the discount. Each copy is manufactured when it is bought.

That trade is overwhelmingly favourable for a self-publisher. Nobody has to guess demand, nothing sits in a garage, and a book that sells four copies costs nothing to have kept in print. The price is a higher per-copy cost than a large offset run, which only matters if you were realistically going to sell that run.

It also changes what a correction costs. Fixing a typo means uploading a new interior file, after which every subsequent copy is printed correctly — there is no stock to write off.

SmartKDP is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon. Amazon, Kindle, and Kindle Direct Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Related terms

  • Printing cost

    What Amazon charges to manufacture one copy, deducted from every sale before your royalty. It is a fixed amount plus a per-page amount, set by marketplace, ink type, and trim category.

  • Proof copy

    A physical copy printed for you to check before publishing. It is marked as a proof and is the only reliable way to see how your file actually prints.

  • Low-content book

    A book made mostly of repeating or generated page structures rather than prose — journals, planners, logbooks, and similar fill-in interiors.