I've had this reaction myself. I play "spot the self-pubbed novel" in the huckster's room at conventions. (I'm head of production for a publishing company, so it really is a fun game for me...)
The POD tech has improved immensely. There are basically two digital techs competing in the POD world, but the in-line color laser printer now prints on 10pt cover stock and it looks nearly as good as offset printing. Even I have to look closely to tell the difference. (At least I can still do it without putting on my glasses.)
Regular publishers are confusing the issue by doing some short-run reprints digitally (POD tech, but ordering copies into the warehouse rather than literally printing on demand). A book may not be moving the 2000 copies/year that justify an offset printing, but if it's selling 1000 or even 500 (or, in the case of a small press, 20 or 30 copies), publishers have become more inclined to use POD tech and capture that long tail without cluttering up their warehouses.
(Note: Rather than clutter up your comment thread further, I've posted a little tech info about matte finishes over on my blog.)
In a glass-is-half-full kind of way, this phenomenon of readers passing over what they think is self-pubbed is not a bad thing. It means that readers actually desire gatekeepers to sort out the chaff before it gets to the bookstore.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-12-07 03:39 am (UTC)I've had this reaction myself. I play "spot the self-pubbed novel" in the huckster's room at conventions. (I'm head of production for a publishing company, so it really is a fun game for me...)
The POD tech has improved immensely. There are basically two digital techs competing in the POD world, but the in-line color laser printer now prints on 10pt cover stock and it looks nearly as good as offset printing. Even I have to look closely to tell the difference. (At least I can still do it without putting on my glasses.)
Regular publishers are confusing the issue by doing some short-run reprints digitally (POD tech, but ordering copies into the warehouse rather than literally printing on demand). A book may not be moving the 2000 copies/year that justify an offset printing, but if it's selling 1000 or even 500 (or, in the case of a small press, 20 or 30 copies), publishers have become more inclined to use POD tech and capture that long tail without cluttering up their warehouses.
(Note: Rather than clutter up your comment thread further, I've posted a little tech info about matte finishes over on my blog.)
In a glass-is-half-full kind of way, this phenomenon of readers passing over what they think is self-pubbed is not a bad thing. It means that readers actually desire gatekeepers to sort out the chaff before it gets to the bookstore.