POD… its time has come: it’s green; it’s simple; it’s efficient; and it’s profitable. Independent authors, musicians and artists have a practical means of promoting themselves and their product to a world market. There will always be a place for big business, big publishers and big distribution, but getting there (and them) requires hard work, connections, promotion, and… time – lots of it.
So, while you’re waiting for the phone to ring, get busy. There are many POD options (check out print-on-demand on Wikipedia) and most are virtually free. The “P” has morphed from “print” into “publish” and the type of product is not limited to books and calendars. CDs, MP3s and a wide variety of electronic media can be promoted and sold with no inventory requirement (see POD Demo).
Service providers typically charge a fixed price for building the product plus a percentage of the gross profit upon sale, and both of these are at reasonable rates. The product is available to you, the account holder, at manufacturing cost. Sell price and profit margins are totally up to you.
If you can manage a Facebook account, chances are you can manage a Lulu account and a Myspace Artist account too. Creating your profile/image on Lulu is in your control and there are several choices for storefront layouts. In addition to profiling, Myspace offers the songwriter six streamed samples of their tunes. Uploading books, songs, CD covers, MP3s, etc., is simple, menu-driven and logically organized. Linking your URL to a networked storefront/profile/blog creates a practical and powerful marketing package for as little as $10/year.
It is time to get creative with your career. Check out POD demos right here at BIT Services.