POD...It's Not Just for Authors

You might think that "print on demand," by definition, only applies to books. That is not the case. There are POD companies now that not only print books, but they print CDs and even DVDs. If you're a musician, it is now not necessary to pay thousands of dollars up-front to have an album manufactured. If you're an independent movie maker, you can have DVDs manufactured without any significant upfront expense.

This means your art is now your own. Even if your chosen path is to find a traditional manufacturer/distributor to get your work to the public, you can't hurt things by going ahead and getting it to the public yourself. In fact, it may be the quickest route to getting a more traditional deal.

For example, these days, record labels don't really sign new, unproven bands. If you want a record deal, you've got to sell some CDs (or downloads, but we'll stick with CDs for this discussion). If you're going to sell CDs...you need CDs! While POD won't help you with the actual process of recording and producing your songs, it can help you when it comes time to turn that material into a CD. To have CDs manufactured traditionally requires thousands of dollars. With POD, you can just order a few dozen (enough to sell at local shows) and direct traffic to your web site to order straight from the print on demand company.

So POD doesn't just mean freedom for authors...it means freedom for all artists.

For an important message from the man who started the print on demand revolution, visit this link:

http://www.lightningsource.com/podnow.aspx

Here are some more links to learn more about print on demand:

http://printondemand.wikispaces.com/

http://print-on-demand-publishing.tumblr.com/

And to learn some search engine marketing strategies to help you sell more of your POD products, check out www.workmedia.net.