Self-Publishing using Print On Demand Technology

by Wena Poon

Last year, I had the great satisfaction of self-publishing my sci fi novel, Biophilia, and retailing it worldwide through Amazon.com.

The entire process only took a month or two, from first submission to retail on Amazon, because it is completely automated. Anyone who is Web savvy can do it.

Best of all, it only required a relatively modest personal investment of US$500 for the entire process.

There are many companies who offer self-publishing services today. The company I used was BookSurge.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com. I chose BookSurge because I have had good experiences with Amazon and hoped that their subsidiary would also deliver quality service. I was quite happy with the result.

Book Surge offers print on demand (POD) technology. POD means that the book is not printed until someone clicks to buy it online.

To start, have your completed manuscript ready in MS Word format.

You open an account with BookSurge with a credit card. You will get your own username, login, and personal account page. You can pick your book font, book cover template, upload your own cover art, and upload your MS Word manuscript. After a week or two, the company will email you proofs. You go through an automated online correction process, and approve the final proof online.

You will then receive a few complimentary printed copies of your book and then have the pleasure of seeing it available on Amazon.com.

The advantages of this type of publishing are many.

I was able to share my work with friends around the world because it is available on Amazon.

I make 25% royalty from all Amazon sales, and the royalty is paid monthly by direct bank deposit.

The paperback I produced is extremely high quality by self-publishing standards. It looks no different from a "real book" available in a bookstore.

I grew up in Singapore in the 1980's and even as a teenager wrote many novels which I couldn't get published locally. Even today, Singapore writers find it hard to publish their work because of the small number of publishers.

If you have many completed manuscripts sitting around and do not want to wait years for Random House or some agent to call, try POD self-publishing. It is the fastest way to get a nicely packaged product into the hands of your eager friends and family.

If nothing else, the wider readership you attain will help your writing through invaluable reader feedback. Good luck and do try it!

Wena Poon is a Singaporean writer living in San Francisco, California. Her fiction and poetry has been anthologized by Penguin, Silverfish New Writing, Landmark Books, and other publishers in Asia and Australia. She is writing and self-publishing a sequel to Biophilia, her first POD book.

Censorship at Amazon?

After the infamous Google censorship ‘deal’ with China, it's now Amazon.com's turn.

An old regular customer visited me on Friday and told me an interesting story. He said he tried to order RO Winstedt's A History of Malaya from Amazon.com and was told that the book could not be delivered to a Malaysian address. He told me to try it for myself.

I already have my own copy of the book, but that night when I got home I tried to order the book from Amazon.com. They had 2 used copies at USD16.00 each published by Merican and Sons in 1986. I went through the motions of ordering the book. After I had put in the delivery address I got this window with a message in bold red:

*** We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to the country you selected. You can enter a different shipping address above, or you can remove the item from your order by changing its quantity to 0, then clicking
the Update button. ***


Rather interesting I thought, and does raise all sorts of questions. Is Amazon.com practising selective self-censorship, or are they working on 'instructions'. If so, from whom? Can we have a full list of the books that cannot be shipped to Malaysia? Where can we view it? How many other 'dodgy' countries do Amazon have on their list?

I have read RO Winstedt's A History of Malaya several times and although I do not agree with many of his conclusions and his somewhat condescending views, I cannot see reason why it should be banned in Malaysia. (This book was first published as Part 1, Volume X111 in March 1935 by the Malayan Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society.)


See image of Amazon.com Checkout page.