[Instant Publisher] Has anyone tried this site?

[Eric Provost]

Hiya all.  

Feeling pretty good that I might actually get somewhere with FH8 led me to the fantasy that my next few games might actually be worthy of printing.  Which lead to one thought and another 'till I was checking out how much it might really cost me for some POD saddle stitching.  You know, a few dozen copies for me and my friends and maybe friends of friends.  

While I was looking, I stumbled onto Instant Publisher annnddd... it almost looks too good to be true.  There's a page where you can put in the stats for what you want to make and it'll spit out an instant quote for you.  I loves me some instant quotes.  Fuels the fantasy, ya know?

Then there's this... No need for PDF formatting.  You d/l their POD software then use your own windows-based software to 'print' to their database.  The can't and won't do any changes for you.  You get exactly what you send to them.  If you fuck it up, it's your problem, not theirs.  

If I'm getting all this right, if I really wanted to, I could publish 25 copies of a 24-page perfect-bound book with b&w interior and my own cover art for less than $80 plus shipping.  Holy crap I say, holy crap.

Can someone with some POD experience find the Too Good To Be True problems in this site?  

-Eric

[philreed]

I have used IP in the past. DO NOT try and print a hardcover with them. Their quality is variable.

These days I've been using RapidPOD and after some initial problems things are running smoothly. My most recent book took a week from uploading their files to delivery at my door.

[Eric Provost]

What do you mean when you say the quality is variable?  Who printed hardcover with them?  What were the results?

-Eric

[Eric Provost]

I took a look at rapid POD.  They only accept PDF and TIFF files.  I haven't done any research into TIFF files, so maybe they're easier, but as far as I can tell, getting your product into PDF format and looking good costs money.  

The big selling point for IP, from my inexperienced outlook, is that I don't have to invest in any software to use thier services.  Therefore, if I decide to do some vanity printing I don't need to invest in anything more than I've got right now.  

Right now I'm looking at less than $100 to put a printed copy of my work into all my friends' hands.  And I think I really may do it.  But what I'm still hoping for is someone to point out the fly in the ointment before I'm ready to buy.

-Eric

[Andrew Morris]

Eric, OpenOffice is a free program that works much like Microsoft Office, and it exports to PDF.

[daMoose_Neo]

Have to say Ken, of RapidPOD, is easy to work with.
As for getting it into a PDF, look for one of the many converters/virtual printers out there. Design the book in your program of choice and 'print' to the PDF. Easy as pie.

[philreed]

I printed hardcover with IP. The books were garbage. They do a better job with perfect-bound books. Even then, it's a 50/50 chance your book will look as good as you'd like. The first year I worked with them they did good work and then the quality dropped off. I don't know what changed but I won't go back to them.

[Eric Provost]

Thanks for the heads-up on Open Office and the PDF converters.  I didn't know these things existed.

But back to IP.  Their prices still seem pretty competitive, so I'd still like to dig for more information.

Phil-
Can you elaborate on how things changed in the quality?  And just what they did to your hardcovers?  Our definitions of 'garbage' may differ.
also
When you recieved the unsatisfactory order how did they respond to your complaints?  Did they take any measures to correct the problem for you?

Also, is Phil the only one about who's had experience with IP?  

-Eric

[Eric Provost]

Yikes.  Nevermind on the competitive pricing bit.  I mis-read some of rapid POD's prices.  They totally beat IP.

Thanks for all the info guys.

-Eric

[Matt Gwinn]

Phil
what were the "initial" problems you had with RapidPOD?
What is their quality like for paperback adn hardcover?

Their prices seem incredibly cheep and I'm just wondering if there is a reason.

,Matt

[philreed]

Phil
what were the "initial" problems you had with RapidPOD?
What is their quality like for paperback adn hardcover?

I rejected the first production runs because of poor cutting and binding. Today, though, I'm very happy with the results. I recommend trying a run of 24 to test the quality.

One thing to keep in mind is that they're best at 8.5" x 11" books with no bleed.