POD printer round up

[Andrew Morris]

Okay, Keith, that's good to know.

Tim....crap....sorry, my mistake.

[daMoose_Neo]

A number of us had a time with RapidPOD for GenCon. I'm in the same camp as Tim. Lets just say I'm taking all my business elsewhere and that Jason Valore of Key20 rocks enormously. Hooked me up with a different printer when RapidPOD dropped the ball on my GenCon order and it didn't look like I could meet the distribution orders in time. About a $500+  sale there, poof, along with future projects. Avalon Innovations, I think Mike Holmes mentioned them earlier, are handling it now. E-mail communication is a bit slow, but it exists, and my contact there, Lance Williams, is working along to get this done.

[Eric Provost]

They dropped your order?  Meaning they weren't going to be able to get it done in time or meaning that they no longer cared to do the job for you at all?

-Eric

[daMoose_Neo]

I recieved 1/2 of my 75 book order, 38 copies, the second day of the show. Interesting thing is I haven't even been billed for the books, nor have I heard any word about the remainder of the shipment...
The events alone for this particular title were sold out and GenCon was to be the first time the title would be available in print, which meant at all my events during Thursday my people had nothing to put in the hands of the players (many of whom wanted the game right then).
From what I've heard from others, RapidPOD overextended itself, taking on too many jobs and making too many promises.

[Polaris]

Does somebody know, among those listed above or others, about POD printers that are either settled in or that can ship to Europe? I checked RapidPOD for instance, and there's no mention of shipping rates and details...

Also, maybe such a list of POD printers should be kept updated and mayhaps made a sticky...?

Booksurge uses printers around the world (including a couple in Europe).  Their main claim to fame has always been their international market accessibility (lower shipping charges by printing anywhere in the world).

They have a system that helps with orders going to the best location... when an order comes in for a book for a customer in Australia, their computer sends the order to their printer in Australia.  If the order comes in from Germany, it goes to their printer on continental Europe (I believe it is in the Netherlands).

William
ComStar
http://www.comstar-media.com
http://www.comstar-games.com

[Polaris]

Okay, the revised list is:

Lulu -- Conspiracy of Shadows, Donjon, Fastlane, Empire of Satanis
RapidPOD -- The Imp Game, TSoY Revised
RPGMall
CafePress
Express Media -- Elfs, My Life with Master, Masters and Minions, NPA
RPI -- Bulldogs, The Mountain Witch, TSoY (2nd print), Capes
Berryville Graphics -- Kayfabe
Lightning Source -- Code of Unaris (?)
Booksurge -- Kevin and Kell

While looking up the URL for Booksurge, I came across this horror story.

For a quick (and not entirely accurate) price comparision, here's what the per-print cost for each would be, assuming a softcover, perfect bound, full color cover, B&W interior, 100-page, 6x9 in. book.

Lulu -- $6.53 (shipping not included)
RapidPOD -- $2.00 (5.375x7.875 size; shipping not included)
RPGMall -- $3.58 (4.25x5.5 size; shipping included)
CafePress -- $10.00 (shipping not included)
Express Media -- no prices online
RPI Print -- no prices online
Berryville Graphics -- no prices online
Lightning Source -- no prices online
Booksurge -- $8.44 (shipping not included)

Booksurge charges 1.50 for the cover +.02 per page.  A 100 page book would be 3.50 to print.

LSI charges 90 cents for the cover + .013 per page at that trim size.  A 100 page book would be $2.20 to print.

William
ComStar
http://www.comstar-media.com
http://www.comstar-games.com

[Polaris]

Hey guys,

Let's keep this thread focused on who they are and what happened, without any posting whatsoever about defending or attacking any company.

Best,
Ron

Ron,

Sorry... I just noticed your post after correcting about Booksurge.  I hope that was not taken as an attack or defense of anyone... it really was meant for informational purposes.  For what it is worth, we are going to be using Avalon and LSI in the future.

William

[Ron Edwards]

That's OK, William. You stayed within the boundaries. A little self-promotion, maybe, but that's to be expected.

Everyone - let's remember that this thread is about summarizing who the POD printers are. War stories are very important to the Forge as well, especially when a company may be identified as a problem - but those topics should be their own threads.

My moderation in this thread was not "only say nice things," but rather, "let's put war stories in their own threads."

Best,
Ron

[smokewolf]

The Swing: Reality Guide was printed through both Express Media and Lulu. The better of the two was Lulu, but only because of laminated covers, nothing to do with print quality or price.

Also, maybe I have missed it, but does anyone know who will do hardcovers POD, other than RapidPod? Looking to do hardcovers for The Swing 2nd Edition.

[timfire]

Also, maybe I have missed it, but does anyone know who will do hardcovers POD, other than RapidPod?

Off-hand I'm not sure, but this post made me realize something this thread/list of printers is missing---the options these POD services offer. For example, when looking for a printer for my book, I couldn't use Lulu because it didn't offer 5.5 x 8.5. Often finding a printer that offers the options you want is a major consideration.

[Polaris]

The Swing: Reality Guide was printed through both Express Media and Lulu. The better of the two was Lulu, but only because of laminated covers, nothing to do with print quality or price.

Also, maybe I have missed it, but does anyone know who will do hardcovers POD, other than RapidPod? Looking to do hardcovers for The Swing 2nd Edition.

LSI, Booksurge and Avalon all do hardcovers...:)

William
ComStar

[M Jason Parent]

The Swing: Reality Guide was printed through both Express Media and Lulu. The better of the two was Lulu, but only because of laminated covers, nothing to do with print quality or price.

Express Media can also do laminated covers. The no lamination was an old issue from when they started handling RPGmall productions.

I've personally printed through Express Media and through lulu.

Lulu is a bit on the pricey side, and Express Media's a little clumsy when it comes to customer service - but I still use Express Media at least once a year for a 300-unit print run.

[JakeVanDam]

Do any other POD companys list their member's books on retail sites like Lightning Source does? Does anyone have an idea as to how good RPGMail's sales site is for sales and general exposure?

A game I'm working on is nearing the last stages of developement, so it's time to think about what to do with it, and POD may be what I need.

[smokewolf]

RPGNOW has taken over the POD business for RPGMALL. RPGNOW uses LULU and allows for both pdf and print sales through its website. Kind of a one stop shop. James hasn't said anything official about the what RPGMALLs purpose will be (or at least I haven't heard anything). Everything is handled through your RPGNOW account and there is no need for a seperate LULU account (unless you want to do other things with it).

[Polaris]

A number of us had a time with RapidPOD for GenCon. I'm in the same camp as Tim. Lets just say I'm taking all my business elsewhere and that Jason Valore of Key20 rocks enormously. Hooked me up with a different printer when RapidPOD dropped the ball on my GenCon order and it didn't look like I could meet the distribution orders in time. About a $500+  sale there, poof, along with future projects. Avalon Innovations, I think Mike Holmes mentioned them earlier, are handling it now. E-mail communication is a bit slow, but it exists, and my contact there, Lance Williams, is working along to get this done.

While I do not believe his explanation justifies what is happening to some of the customers of RapidPOD, Ken did offer an explanatioin on this thread today:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=218333

Polaris