POD in digest size?

[Calithena]

Hi all -

I have a gaming project with legs going on with some other people and we want to do it POD. Ideally we'd like it to be digest-sized (8.5 x 5.5) with a parchment cover, like old third party D&D stuff from the seventies. Lulu is great for POD but they don't seem to have that size.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Sean,

Last year, I found this excellent webpage: Ind-e-pubs POD list compiled by GLB E-Books.

From calling and assessing printers from that list, I found Publishers Graphics and Total Printing Systems. Both did the size you're talking about, and I think their prices and quality are both really good.

Since I spoke to them about short-run printing, I don't know whether they do true POD, and under what terms.

Best, Ron

[Calithena]

Thanks Ron!

Those are great links. Paul called and may have talked me into just printing them locally and selling on-line. I like the no-hassle of POD (just go to lulu and click) but there are some good reasons to print and do the mailing yourself too. Mulling it over...

[Jason Morningstar]

Lulu can do 6x9, which is pretty close to digest.  You might have a hard time replicating the "old skool" cover stock with them, though.  If you have really specific requirements, a short-run printer might be a better bet.  We've recently used Publisher's Graphics and they did a great job for us.  We'll use them in the future. 

[Ben Lehman]

If you have specific book design requirements (which I do, all the time) it's better to go with a short-run printer or best yet a local shop (where you can go in and take a look-feel at the paper stock) than with POD. POD is great, but there isn't a lot of flexibility in book design.

yrs--
--Ben