Printing on demand (POD) integrates several technologies and allows publishers to print, bind, and distribute a single copy of a book at a time. This means that publishers don't have to pay for the manufacture of the book until they have already received payment or a firm order for it.

PressForward uses technology both to reduce the capital investment required to publish books, as well as to allow the supply to be precisely tailored to meet the demand for each book.

Our POD online quotation form will allow you to calculate the cost of publishing in hardcover or softcover formats. It will also give you recommended retail and wholesale prices for your book and allow you to calculate your profit margin.

It costs a small academic publisher less than US$400 to put a 300 page monograph into print; a typical title retails for US$18.95, and the publisher can break even by selling fewer than 120 copies. In contrast, if the publisher chose traditional production technology, the initial production investment would exceed US$4,000, and sales would have to surpass 800 copies to break even.

Print quality is the equal of the traditional process for text and illustrations, but digital halftone photograph reproduction is not yet as high in resolution. The cover art is full color, and the books can be paperback or hardcover. We are developing a system that can handle full color interiors as well as covers.

PressForward uses a high quality, acid free, book grade opaque paper stock. We print books with trim sizes of 6" x 9" or smaller on 60# natural shade opaque, and larger books on 50# opaque white. We use bright white 80# cover stock for paperback covers.

We can produce:

• Trade softcover books with full color covers in seven trim sizes (5" x 8", 5.5" x 8.5", 6" x 9", 6.14" x 9.21", 7.44" x 9.69", 7.5" x 9.25", and 8.25" x 11")
• 5.5" x 8.5", and 6" x 9" jacketed hardcovers
• 5.5" x 8.5", and 6" x 9" hardcovers with either a 4-color cover or a stamped Kivar acrylic cover.

Our titles have the following additional requirements:

• Black and white interior content (including photographs and illustrations)
• Maximum footprint of text on page is 7.5" x 10.5"
• Length up to 740 pages, with the total page count being divisible by four.

We use:

• Electronic prepress technology to design, layout and prepare the manuscript for publication
• High speed digital laser printing and automated binding to manufacture the book
• Global electronic databases such as R.R. Bowker's Books in Print, Amazon.com and the Ingram Book Group to build an efficient supply chain
• The Internet and ONIX to extend marketing, promotion and publicity efforts.

PressForward does wholesale distribution for some of the titles that we print on demand in addition to using the Ingram Book Group, North America's largest book wholesaler.

If you would like to know more about printing and distribution on demand, please email us at: