​Advertising what can't be sold



​

​

​

Even though PublishAmerica insists that "publish-on-demand" is the real meaning of "POD," and CreateSpace, Llumina Press, BookSurge, Lulu and Outskirts Press have also advertised that phrase, there is no such thing as "publish-on-demand."



It makes no sense, but companies still want you to think they'll provide it for you.



The ads featuring the meaningless phrase are aimed at ignorant writers who don't know the difference between printing and publishing.



They're not the same thing. Printing is part of publishing. Printing can be done on demand. Publishing can't.



Publishing is a complex, multi-stage process that takes a writer's words from manuscript to books being sold. The end result of a publishing project -- which may be a million books or just one book -- can take weeks, months, or even years.



With Print-On-Demand, books are printed one at a time or a few at a time, as orders are placed by readers through booksellers. That does not mean that a publishing company starts the entire publishing sequence each time an order arrives.