Types of Book Distribution at Mill City Press
We offer two types of book distribution for printed books (eBook distribution is separate): Print-On-Demand distribution (“POD”) and Expanded Distribution.
Print-On-Demand (POD) Distribution
In our Basic and Advanced book publishing packages the default distribution model is POD, meaning that there isn’t physical inventory of your book. All bookstores and other retailers who have accounts with Ingram and/or Baker & Taylor can order copies of your book at a wholesale price (usually 40 percent off the retail price). The order is then printed and sent to the retailer.
If a book is ordered on Amazon.com or BN.com, that order is electronically sent to the POD printer, and the book is printed and sent to the customer. Due to the fact that POD books are printed to order, your book is always listed as “In Stock” with Ingram and many online retailers.
Expanded Distribution
If you ordered a Premium or Professional book publishing package, the distribution is done through our distributor. Expanded distribution is also available to authors that signed up for a Basic or Advanced package and purchased the “Expanded Distribution” upgrade. Because this is traditional book distribution, there must be at least 75 copies of your book in our distributor’s warehouse.
Unlike POD distribution, Expanded Distribution involves our distributor sending copies of your book and its marketing materials to the buyers at Barnes & Noble, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor. Plus, books are sold to and stocked directly with Amazon.com and BN.com.
The biggest advantage to Expanded Distribution is that your book gets an audience with a book buyer that it simply wouldn’t get with POD distribution or if you arranged your own distribution.
You don’t need to order hundreds of books to participate in our Expanded Distribution program, as you can print as few as 75 copies.
FAQs
Can I start out in the POD Distribution program and switch later to the Expanded Distribution program if my book sells well?
Technically, yes, but practically no. Depending on which distribution program your book is in, it will be assigned an ISBN attached to the imprint under which we publish it (or if you self-publish, under your own ISBN). To change the distribution model, we’ll need to cancel distribution with the POD distributor and then set up all new title data with our other distributor. This can cause duplicate listings on sites like Amazon.com (Amazon.com doesn’t remove out-of-print title listings, just makes them dormant) and may cause a period of unavailability of your book as systems update. Plus, we must charge fees for the time, expense, and new ISBNs involved in the change. You must also purchase both the Expanded Distribution and the Returns Program (if you don’t already have it).
It is much cheaper and better for your book’s continuity of publishing to stay with a distribution model from the beginning of the process. Ultimately it’s a decision you will have to make though.
How will Expanded Distribution and Print-On-Demand Distribution affect my publishing timeline?
Expanded Distribution has a different publishing timetable than POD distribution and involves more involvement from our distributor. For more information see our publishing timetable.
If I purchased a Basic or Advanced publishing package, can I use Mill City Press’s fulfillment services for sales from my website?
Yes, you can. You will need to purchase our Website Fulfillment Service, then print a number of books (at least 25) and have them sent to our fulfillment warehouse.
How is eBook distribution affected by the type of physical distribution my book has?
It’s not affected at all. We distribute eBooks directly to Amazon.com, Apple’s iBookstore, BN.com and and 28 other retailers and wholesalers.
