Put simply, Print-on-Demand (often referred to simply as POD) is a technology that allows books and publications to be printed in very small quantities, even one book each time. While authors who self-publish prefer POD as a way to limit investments and yet make their books available, publishers use POD for galley (advanced review) copies, to keep older titles (back lists) in print, and to experiment with new titles.

Self-publishing refers to the publication of a book (or any other media) by the author of the book, without the involvement of a third-party publisher. The author bears the expenses involved in the process - those related to editing, cover design, typesetting and printing.

At CinnamonTeal, we provide self-publishing services and use POD printing technology to produce the finished book. That means, while the author decides the form the book will take, we provide the services that the author needs to get the book published. We do not provide package-based services, just the ones that the author needs. During this process, should the author need printed copies of the book, we will use POD technology to provide only the required number of copies.

For more information on how print-on-demand, in particular, and self-publishing, in general, might be of use to you, follow this link.

If you are a new author or a small publisher, print-on-demand helps you avoid investments in large inventory i.e. it avoids the need to print a large number of books. Similarly, print-on-demand helps small businesses by reducing costs incurred in printing manuals and reports. Print-On-Demand also helps regular publishers by allowing them to make back lists available without large print runs.

For details on how print-on-demand, in particular, and self-publishing, in general, might be of use to you, see which publishing solution may be applicable to you.

POD implies a higher cost per book, but to appreciate POD, a little knowledge of the economics behind it might help.

Imagine you have written a book. You have submitted your manuscript to established publishers but haven't heard from them in a long time. So you decide to publish the book yourself but don't know how to proceed. You lay out your text, design your cover and approach the printers. You see a market for only 100 copies (for argument's sake) but your printer says you must print a minimum of a thousand copies (they too can't help it as anything else is very expensive for you). The cost of each copy is small, say Rs. 40 per book, but having to print a thousand copies means you have to invest a total of Rs. 40,000/- upfront. You are not sure if all the copies will sell but that is a gamble you are forced to take.

Or imagine you have worked with us at CinnamonTeal Publishing and agreed to print on demand. This time you do not have to print a single copy before it is bought. The same book might cost around Rs. 120/- per copy, but you now are able to print your books depending on how many copies are ordered, and have it shipped to any corner of the world. That means if you need just 100 copies, you print only 100 and pay only Rs. 12,000/-. In most cases, the book is printed only after it is paid for thus totally eliminating the need for the author to spend on printed copies.

Print-on-demand technology has continually been refined during the past ten years, and book quality has improved tremendously. Print-on-demand books are indistinguishable from other books printed in large quantities using an offset press. CinnamonTeal books feature color covers, clean graphics, and easy-to-read text. While the quality remains the same, print-on-demand methods costs much lesser than an investment in offset printing (when total costs are compared and small quantities are printed).

CinnamonTeal is a provider of services for individuals and institutions that wish to self-publish or require pre-publishing services, not a vanity press.

Vanity presses typically offer many services, all of which are bundled together and must be paid for in advance. Most vanity presses also insist that a certain number of copies must be necessarily purchased by the author. The author is then responsible for the sale of these copies.

CinnamonTeal offers POD (print-on-demand) services, other, allied, pre-publishing services and also a channel to help you to sell your books yourself. We charge only for the services you have availed of, not for a bundle of services that may include those you do not need. There are absolutely no other charges. And you are definitely not required to purchase any minimum number of copies.

While deciding to publish a book, CinnamonTeal does not consider the "market worthiness" of the book i.e. whether or not the book will sell well in the market. This is, in fact, a major differentiating factor when compared to most other publishers. CinnamonTeal does, however, insist that a certain quality of writing be maintained. We recommend, at a minimum, a round of copy editing prior to typesetting. Further, we also insist that certain standards of typesetting and cover design should be applied to the book.

Note that while CinnamonTeal provides copy editing and typesetting services, the author is not bound to avail of them and may choose to have the book edited and type set elsewhere. In such a case, we will provide you with guidelines so that the edited/typeset book conforms to our requirements. In many cases, the author has insisted on certain design elements in the book (that do not match the aesthetic tastes of CinnamonTeal)and sometimes has even refused to have the book edited. In such cases, CinnamonTeal has only provided the requested publishing services but has not published the book itself i.e. it has not issued a CinnamonTeal ISBN. In such circumstances, CinnamonTeal has advised the author on how to apply for an ISBN herself/himself.

You will only have to pay for the services you "buy". There are no other charges or publishing package you are forced to purchase. When your book gets sold, CinnamonTeal will handle the transaction and pay you the Author's Earnings that you decided while pricing the book.

Because of the way the service is structured, we are unable to accept returns. Retailers understand this peculiar situation and may be reluctant to stock your books. We therefore ask you to buy a few copies of your own book so that they can be reviewed or kept with retailers. Of course, you will be able to avail of author discounts when you order prints of your own books.

If CinnamonTeal issues you an ISBN, you have to pay for 5 copies that must be necessarily submitted to the National Libraries. While CinnamonTeal prepares the necessary paperwork for this purpose, the author is requested to pay for the printing and shipment of the books.

Simply email us and we will have the required number of copies delivered. Please note that all orders will be processed only after they are paid for in full. The amount will be invoiced to you before the order is processed.

In case of third party orders (such as books dispatched to distributors), the books must be paid for in full before they are printed and dispatched.

Yes, you can. As long as your manuscript is completed in the appropriate fonts and according to a proper layout, you may submit it to CinnamonTeal for printing. To date, we have printed books in about 5 scripts. We can also help you prepare your manuscript.

No, not if you are approaching us. If you have a manuscript that you have worked hard with and wish to publish, you can approach us directly. Simply email us at contactus@ cinnamonteal.in or editorialservices@ dogearsetc.com to initiate a conversation.

No, we will not. However, you may avail of the typesetting services that we provide.

We usually have no constraints on the book sizes we can offer. We offer book sizes upto 10x14" (landscape format). However, it is better if you check with us before you commence conceptualizing your book.

We provide perfect binding (soft cover), saddle-stitching, centre-stapling, spiral-binding, casewrap (hardcover) and casewrap with dust jacket options.

Please note that if the page count is lesser than 68, perfect binding and hard cover binding cannot be provided.

Yes, you do. You remain in complete ownership of all your work. If you own an ISBN, it will be published by you. However, if you choose to avail of an ISBN owned by CinnamonTeal, it will be published by CinnamonTeal. In both cases, you continue to own the rights in your name and CinnamonTeal does not make any claim or restriction on the ownership of your work.

However, please do note that if you wish to be published by some other publisher, after already being published by us you need to inform us a month in advance so that we can remove your book from our listings. In case your book is published by another entity, we will insist that the new entity issue you another ISBN.

CinnamonTeal enters into a non-exclusive agreement with every author and that means you can terminate the services of CinnamonTeal at any time. However, you need to give an advance notice of at least a month so that the book is de-listed from the CinnamonTeal catalogue. We de-list to avoid any confusion and legal issues that may arise out of the same book being available for sale, albeit with different ISBNs and from different publishers.

If CinnamonTeal has issued the ISBN for your book, this ISBN 'belongs' to CinnamonTeal and cannot be used on a book published by another publisher. We will therefore insist that the new publisher issue you another ISBN.

Consequent to termination of service, CinnamonTeal is under no obligation to retain the manuscript files.

After work on your book has started, we prefer that all communication is via email. If you have initial queries on how to begin, you can call us at +91 94226 85530 between 9a.m. and 5p.m. IST [GMT +5:30], Monday to Friday. Please note that we are closed on Saturdays and Sundays and that, consequently, your phone calls and emails will go unattended over the weekend. Similarly, all phone calls and emails after 5p.m. each week day will go unanswered that day. We urge you not to take offence and that we will reply to your emails at the earliest opportunity.

We accept all genres. The only kinds of books we do not accept are those containing pornography and other material that can be construed as derogatory or offensive towards women.

The process works thus:

• a. you write the manuscript first and get it edited and proofread. Please note that we prefer you provide your text after at least one round of editing. You could choose to have your book edited yourself or engage our editorial services

• b. Once your manuscript is ready i.e once it is edited, you have to get your cover designed. Again, you can have the cover designed yourself or engage our cover design services. If an ISBN is issued to you, it must be included on the copyright(imprint) page of your book and a barcode must be added to the back cover.

• c. The interior of the book must then be designed. This involves the appropriate selection of font, margins and paragraph settinsg besides the formatting of the header, footer, the imprint page and the table of contents.

• d. Once the manuscript and cover are both ready in pdf format, your book is ready to be printed. Your book will be available within ten days of ordering and payment.

• e. Further you may choose to develop your book as an e-book. We provide e-book conversion to EPUB, MOBI AND PDF formats.

• f. Similarly, we provide distribution services for both, printed and electronic formats of your book.

Before the process commences, however, we will send you an author's contract that you are required to print, sign and send back. The contract is a legal document mentioning various terms and conditions.

If you do not avail of our pre-publishing services such as editing or cover design, there are no payments that need be done except when the copies of the printed book are ordered. Please note that we do not issue an ISBN unless we are involved in the editing and design processes. In such cases, we only provide the requested services.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT it is important to begin the publishing process only after you are satisfied that the text of the book is completed except for changes that may be suggested by the editor later. Adding text to the book after the publishing process has begun leads to unnecessary delays and complications with various versions. Such a situation is best avoided. We cannot emphasize this enough.

There are many word-processing programs available that will help you design your book. Among the many that have been tried and tested, we have zeroed in on Lyx. Like one of our users said, "there is a learning curve involved, but it is worth the effort". Take your time mastering the software, there is much you can do with it. And the Help Files and Internet Resources will provide you all the answers you need.

Scribus is another versatile page layout program you can use, especially if you are familiar with Adobe® PageMaker, QuarkXPress or Adobe® InDesign. Scribus is free to use.

Cover designs and illustrations within the book can be developed using Inkscape, a freely available vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.

Additionally, there are resources available on the Internet that will help you convert your files into PDF format.

You need to submit your content and cover in separate pdf files, each page in the pdf file corresponding to a page in your book. We have provided details on how to format your content and cover.

Please note that we prefer that the book must be subject to at least one round of editing. You could choose to have your book edited by someone competent (other than the author or a close friend of the author) or by engaging our editorial services. We provide editorial services such as editing and proof reading besides other related services such as cover design, page layout, e-book development, translation and ghost-writing.

Yes, we can. We offer professional proof reading and editing services in addition to a host of other services you can avail of. In fact, our decision to issue your book an ISBN depends on it being edited thoroughly at least once, either by us or by a competent editor.

Your book can have as many images as you choose. In order to get a good print, we suggest that your images be of at least 300 dpi and in CMYK format (those in RGB format do not print well). Further, we request you to lay out your images within your book and include all images in the pdf that you submit. We also provide page-layout and image correction services for a fee.

While the design of your cover may require some imagination and creativity on your part, the actual process of designing it isn't too difficult. There are many software programs that you can use, some of which are legally available for free (see above for query on software you can use). We have provided you with a template that you can use to design your cover. Additionally, you may also avail of our cover-design services.

An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a universal code that publishers and booksellers use to identify and order books the world over. In India, ISBNs are provided free of cost. You can obtain one from the issuing agency in India.

We will issue your book an ISBN after we are satisfied with the editorial quality of the book and its presentation. However, if we are not involved with the development of the book i.e. with its production and design, we will not issue the book an ISBN. For such books, however, our print-on-demand services are available and we can print and deliver as per the needs of the author. CinnamonTeal also provides you an ISBN barcode that can be added to the back cover of the book.

Having an ISBN is not necessary if your book is for personal use or for circulation within a limited group of people. It is required if you wish to sell your book in bookstores, whether online or offline, or in any other retail outlet. Each version of a book — whether paperback or hardcover, first or second edition — must have a different ISBN. A unique ISBN distinguishes between different versions of a book, helping customers ensure that they get the book they want.

For more information about ISBNs, visit our blog entry on the subject.

The price of your book is mainly made of three components: the cost of producing the book, the discount demanded by the retailer and the commission you wish to earn off each book, called the Author's Earnings.

For more on pricing, visit this page.

Since the cost of production is fixed depending upon the number of pages and dimensions of the book, and most retailers generally demand a discount of 50% or upwards of that, the Author's Earnings needs to be fixed appropriately so as to maintain a balance between earnings and sales. Lesser earnings imply a lower price for your book and might translate into larger sales. If the book sells well, you can always increase this component incrementally on later editions and earn more from each sale.

Yes, it can be changed subject to certain conditions. Simply send us the new manuscript and indicate that it should be used for further prints. However, please note that we are not responsible for maintaining earlier versions of the manuscript.

In fact print-on-demand allows you to change your manuscript for each successive reprint. Many authors have used this to their advantage by incorporating user suggestions into their manuscript or by mentioning book reviews on the back cover.

However, please note that a significant change in the content of the book might warrant a change in the ISBN. This option of "changing" must therefore be used with discretion and only to customise a copy for the user.

If the changes that you request must be made to an already finalized manuscript, appropriate charges will be applied.

As many as you wish. There is no minimum or maximum number of books you have to print. If you want just one copy, we'll print you just one.

We use 70gsm paper (50 pounds), in natural shade (off-white) or white, for the pages and 300gsm for the cover. Authors may also specify their stock of choice and we will be happy to oblige subject to our availability of the requested stock. We suggest you check the stock before the order is placed. Change in paper stock might have an impact on the delivery time.

For most books it takes about 8-12 weeks from the time the author has first contacted us to the time the book is available for sale. This is the case when the manuscript is completed in its entirety before editing is commenced and payments are made on time. Many authors add and delete the texts in their books or that on the back cover after the publishing process has begun. Similarly they decide to change certain aspects of the book that have already been completed e.g. the cover is tweaked after its design is finalized. This causes unnecessary delay.

Since we commence a service only after it is paid for, delays in payment may also cause delays in delivery of the service. Finally, we do not take any responsibility for any delay that may occur due to tardy courier services.

In case of print orders, books are shipped within 8-12 days of realization of the payment for that order.

Once a completed manuscript is submitted and the print order is paid for, it takes between ten days to a couple of weeks to receive it, time of transit included. However, delivery could be delayed due to other, unavoidable circumstances. In the case of overseas orders, particularly, books shipped using the postal service have taken upto 6 weeks to reach their destination.

For shipping both within India and abroad we use private couriers. We choose not to ship using the postal service because the packages cannot be tracked and because there is no redressal mechanism in case packages go missing or get damaged. The option is still open for small packages (upto 3 kgs) or if authors insist that their packet be shipped using the postal service.

Currently, we use DHL™ for overseas shipping and Blue Dart™ for shipping within India.

You can. For this purpose, you must email us with the details of your order and not purchase it from any online bookstore where your book may be listed. When you order copies of your book, you will be charged the printing cost and not the listed price of the book.

We do not offer marketing options, but we do offer distribution services. That means we do not offer services that convince buyers to buy your book but we do provide sales channels that make your books available for purchase. These channels include online channels such as dogearsetc.com and other online channels servicing customers in India and abroad. Additionally, under certain circumstances, we also offer retail support that allows your books to be available in certain bookstores all over India.

We distribute online, through various online channels. If you are willing to have at least 150 copies printed, we can also arrange to have them distributed in stores across India, subject to some conditions.

We can also arrange to have your book available on several online bookstores across Europe and North America. Similarly, in the case of e-books, we can arrange for its global distribution through several channel partners. For more details regarding distribution, view this page or email us.

Yes, as an author you may seek other channels for distribution of your book. These channels could be online or offline. However, you must explicitly mention "CinnamonTeal Publishing" as the publisher of the book. Failure to do so constitutes a legal breach that may attract legal action. It is better that you contact us before such a move to prevent any overlap of efforts.

When you choose to opt for distribution of your books through physical book stores, we immediately inform our distributor. He then sends all stores details about your book. It is up to the store to accept your book and ask for a certain number of copies for display. It therefore does not bear much fruit to insist that a book be displayed in a particular store because the store decided whether or not to display your book. In any case, our distributor contacts most bookstore chains along with prominent bookstores. If the book is about a particular city, bookstores in that city are often contacted.

You can contact distributors on your own and ask them to supply your book to bookstores. However, you will have to negotiate the terms yourself. Books requested by the distributor will be printed and dispatched only after they have been paid for in full. Similarly, in this case, we will not be responsible for collection of dues from the distributor. It is better that you contact us before such a move to prevent any overlap of efforts.

Yes, we do. For more details refer to our page explaining international distribution.

The following payment options are available to buyers on Dogears Etc.: a) Credit/Debit Card, b)Payment by Cheque/DD, c)Payment through a direct deposit into our bank a/c. For more details, email us.

For overseas payments, you can choose to pay using paypal. However, there will be a surcharge to compensate for the costs levied by paypal.

You will be invoiced for the requested services. The invoice must be paid in full before the service is rendered. Payment options will be listed on the invoice provided to you.

If your books have been sold to persons other than you (i.e. if you have not bought those books yourself), you will receive an amount equal to the Author's Earnings you have accrued, if it exceeds Rs. 1000/-, by cheque at the end of six months. The cheque will be accompanied by a detailed account of each sale and the amount due to you. This seemingly large period of six months is because many distributors and retailers themselves have such a payment cycle.

We do not accept any returns and will not refund any purchases unless we have sent the wrong book or a defective copy. Copies damaged during transit cannot be returned for refund.

For as long as you want. When you publish with CinnamonTeal, your book will never go out of print.