What is Print On Demand (POD)?

There is a new trend sweeping the publishing industry. Well, actually it isn't new at all. It's been around for some time, but it's just now catching on (finally)! It's called Print On Demand, or POD.

First, let's talk about what POD is NOT. It is not vanity publishing as some would have you believe. Vanity publishing, or self-publishing, is when you take your material, complete your own line edits, find your own printer, print and bind your own books, and sell them yourself. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with self-publishing. I just want to provide the distinction between vanity publishing and POD.

Print on demand with digital technology is used as a way of printing items on demand. In other words, unlike a traditional print run publisher, POD will only print the book when it has been ordered. Traditional publishers print a run of several thousand books right out of the gate with no guarantee even one will sell. This not only ties up a heck of a lot of money in overhead, it also wastes valuable resources (paper, chemicals, time, etc.). If the books don't sell, we now have several thousand books in a land fill somewhere. In this day and age of "green" and protecting our resources, POD really does stand out as the more Earth-friendly approach.

POD has many benefits. Some of them are:

• You can still order books that otherwise would have been out of print and no longer available. As long as that book is in digital format, it will always be available.
• Large inventories of a book or print material do not need to be kept in stock, reducing storage, handling costs, and inventory accounting costs.
• There is little or no waste from unsold products.
• POD advantages reduce the risks associated with publishing books and prints and can lead to increased choice for consumers.

So there you have it. I hope this helps you understand what POD is and why it is growing in popularity, and why I chose to go with a POD publisher. I'm not going to chain myself to a tree to show my "greener" side, but by choosing an Earth-friendly publisher like Siren-BookStrand, I am showing that I do have one.

Book Trailer for AT ANY COST - actual trailer

I've had a couple people ask if I would post the actual video trailer here instead of the link, so here it is. I would love to hear what you think of this trailer as it is my first one and I want to make one for each of my books. If this totally blows, then I want to know so I don't turn around and make the same type of trailer for SEEK AND DESTROY. However, if you just love it, I'd like to hear that, too!

Book Trailer for AT ANY COST

I wanted to share with everyone my efforts at creating a book trailer for my first book out, AT ANY COST.

http://www.youtube.com/v/nNMaDGpe6vs

Tell me what you think.

I've been tagged... Thanks Jami!

I guess even blogspots can get those chain letters/tags. This one looks fun so I'll jump in.

The rules: Tell seven random and/or interesting things about myself. Get five blog buddies to play, too and link to their blogs. Don't forget to post the rules.


1. I used to race jeeps offroad, which is where I met my husband. You pick out the jeep you like, then go after the man. He he he... I think he liked my jeep better.
2. My feet are insanely ticklish. I mean freakishly insanely ticklish. I've actually broken toes (my own) when being tickled because I ended up kicking something.
3. I'm a techie by trade and yet have to have my fifteen year old son show me how to use my Blackberry phone.
4. I love to bake in the sun. L-O-V-E it. However, being a redhead and extremely fair skinned, I usually turn into a lobster in no time and then spend the next week in pain, then another week itching from dead skin peeling off me in sheets.
5. My husband and I have been together for seventeen years, but we aren't actually married. We were married, got a divorce, and then got back together. We call each other "Spousal Units" or SUs. It fits, don't you think? We live in blissful sin! Ha!
6. My daughter is one of my best friends. THAT is saying something! She is eleven going on thirty, so let's see if we are still speaking when she turns all "teenager" on me! I know there will come a time when it just won't be cool to hang with mom, but until then I'm taking advantage of every second.
7. I love to remodel and/or build additions on houses. I'm in the process of purchasing a house right now. I plan to add on and will get started this summer. I'm TERRIBLE at interior design, so if you have any taste at all (I've been told my taste is all in my mouth), let me know and I'll be happy to pick your brain for ideas.

So there you have it--my seven factoids. As for my blog group, I don't think I know five people who have blogs. Instead, I'll post this now and as I find blogs out there, I'll post the URL here.

Thanks!

Finding your Happily Ever After (HEA)

There's been a lot of talk on my author's loop (Gawd, I love saying that! I actually have an author's loop) about romance books and whether or not they should have the proverbial HEA (Happily Ever After). In my opinion, all romance genre books should have the HEA. Here's why:

Years ago I read this book--I don't even remember the name--that not only did not have the HEA, the author killed off the heroine at the end of the book. I was so mad I actually threw the book across the room. I felt cheated. I spent all that time and energy reading that book only to have it end in tragedy! To me, if the hero and heroine do not end up together, that is a tragedy.

So, for those of you looking for your HEA, you can count on them in all of my books. I will never cheat any of my readers by having the book end in tragedy. Sure, they may get shot, thrown out of windows, beaten to a bloody pulp, etc... But they will ALWAYS end up together in the end.

After all, isn't that what HEAs are all about?

RESCUE ME picked up by BookStrand!!!

Well, when it happens it happens fast.

BookStrand offered to publish RESCUE ME, my Search And Rescue (SAR) book set in Washington State. Here's a little bio on the book: "Kathryn Davis is the one of the top SAR coordinators in the country. When she finds someone not meant to be found, hears things not meant to be heard, she discovers just how far someone will go to make sure she is silenced. Detective Spencer Allen is the only one who can protect her. They already have a history together, one that did not end well. Can they get along long enough to find out who is trying to kill Kat? Being together again ignites the passion once more, sparking their old flame into an inferno.

I'm very excited and wanted to post the news! Head to my website (http://www.alliekadams.com/) to read more about Kat and Spencer.

That makes three books under contract with high interest in the next book in the NASSD series. Yeah!!!