If your book is not a jacketed hardback and if it has no color illustrations inside, it is likely printed on demand. You can often tell for sure by looking at the last page of the book. If there is a barcode on that page, like in this photograph
then the book is printed on demand.
Print-on-demand technology has come a long way since the terrible old days. It has many advantages—global reach; usually never goes out of print.
One misconception is that “on demand” means instantaneous printing. Alas, it does not. Like at any printer, there are capacities. In peak season before the holidays, print-on-demand printers gain so much volume that the work slows down.
Before you say “yes” to any event, please email your publicist and your sales manager, Steve Yates. We need to check stock in the warehouse. If there is no stock at the moment, we’ll be asking a print-on-demand printer to print what you need or what the bookstore needs. Our largest print-on-demand partner has printing plants across America and around the globe. That’s great! But it also means we don’t have control over which location will print your book. And we can’t control when the printer will ship to us or to you.
We strongly recommend that you order at least three weeks in advance of the day you must have books. Please don’t say “yes” to an event date that is less than three weeks away unless you already have books in hand.