It will likely not surprise you to learn there is nothing straightforward in selecting the right self-publishing service to help you get your work into print and distributed to readers. As we have come to expect, PODy Mouth is presenting some very clear and down to earth advice on the important criteria when selecting the right print-on-demand, self publishing services.

One of the critical elements, according to PODy Mouth, is that your selected service should include Ingram distribution:

You want your POD to have a relationship with Ingram. Without Ingram wholesale distribution, there is no point in going POD - you may as well go traditional self-publishing and sell books from your van.

I wonder how many authors decide to opt for the self-publishing route with rose tinted glasses thinking that so long as the book is published, that’s all there is to it. Distribution, of course - and the right distribution - is utterly critical. I have spent the past three years within the very new space of Podcasting, and prior to that immersed in creation of corporate websites for many years, and there are still a great many individuals in those spaces with the ability to create great content, backed up with nothing more than the idea that “if you build it, they will come”. The quality of the content - just as with a written work - is of course critical, but the content itself is not what draws in the eyes and attentions of the audience. They need constant reminding and sometimes close to bullying, in order to get their thinly stretched attention focused long enough on what you do to even consider sampling your content.

It’s a tough world, but the marketers will always win. Content is king? Content is nothing without marketing and distribution.