I absolutely agree with Jeremy Robinson that POD People must not only act as author, but also publisher, advertiser, editor, agent and graphic designer. But it is very rare for a first time self publisher to have all those skills. That is why I really love the following book, which gave me the most important hand-on skills that I needed to write and publish my books. You may want to check it out:

Self Publish Perfect Paperbooks & eBooks With LyX On Windows & Sell Them Worldwide On Lulu Easy & FREE!

A good primer on the trials and tribulations of POD publishing from someone who has been there. There's a little bit too much in this book about Jeremy Robinson for my tastes, but let's face it--that's part of the game. Books don't get sold without some in-your-face publicity, POD or otherwise. It takes determination, courage, and chutzpah, and writing is only half the battle. I found a great deal of useful information in this book, and I think he's dead on in stating that most POD authors are their own worst enemies, producing a poor quality product that adds to the stigma of POD books. Shape up, people!

Valuable reading for anyone considering the POD option.

The question every first time writer faces when they finish writing their book is what to do next. I believe Jeremy Robinson's book, POD People, is an excellent place to start.
It is full of great advice relating to many things most of us would easily forget or not even think about and a wonderful sense of the adventure that self-publishing a book can be. - Stephen Bruce, author of The Father - A Story of Love.

When I decided to self-publish my book I knew I needed help from someone who had already been through the process. Shortly after joining Lulu I came across Jeremy Robinson's success story with The Didymus Contingency. Even though mine is a work of non-fiction, I felt I could learn a lot from his experience. I was delighted to find he had written a guide to POD and downloaded it immediately. It has been of enormous practical help to me in negotiating the complexities of getting my book to the marketplace, especially in figuring out how to get the most out of Amazon. As well, Jeremy's positive tone throughout the book is really encouraging. - Jim Bruce, author of Faithful Servant: A Memoir of Brian Cleeve

POD People was a very easy read with just enough personal anecdotes to make you feel comfortable and connected, without wandering away from the main point – how to succeed at POD publishing. It’s an honest look at the current state of POD with guidance on what POD authors can do to avoid “the stigma.”

In retrospect, I suppose many of Jeremy Robinson’s points are fairly obvious (e.g., make sure the cover art is excellent, find and use a good editor, etc.). But, these are points that really need to be reiterated because, I guess, people fall in love with their own work or only listen to friends (who will surely be complementary regardless of the work). POD People helps authors refocus on many facets of creating a book. He even helps authors benefit from others’ criticism.

POD People also provided insightful first-hand experiences, like how many POD books are likely to sell on some online retailers versus others. Jeremy Robinson also teaches some marketing tricks specific to those sites.

Overall, I was very happy I bought POD People. It was my first purchase on Lulu.com and thanks to Jeremy Robinson it surely won’t be my last.

Steve
[Shameless plug for my own book goes here; but I haven’t written anything…yet!]

This is an excellent step by step guide for those who are interested in self publishing or POD. This has definitely helped me to comprehend the marketing process and what is to be expected. I enjoy glancing at it from time to time and underline anything necessary for the betterment of my writing and talents. Thank you for being a blessing.

I read the book in one weekend. I found Robinson's down-to-earth style and honesty addicting. The book is full of useful, hands-on information invaluable for anyone considering publishing by Print on Demand. He tells all from cover design to choosing to right font for your text to marketing to generate sales and recognition.

The beauty of this book is that Robinson tells you the pros and cons of POD publishing. When you finish reading it, you know for sure what aspects of POD publishing you should do yourself and what aspects you need to let the professionals do for you.

I highly recommend this book as a must-read before you publish anything by POD!
Anthony S. Policastro - Novelist

Jeremy Robinson has written a useful and honest guide to self-publishing through Print On Demand. This excellent book will prove useful to any author trying to break into the POD business, and may just be the definitive work on the subject.

What I like most about this book is its brutal honesty, and the insistence by the author of how both important an author's professionalism and personal integrity is in gaining respect in this business. Far too many self published authors take these things lightly, and there actions make it even harder for those of us who are going about the pursuit of success in the right way to achieve respect in this industry.

In this book Robinson speaks with wisdom and authority, and I hope all authors pursuing a serious career as a self published author will buy this book and take what he has to say to heart.

I bought the downloaded version to get immediate satisfaction in learning Jeremy's secrets to success with POD and Lulu in particular. His style in this book is not at all formal, actually familiar like a college buddy sharing tips on how he got an "A" on his Masters Thesis from a particular professor.

Jeremy assumes you already have a polished manuscript, that you can create or pay for a professional book cover (front and back), and that you're willing to invest time and effort (not necessarily a lot of money) into promoting your book. If not, then this book won't help you.

But if you're good to go with a great book then following Jeremy's path may well lead to success. A lot of the book is about Jeremy and his background and experiences. I would rather have read a lot more about the specifics of his POD success. Thanks, Jeremy, for sharing your POD experience.

i just got the download for this book after emailing jeremy about his marketing strategies for his book The Didymus Contingency; and i quickly devoured it. This book is a must for POD people like myself; that is if you are really trying to write a good novel and see some measure of success.

The book is filled with basic concepts we all realize but hope aren't true- yes people really do not want to buy a book with shoddy gallery cover- but this only serves to connect jeremy with reality and thus we can see him as genuine and trying to help through his own experience...

Because the book also contains MUCH VALUABLE INFORMATION that you might find yourself but would go through alot of trouble and potentially disasterous mistakes to learn.

Overall the book is encouraging for the serious author but dogmatically realistic and by golly, we can't get too much of that, especially with vanity presses painting a picture of great book sells and fame and fortune around the corner if only you the poor starving author would plunk down your 5-6-700$ for their setup / publishing services.

As an author hoping to have some measure of success with my own novel, i would like nothing more than to take my finished manuscript and hit the PUBLISH button; but i'm persuaded to hold off and take Jeremy Robinson's advice to get all aspects in order before doing so...After all we all want people to not only have access to our literary babies, but be willing to buy!

Buy this book while you are still writing or at least before you start the publishing process! If you want to be a success at POD this book is that important!

Jeremy Robinson has done a great job of telling the hard truth that we need to make our books great to get them to sell.

This is a great book for me since I'm still writing my first novel and fully intend to self-publish it here but not so good for other authors who are hoping to wake up sales on their books.

Most of the things he says I need to do that I can't do for myself (publisher quality editing and cover design) I'm already saving up so I can pay someone else to do for me but some of his suggestions left me flumoxed. I'm not at all sure where I'll get an author blurb for my novel when it's done for example. But it's still an important suggestion and one I need to consider when the time comes.

Of course the authors of the really crap books will never accept their books are crap so this book won't help them anyway. They probably won't even read it to be honest. Then this book isn't aimed at them. It's aimed at people who know they can't genuinely e the judge of their own work.

Another note while this book is crucial for POD authors much of the advice is equally applicable to self-published authors who go the traditional offset route so it's worth reading for them as well.

But perhaps the hardest truth Jeremy points out is that there are no guarentees in this business. You might write a great novel and it still might not sell... even if you get a traditional publisher.

Writing is not for the faint hearted.

Ever been in the woods, you know, down where it's thick and hard to even walk. Occationally a brush with a briar draws blood. Finally you see a path that someone else has made. For me, Jeremy Robinson blazed that path and I say thank ya. POD People tells what worked for him in his success and what didn't. If you want to succeed, emulate success. Don't miss what he has to say.

I've only just downloaded this book, but I've already read it through from cover to cover and can guarantee you that this is well worth the money. There's really useful advice here for anyone who publishes on Lulu, and anyone who self publishes, period. Lots of good advice and tips , but I can give you the bottom line tip:

Make sure your work is as good as it can be before you publish (that includes writing, formatting, and design). POD has a generally bad reputation and putting works out there that aren't as polished and as close to traditionally-published books as possible is not only doing a disservice to yourself, but to the entire POD industry.

But Jeremy's book and find out what you need to do before you hit the publish button.