# D'oh! Of course, I should have known! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-of-course-i-should-have-known/915093 "2020-07-12T05:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-of-course-i-should-have-known/915093/1 "2020-07-12T05:38:42Z")
Something I learned today about buying books from Amazon: if there is a free Kindle version it means the book is out of copyright. Therefore, if there are new print versions available of the same book, it will probably be printed on demand and on the cheap, and you won’t be getting much for your money. I’m not sure now why I wanted a print copy, I suppose I intended to keep it after reading it. I should have just gotten the Kindle version for free. Having bared, for your entertainment, my ignorance and lack of putting it together, I hope some of you will reveal your related stories about things you didn’t catch on about until a while after you should have. Suitable for Cafe Society, of course. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-of-course-i-should-have-known/915093/2 "2020-07-12T14:41:54Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Therefore, if there are new print versions available of the same book, it will probably be printed on demand and on the cheap, and you won’t be getting much for your money. 😕 I’ll be getting the book I wanted at a lower price than I first expected-please explain how this is undesireable. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-of-course-i-should-have-known/915093/3 "2020-07-12T15:24:49Z")
They’re not going to sell it to you cheap; they’re just going to produce it cheaply, he’s saying. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-of-course-i-should-have-known/915093/4 "2020-07-12T16:55:45Z")
The quality of PoD products has improved dramatically over the past several years - the best PoD books are comparable to traditional off-set print runs. But the mid to lower end PoD books are significantly worse than even cheap offset printing, and they’re still more expensive. And traditional off-set printing is only economically feasible for relatively large print runs. So, for small print runs for public domain works, you’re likely to get a PoD product that is simultaneously more expensive and of worse physical quality than you would get from a traditionally printed book. And that’s just the physical quality. With the low margins and small print runs involved, you’ll be lucky to get even marginally competent editing or proof-reading, much less layout and graphic design. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-of-course-i-should-have-known/915093/5 "2020-07-12T17:58:01Z")
My most recent experience with print-on-demand was one of CalMeacham’s books. The binding, cover art, and paper quality were just as good as for any of the other trade paperbacks I own-- The only way I even knew it was print-on-demand was that it listed the date it was manufactured, a date after I had placed the order. The layout was a bit substandard, though, with a lot of ke rninger rors. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doh-of-course-i-should-have-known/915093/6 "2020-07-12T18:15:07Z")
The point for me was, if I had realized it was going to be a PoD book I would have known I wouldn’t want to keep that physical copy, so I could have just gone with the free Kindle version. At least I wasn’t also out the shipping cost, because it was included with several other books I had ordered.