I think Xlibris is one of the better POD companies. The price of
their books is a little high (but not much higher than other POD service
providers).
It is important to remember with any POD service provider that you
are making compromises in order to cut down on cost and hassle. You do
not have as much control over the layout as you might like, the price of
the book will be higher than if you funded a 2000 copy offset run, and
there are obstacles to getting your book into bookstores. On the other
hand, they provide a serviceable, professional design, they take and
process orders, and you don't have to spend money buying books to
re-sell.
As with any self-publishing venture, my best advice would be to
educate yourself about the publishing and bookselling industries. Don't
expect too much from any self-published book and don't expect a POD
company to do for you what a publisher might.
I do not recommend iUniverse. They take rights, and I don't think
they do enough for you to earn those rights. They do no more for you
than any other POD company, yet they expect a cut of the money if you
sell print or subsidiary rights to an established publishing company, as
if they were an agent or publisher.
Best wishes,
Julie
