Jen writes:

Hello,

Dear Jen,   

Since most POD companies (that offer books for general distribution) use Lightning Source to print the books and get them into Ingram's distribution channels, you might be out of luck here. The problem is that Lightning Source uses a low line screen (akin to the quality of newspaper photos rather than a higher line screen which would give you something like magazine pictures); so, while the technology exists to get your pictures to look better, Lightning does not use it. I'm not sure why, since I can't imagine it would increase their costs too much, and a LOT of people complain about this.

The thing to do would be to find PODs that don't use Lightning as their ultimate provider, but this comes with its own problems if you want to get your book into general bookstores. I don't know of any company that specializes in B&W photos, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. I'd recommend joining the pod_publishers group at Yahoo Groups and asking for their advice. These are people who are contacting vendors directly every day and their information is cutting edge. (The group is at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/pod_publishers/)

(This group is only intended for people who want to become publishers using POD technology, not really for authors who want to use a POD service. It is moderated, and you won't be allowed to join if you aren't a publisher.)

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