In today's Internet age the traditional publisher has a new competitor. It's called Print on Demand, or POD for short.

Until recently, aspiring writers found it difficult to have their books approved and into print by established publishers.

With POD you become your own publisher, printing and shipping out your books as they are sold. This means no unsold inventory and no lost money while your books are sitting around gathering dust in boxes.

Ebooks are pretty popular online but there are still some "old fashioned" consumers who want to hold a book in their hands. POD allows you to offer them that option inexpensively.

Unlike traditional publishing, which can cost a small fortune to print hundreds of books (with no guarantee that they'll sell), POD is very affordable.

When shopping for a POD Publisher to work with you'll want to find out what the set up cost is and the charge per book. You'll also want to inquire whether there is a minimum number of books you have to purchase. Make sure to read the fine print of any agreement to make sure you are not giving your rights away. Most will allow you to keep your rights and they'll also get an ISBN number for your book.

Here are some of the more popular POD publishers online:

1) Author House: http://AuthorHouse.com

If you list with Author House your book will be available at more then 25,000 retail outlets worldwide, including Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com. They do prefer that your submission be in electronic format (CD or Disk). There are three sizes of books available; 5X8, 6X9, 8.25X11. You retain all rights to your work.

2) Action Tales: http://ActionTales.com

Publishes in electronic or hard copy format. Set up charge for POD is $197.00 and includes an ISBN number for your book. You maintain all rights to your work. Once printed, your book becomes available in retail outlets nationwide. All books are 6X9 trade paperback. One side note: they only accept top quality work, so make sure yours is up to par before submitting.

3) Aventine Press: http://AventinePress.com

You retain all rights to your work. They only accept work by authors who live in the U.S. They will make your book available to leading bookstores such as Ingram, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and others. Your book is stored in electronic format with copies printed as you need them. Your paperbook and hardcover royalties are 80% of what is received when a copy of your book is sold.

3) Ebook Stand: http://EbookStand.com

Published in paperback, hardcover or in ebook format. You retain all rights to your work. Pays 30% of the sale price or your paperback book and 25% for other paperback trim sizes. They also pay 50% on ebook sales and 20% of hardcover books sold on their site.

4) Universal-Publishers: http://Universal-Publishers.com

Books sold in paperback format through thousands of booksellers including Amazon and Barnes and Noble and in digital format via the Net. Authors receive royalties from 20 to 40% of the retail price. Non-exclusive publishing agreement.

5) EbookoMatic: http://EbookOMatic.com

Publish unlimited ebooks for a one time registration fee of $147.00. Ebooks will be available for sale on multiple websites. Audio enable your sales page with your own voice.They do prefer your manuscript in Word or PDF format. They also have a free 10 day trial so you can take them for a test drive.

6) LuLu: http://LuLu.com

You can publish books, calendars, music, video, software, ebooks and more with LuLu. You set the selling price of your product and they take 20% of the royalty you set. Can sell in POD format or strictly ebook format.

7) BookLocker: http://BookLocker.com

They have a $199.00 set up fee, and an $18.00 per year hosting charge. You supply the book cover and books are printed as trade paperback, soft or hard cover. They pay you 35% of listing price and you keep all of your rights.

So, if you've always dreamed of being a published author or you're tired of rejection letters, why not take the task upon yourself and publish your own book. With Print on Demand some dreams can come true and your book can be lying on your coffee table tomorrow.