While on-the-go amateur journalists can get free public access to the world, it may seem that budding novelists have no thrifty outlet for their work.

But now, thanks to the extending reach of the Internet, there is printing on demand.

Printing on demand differs from traditional publishing because it prints one book per customer request. Traditional publishing companies print mass quantities of books and send the copies to stores to be sold.

Area resident and former Penn State kinesiology professor Jan Visser, whose books The Crystal Skulls and The Revelations of Arran Nak have been published through www.booklocker.com, is familiar with the printing on demand process.Visser said he originally tried to have his first book, The Crystal Skulls, published by a traditional company.

"I sent it to one publisher," Visser said. "Most people send to a lot of publishers. I decided not to go through with that process right now."

One of the greatest advantages to printing on demand is that it allows the writer of a book much greater freedom. Visser said that if his books had been accepted by a bigger publishing company he probably would have had stricter guidelines on what he could and could not do as a writer. "They want to know if you're prolific," Visser said. "They might want you to write a book a year. That is why it's so difficult. That's why I decided to go with printing on demand."

Visser, who is currently teaching distance learning for Walden University, said he had to pay a small fee to have his book published.

But he chose Booklocker because it selected which books the company would publish, and it didn't charge as much as some other print on demand companies.

But Booklocker is just one of many Web sites that are available to authors who don't want to publish their books through traditional processes.

Andrew Niggles (senior-economy) also decided to go the route of printing on demand for many of the same reasons that Visser did. However, he used a different company, one that unlike Booklocker would not reject any books. In March 2006, Niggles released a science fiction novel, First Born, he had started when he was in high school through the print on demand company, www.lulu.com.

Like Visser, Niggles had also attempted to have his novel published through traditional companies first. But outside factors changed the course of Niggles' original plan. "I originally wanted to go the traditional route of going to real publishers and waiting for responses," Niggles said. Niggles sent the publishers samples of his novel with his then-current address of the Kappa Sigma fraternity house. "We moved out of that building, and I forgot to change my address," he said. So instead of sending his material again, Niggles said he decided to publish through Lulu after searching several print on demand companies.

Niggles said he went with Lulu because at the time he didn't have to pay a fee to have his book published. Unlike Booklocker, however, Lulu doesn't reject any novels.

Lulu and Niggles sold 50 copies of his novel at $10 each book. Niggles and Lulu agreed on a price for the novel that would cover the production costs for the company while giving Niggles a slight profit, he said. Niggles sold 50 copies of his book, which he said was one of the few disadvantages to working with Lulu. "One of the things about Lulu is that they don't market your book," Niggles said. "It was up to me to market the book."