Bookla

Bookla is a Czech book publisher and print-on-demand service for self-publishing authors, operated by powerprint s.r.o., whose address on every page is in Praha Suchdol, Prague. Its homepage calls it "Jedinečné řešení pro vydávání knih v Česku" (a unique solution for publishing books in the Czech Republic) and leads with the promise "Vydejte si vlastní knihu a neplaťte za tisk!" (publish your own book and don't pay for printing). Authors, students, academics and companies are its stated audience, and titles are sold through Bookla's own eshop and, the homepage says, can reach bookshop counters.

The offer: Bookla pays for printing

Bookla's model differs from a printer that bills the author per copy. Under the heading "Proč vydat knihu na Bookla?" (why publish a book with Bookla?) the homepage lists three points:

1. You do not pay for printing. "Tisk knih financuje Bookla. Platíte zalistovací poplatek, který Vám po prodeji 300 ks vrátíme." (Bookla finances the printing. You pay a listing fee, which we refund after 300 copies are sold.)
2. Guaranteed royalty. "Honorář v min. výši 30 % ceny knihy Vám automaticky vyplatíme každý měsíc." (We automatically pay you a royalty of at least 30% of the book's price every month.)
3. Fast publication. With editorial work included, the page says a book comes out within 2 months ("V případě redakce již do 2 měsíců").

So an author's upfront cost is the listing fee, and it comes back once the title passes 300 sales. The homepage offers a 500 Kč discount on publishing for filling in its non-binding inquiry form, after which Bookla proposes a route to publication. The site's menu also includes a cost calculator (Kalkulačka nákladů), a page on what a book costs, and a page on the author's reward.

Three ways to publish

The homepage splits the offer into three routes, each with its own "how to" page:

• publish your own book and don't pay for printing (the listing-fee model above);
• publish your own book and get onto bookshop counters ("dostaňte se na pulty knihkupectví");
• publish your own book just for pleasure ("jen pro radost"), for instance as a gift; a banner suggests publishing a book this year to surprise the family at Christmas.

The menu also names self-publishing at the author's own cost (vydání samonákladem), classic publishing, and further options, plus separate services for cheap book printing (Levný tisk knih) and printing in larger runs (Tisk knih ve větších nákladech). That makes Bookla both a publisher that finances print-on-demand titles and a printer that will quote a conventional run.

How print-on-demand works at Bookla

Bookla's March 2026 blog post on print-on-demand in the Czech Republic describes the process in four steps: the author delivers finished print data as a PDF interior plus cover; the book is entered into the system; when an order arrives, the specific number of copies is printed, "klidně i jeden jediný" (even a single one); and the book is bound and sent to the customer. In its words, the book "se nevyrábí ve velkém nákladu dopředu, ale tiskne se až ve chvíli, kdy přijde objednávka" (is not produced in a large run in advance, but printed only when an order comes in).

The same post lists four advantages it attributes to the model: low entry costs, since the author does not pay for 500 to 1,000 copies upfront but only for the copies produced; no storage, space or logistics to arrange; quick corrections, since an author who uploads a new version gets updated copies from then on; and what it calls a more ecological approach, because books are not printed for stock that might later be destroyed.

An earlier Bookla post on self-publishing, from July 2025, sets out the author's side of the bargain. Self-publishing, it says, means the author arranges proofreading, typesetting, cover design, printing and distribution, and in return keeps full copyright and a larger share of the profit from copies sold. It lists the steps as finishing the manuscript, ideally after language and specialist editing, preparing the print PDF and cover, choosing a print partner, setting up sales channels such as the author's own e-shop, and marketing, and it warns that the quality of a self-published book rests entirely with the author.

Who Bookla targets

The print-on-demand post names four groups:

• Authors and writers: releasing a debut without risk, testing interest in a title, and reprinting without a minimum run.
• Students and academics: course scripts, specialist publications, limited editions, and updated versions without destroying an old run.
• Companies: corporate books, annual reports and marketing publications.
• Creators of photo books and gift titles: personalized books and small series.

Preparing a book

A large part of Bookla's menu is guidance for first-time authors. Preparation pages cover the standard manuscript page (normostrana), book parameters, the cover, inner pages, binding types (Typy vazeb), ISBN, what is needed for printing, copyright, the book formats available on Bookla.cz, and typography. Financing pages cover funding a book, including crowdfunding, sales, pricing, promotion and advertising, reprints and unsold books. For authors who need help, the menu offers a FAQ, an explainer on how Book on Demand works, and direct contact with Bookla's editors, and the homepage FAQ asks what additional services Bookla offers, whether printing is really free, whether the author keeps the rights, and how a book gets into the eshop. The homepage links a video explaining the model.

Author stories

The homepage features four authors who published with Bookla: a handbook for beginning cold-water and winter swimmers, a travel book by riders of Jawa motorcycles more than 50 years old whose sales fund further trips, a travel guide, and a title by a foreign author published in several countries, of which the page says more than 2,500 copies have sold. The eshop groups titles by theme, such as books for women.

Contact

Bookla lists a phone number (800 040 800) and the e-mail bookla@powerprint.cz on every page, along with powerprint's company registration number. It also runs a writing competition (Soutěž).

Who it suits

Bookla suits a Czech-language author who wants a finished book in print and on sale without paying for a print run: the company finances printing, the listing fee is refunded after 300 sales, and royalties of at least 30% arrive monthly. Students and academics publishing scripts or limited editions, and companies wanting small runs of corporate or marketing books, are named audiences too. Authors whose book still needs editorial work have a stated route to publication within two months.

It suits less well an author who does not expect a title to reach 300 sales, since the listing fee is only refunded at that point, and a seller outside book publishing.