Print on Demand

A couple of years ago, I pointed out that Amazon were strong-arming publishers into using their own print-on-demand service, Booksurge (now operating under the banner 'CreateSpace'). There was plenty of uproar about the tactic, though most publishers felt unable to stand up to the dominant online bookseller. One publisher that did, however, was BookLocker - and late last week they had a massive victory when Amazon backed down and settled in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the publisher:

As many of you probably remember, in March, 2008, an Amazon / BookSurge representative called us on the phone and told us we (and other Print on Demand publishers) must start paying Amazon to print our books. If we didn’t, they would remove our “buy it now” buttons from Amazon.com.

After the phone call, we publicly cried foul, and alerted the publishing industry about the threat. We subsequently heard from other publishers who had received the same ultimatum, including a university press. A media firestorm erupted and many authors and publishers alike screamed “monopoly”, launching an online revolt. Several, including myself, boycotted Amazon.com, and publicly shared their anger about the Amazon / BookSurge (now CreateSpace) Ultimatum.

Print on Demand publishing pioneer Morris Rosenthal has posted an interesting blog entry about the Espresso Book Machine and the effect it could have on offset printers, and also the library business. Head on over there and check it out - I've included Morris's video on the subject here for your enjoyment:

According to bibliographic data provider Bowker, last year the number of print-on-demand titles exceeded the number of traditionally-published titles for the first time ever. If anyone ever doubted that PoD was taking over, the numbers are in:

US title output in 2008 decreased by 3.2%, with 275,232 new titles and editions, down from the 284,370 titles that were published in 2007. By contrast Bowker projects that 285,394 'on demand' books were produced last year, a 132% increase over last year's final total of 123,276 titles. It is the second consecutive year of triple-digit growth in this sector, driven by the huge rise in self-publishing.

With advances in eBook technology and print-on-demand availability and ease of use (see the previous two stories), this trend can only continue.

Lightning Source has officially announced their partnership with the Espresso Book Machine company to create a new book distribution channel, via printing of books in-store using the EBM.

The EBM, an ATM for books, is located in bookstores, libraries and other sites. The Espresso Book Machine is the latest pioneering distribution channel to join the Lightning Source family of publisher-to-market pathways. The Lightning Source Espresso Book Machine Channel will give publishers the option to make available the books they have stored in the Lightning Source digital library, and have those titles printed, bound, and delivered at point of sale, on demand, in minutes.

This new move may help offer affordable distribution for Lightning Source customers in markets such as Australia, South Africa and Japan. It might also be seen as one of the few chinks in Amazon's armour as it consolidates its dominance of the book retail market, given that one of the keys to Amazon's dominance over bookshops is its ability to sell and quickly distribute obscure, lesser-known titles. Certainly, at this stage Amazon wouldn't have much to concern them. But one would have to think that with the inevitable advances in technology, this may in the end make Amazon obsolete - at least in terms of 'real' books (it's obvious that they are currently working hard on locking in the other 'advancing technology' book market, with the Kindle).

For the curious, here's a look at the Espresso Book Machine in action: Read more »

Here's an interesting interview with Lightning Source President David Taylor, about the future of not only print-on-demand, but publishing in general.

In the wake of the controversial PoD program of Amazon in the US, their UK arm has now also announced a print-on-demand service:

Amazon said it would be able to print books in both full colour and black and white and said the books would be "virtually indistinguishable" from traditionally printed titles. Christopher North, vice president of media at Amazon.co.uk, said: "Working with publishers, we hope to bring hundreds of thousands of books to Amazon.co.uk’s customers that might never have otherwise been available. POD not only enables publishers to keep more titles in-stock at Amazon, but it also makes possible innovative new approaches to publishing." For a limited time, Amazon.co.uk said it would provide free setup for publishers with POD-ready PDF files.

The print-on-demand ballet continues...

In 'traditional' publishing, book publishers normally take great care to avoid printing material which may make them liable for damages - the thinking is, I guess, that if they edit the thing, they should have a fair idea of the content and whether it is kosher. However, the rise of so-called 'Print on Demand Publishers'/vanity printers - who simply take a manuscript and print/distribute it for a cost - generally don't have a clue what is in 'their' books.

However, a recent case provided a test for their culpability - a defamation action was lodged over a book that was printed and distributed by BookSurge. And as MediaShift has recently reported, the decision was in favour of Booksurge, which has interesting ramifications for all parties involved in such cases in future:

The question prior to Sandler v. Calcagni was whether the law would saddle these kinds of services with potential liability that would force them to vet their authors’ works in the same manner as traditional publishers. If print-on-demand services were found not to be liable, they would have less incentive to weed out books that could give rise to legal action, almost certainly allowing more content to make its way into the stream of public discourse — for good or ill, as this case arguably demonstrates.

Bowker has reported a "staggering rise" in the number of print-on-demand titles:

"The most startling development last year is the reporting of 'On Demand' [p.o.d.] titles, leading to a stunning five-fold increase of new titles in the unclassified category, which mostly consists of reprints of public domain titles and other short-run books," said Kelly Gallagher, general manager of business intelligence for Bowker. "It will be interesting to monitor this category in 2008 in order to get a sense of whether this is a sustainable trend or a one-year spike."

Glad to have contributed my bit to the PoD surge!

Bookselling giant Amazon has thrown the self-publishing world into turmoil by imposing its significant influence, announcing a new, hardline policy for publishers: if you want a print-on-demand book to be stocked on Amazon.com, you need to leave your current printer and sign up with the Amazon-owned printer Booksurge. In other words, all those publishers who currently have a large catalogue of books being printed by other sources - such as Lightning Source Inc. - must break ties with their current printer, and reformat (as necessary) and resubmit their entire back catalogue to Booksurge (no small feat). Read more »

The publicity blitz for the Espresso Book Machine (EBM) continues, with news now that London will get one (there are currently four in the U.S., and one at the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt). The Times Online story has a pretty good discussion of the merits and possible problems relating to the EBM. It also has a cool link to video of the EBM, for those who would like to see it in action.