An On-demand Book Boom?

I was listening to the radio the other morning when a short piece about on-demand book publishing caught my ear. The reporter mentioned a company called On Demand Books that was promoting its all-in-one printing/binding device, which can reportedly produce 20 bound books an hour.

The device—called the Espresso Book Machine—wasn’t exactly news to me; the company’s been talking about it for a while, and the World Bank installed one back in April. But this news report was the latest in a series of references to on-demand book publishing that have come to my attention.

Apparently, demand for printed-while-you-wait books is on the rise, and on-demand book publishers are beefing up their digital printing capabilities accordingly. One has even created a new in-plant. I met its manager not long ago when we both attended the xpedx-sponsored “MBA of In-plant Finance” workshop. His company, Xlibris Corp., is an “on-demand publishing services provider” created nearly 10 years ago to help authors publish their own books.

Xlibris is establishing an in-house print operation to produce those books, and has already installed a Kodak NexPress (with a NexGlosser), three Kodak Digimasters, a Standard Horizon BQ 270 perfect binder and other bindery gear.

Amazon.com is also expanding its books-on-demand business. A recent article in USA Today noted the company just installed several HP Indigo presses at its fulfillment centers and hopes to increase the number of available titles. And last fall, Lightning Source, an on-demand book provider, acquired 15 Océ VarioStream 9210 black and color-ready digital printers. Then in January it added an HP Indigo w3250 digital color press with a Lasermax Roll Systems LX Stack feeding and finishing system.

Clearly these companies expect interest in instant books to soar. In-plants should keep an eye on this trend. Some may see an opportunity here. At the very least, this activity could indicate an evolution in how customers view on-demand printing and hint at their future expectations. Their increasing comfort levels with online book ordering/payment is itself a worthwhile observation.

I recently decided to give one of these on-demand book printing sites a try—not as a customer but as a publisher. I uploaded a PDF of a book I wrote a few years ago to Lulu (www.lulu.com), which calls itself an “independent publishing marketplace for digital do-it-yourselfers.”

Lulu has an interesting business model: authors can upload their books at no cost. If someone buys your book from the site, the book is then printed and shipped. The author names his/her own price and gets paid from any profit over the printing costs. Lulu claims only a small share.

To print books, Lulu uses Xerox DocuTechs and Nuveras in its hubs around the world. Xerox iGen3 printers handle cover printing.

If you want an example of what customers see on the site, my book is here: www.lulu.com/content/638426

On another note, you may notice some prominent names among the writers in this issue. Industry heavyweights Barb Pellow and Frank Romano have brought their incisive perspectives to our pages. Pellow, in fact, will be offering her insights throughout the year as an IPG columnist—and few know more about this industry. She has worked at (take a deep breath) Kodak, Xerox, Indigo, IKON, R.I.T. and CAP Ventures. We welcome her observations.

One last thing: You have until the end of this month to enter our print contest, In-Print 2007. Don’t miss this chance to recognize your staff for the quality printing they produce. Visit our In-Print page for details and an entry form: www.ipgonline.com/docs/contest.bsp.