P.O.D. (Print on Demand) book machines have been in use in companies like CreateSpace and Lightning Source for years.  Using these machines they are able to print your books as they are sold – one at a time if need be –  instead of having to do print runs of thousands (or tens of thousands) of copies as a traditional offset press would.  That means you, the author/publisher, don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on printing costs up front and don’t have to pay for storage of the books while waiting for them to be sold.  Print them as you need them: what could be better?

A recent development in the world of Print on Demand brings this capability to a wider variety of businesses; even libraries. 

If your browser won’t play it [View on YouTube]

Isn’t that fascinating?

New Uses for Print on Demand

What’s even more fascinating is the fact that Print on Demand machines are already being used not only by digital printers like CreateSpace and L.S., but are installed in larger libraries.  That’s right, this technology is already being used to solve the space problems of large libraries: instead of shelving the less-used books, order and print them as needed.

Bookstores are also using them as Print on Demand book vending machines; books made while you wait.  I can see a future where bookstores shelve one copy of each popular title for shoppers to see and handle, then print a copy for you when you buy.  This would all but eliminate the heart-break of print book returns for authors as well as easing storage and display space constraints in the stores.

Bloomburg.com reports that Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Mass. has an Espresso Book Machine that patters along constantly, printing about 1,500 books a month.  Roughly two-thirds of those are self-published, says owner Jeff Mayersohn.^[1]

The store charges authors a $70 set-up fee and $10 per copy for a 200-page book, with discounts for volume. Customers often print books of home recipes, family diaries, or academic theses. One title, a memoir about growing up under Mussolini, became a store bestseller.  In addition to self-published books, the EBM can print public domain works from Google Books and titles that publishers like HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster have agreed to license.

Users say that before it can become commercially viable for most bookstores the price will need to come down and the speed will need to go up.  But the technology is definitely getting there.

Heck, it could be that one day these things will become kiosks in the mall!  What do you think THAT will do to the publishing industry?

Resources:

• Here’s a web page that lists EBM locations
• ¹More details from Bloomburg.com
• An older video about the EBM
• MSU Library’s EBM