Publishing for beginning or specialist niche authors has always been a major obstacle. One solution, Print on Demand, has been around for a while but the technology is about to get a major boost as a result of commercial pressures in the book selling world.
The world largest online retailer Amazon has recently acquired BookSurge a print on demand specialist. So we have the powerful combination of a leading distributor with the technology and rights for a breakthrough in marketing books.
Print on demand is a method of book distribution whereby single copies of a book can be printed as the title is ordered. This represents considerable economies in that the method eliminated the costs and risks of inventory management and to a large extent the freight cost of the books themselves.
Although we have been hearing about how e-books and readers will replace paper based books for years it seems that consumers still want a tangible book to read and shelve.
Traditional bookselling used a method called sale or return. Retailers received their stock from distributors fro sale, unsold copies were returned to the distributors. This twoway traffic is expensive to maintain and is wasteful of resources. These expenses are built into the retail price of books.
Publishers take a risk with every title they publish. They need to spend considerable effort selecting manuscripts that they estimate have a good chance of success. First time authors and those wishing to publish into niche markets face a considerable barrier. Publishers cant justify publishing authors without a track record, authors cant get recognised until they are published. Print on demand bypasses this hurdle, or at least lowers the bar considerably. The break even print run will be reduced to just a few hundred copies.
From the consumers point of view there are considerable benefits in this new system. A much greater choice of books will become available, especially for highly specialised topics.
There will be considerable downward pressure on book prices. Consumers will be able to buy more books.
Titles printed using this method will never go out of print.
With every technological change and its flow on economic effects there will be some businesses and groups who will face losses, real or imagined. The remainders trade is probably one section of the book industry which is most under threat, and second hand booksellers may also lose out. Traditional book retailers will need to adapt, but the global market for printed books will probably expand.
But the overall benefits for authors, publishers and consumers are considerable. We live in interesting times.
Related Posts
