Books on Tap: A New Twist on Print on Demand
According to an article in the April 24 issue of the Guardian, it’s now possible to have a machine print you “any of 500,000 titles while you wait.”
On Demand Books, the manufacturers of the Espresso Book Machine, known to its friends as EBM, call their device “an ATM for books.” The brochure and spec sheet for the device claims that EBM “can automatically print, bind, and trim on demand at point of sale perfect-bound library-quality paperback books with 4-color covers … in minutes for a production cost of a penny a page.” The brochure mentions that EBM has a “strategic alliance” with major book distributor Ingram Book Group.
Print on demand (POD) publishing has been around for a while now, with companies such as Cafe Press and Lulu.com, among others, giving ordinary people a chance to publish and distribute their books of memoirs, poetry, scholarly research, artwork, or just about anything. The EBM itself has been in use since 2007, though primarily in libraries and bookstores.
EBM offers access to 500,000 titles, with plans to offer “nearly two million titles.” Google Book Search already offers online access to over two million books.
Thanks to my friends at Sonoma State University Library for the pointer to this article.
Sources
Alison Flood, Revolutionary Espresso Book Machine Launches in London, Guardian, April 24, 2009.
Espresso Book Machine 2.0 brochure and spec sheet and FAQ, On Demand Books, 2009.
