by Peter Joseph Swanson
Member since:
April 13, 2007

The future of the bookstore - one little machine ???

October 10, 2008 09:42 AM EDT
views: 99 | comments: 32

Printing books on demand, printing one copy at a time after they have been paid for, has been around for awhile now.  You can go to a traditional bookstore and order one.  But soon you will just be able to get the book instantly - literally "hot off the press" at a coffee shop or wherever one wants to stick one. 

Here's what it say at the On Demand Books website:

"On Demand Books LLC (ODB) uses proprietary software and a patented, fully integrated high speed machine to print, bind and trim  a library quality paperback book at point of sale on demand in minutes at low cost from digital  files. The Espresso Book Machine replaces the centralized supply chain for the distribution of books - essentially unchanged since Gutenberg - with radically decentralized direct-to-consumer distribution. In essence, an ATM for books."

My publisher will be involved in this as it developes.  I am very excited.  A person can grab one of my books in Egypt, or Australia or Canada or New Orleans and Michigan  (a few of the places prototype versions of this machine already exist) without waiting for shipping. 

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Comments: 32

Mary Bee Oct 10, 2008, 9:43am EDT
Interesting.....
Peter Joseph Swanson Oct 10, 2008, 9:44am EDT
yippee
Heather M. Oct 10, 2008, 9:44am EDT
very interesting
Heidianna "Coriander" T. Oct 10, 2008, 9:51am EDT
This is really cool! A friend of mine brought up this idea to me a year ago, and we both agreed it was a good idea.
Rita j. Oct 10, 2008, 9:53am EDT
sounds great
Jennifer R. Oct 10, 2008, 9:55am EDT
I think that is fantastic idea.
JD Blackstar Oct 10, 2008, 10:05am EDT
It definitely works well for mainstream books.
William Dotani Oct 10, 2008, 11:43am EDT
If you have the software, you can publish the book at home. Just go to the listing of the author on the Internet, pay for the book and then have it print out on your home copy machine.
Peter Joseph Swanson Oct 10, 2008, 11:44am EDT
But William it's important the book look real pretty, with nice binding and laminated cover and all.
William Dotani Oct 10, 2008, 11:45am EDT
I'm not sure this idea will catch on because I think most people who go to book stores like to browse around whether or not they have a certain book to buy.
Angela A. Oct 10, 2008, 11:48am EDT
This is awesome Pete!
William Dotani Oct 10, 2008, 11:48am EDT
A industry like the gift card industry could spring up and offer a choice of beautiful covers for $1 up to $100,000 if you wanted diamonds and sapphires embedded. All you would really need is some glue.
Dawn S. Oct 10, 2008, 12:04pm EDT
hmmm.. interesting
Priscilla (wishing I was in Costa Rica) ~. Oct 10, 2008, 12:20pm EDT
I use my Kindle for a lot of books. I tend to read more this way too~
Tanzanite S. Oct 10, 2008, 12:25pm EDT
One of the best ideas in a long time.
Peter Joseph Swanson Oct 10, 2008, 12:30pm EDT
Kindle is so cool.
Tracy Fabre Oct 10, 2008, 1:06pm EDT
Yay for PODs! The POD people are winning!

I'm proud to be a POD.
Chana M. Oct 10, 2008, 1:11pm EDT
I don't know Peter. I remember the great non-retail oriented bookstores where you could spend the day in the little window seats and nooks reading over things. I really loved those places and miss them. Then in the WDC area came Crown Books and most of those places went out of business. Now most book stores are more like fast food outlets. This seems to be the next step. Sure you can get the same book faster, but the ability to discover things you might never know about goes further away.
Peter Joseph Swanson Oct 10, 2008, 1:25pm EDT
I think people will have to learn to "browse" on the internet to learn what to buy. I'm sure there will always be some fun used book stores around.
Peter Joseph Swanson Oct 10, 2008, 1:59pm EDT
And I bet even with the browsable used book store, most the stuff sold from it will be sold via the internet.

(but I can't be sure)
donna h. Oct 10, 2008, 2:21pm EDT
How about a book on a disc or flashdrive?
Peter Joseph Swanson Oct 10, 2008, 4:14pm EDT
P.O.D. is glued together real nice these days. My 2 years-old P.O.D. books I own are still as tight as a drum, sturdy as a brick (ha ha). The paper is gorgeous, the cover is laminated. Libraries DO deal in paperbacks and I think the "library quality" mentioned only applies to paperback library quality (not hard cover, of course) .

And Kindle is cool, no doubt !!!
Elaine B. Oct 10, 2008, 4:22pm EDT
Cool!
Nancy L. Oct 10, 2008, 4:47pm EDT
Joan would be so proud...

It is a cool idea!
Marge H. Oct 10, 2008, 5:14pm EDT
It sounds like a great idea.
Peter Joseph Swanson Oct 10, 2008, 5:21pm EDT
The "bad" paperbacks were those dirt cheap (made) newsprint "pocket sized" paperbacks of the 70s, but we loved them anyway. They fell apart, but life went on.

P.O.D. is nothing like 70s quality paperbacks. It's MUCH better !!!
Nancy L. Oct 10, 2008, 6:13pm EDT
I used to work for a company (Kodak) that made large digital presses and they made POD books for customer demos .They were beautiful, as Peter said, with laminated covers and the bindings were tight. I doubt any normal reader could tell the difference in looks or keeping quality.
Rhetta A. Oct 10, 2008, 7:13pm EDT
I think this is wonderful. My books, from Lulu and Create Space, are as well done as any book I've seen in any bookstore, and they are POD. With these machines, it may be possible to make the books a little less expensive and still make a profit for the author. That would be lovely!

And more authors will be able to get published, which is getting harder and harder through traditional means all the time.
Pat Bertram Oct 10, 2008, 8:16pm EDT
It's a much better system than the one they have now, where 25% of all book stock is destroyed. That's almost too much to bear.
Amanda "middle of nowhere" C. Oct 11, 2008, 8:21am EDT
This could be a good thing. It could lower prices, too.
Linda DeMerle Oct 11, 2008, 8:57am EDT
I think this is very cool and interesting. Essentially....what has happened to music is affecting the publishing industry, as well.
Lana B. Oct 30, 2008, 9:11pm EDT
Wow, how interesting. Certainly makes those ginormous bookstores seem a little bit like overkill, huh?

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