Setting aside the digital revolution for a minute, a new distribution model for books is being put forward in a more convincing way than ever before. Home printers have existed for about 30 years, but printing a library’s worth of books has been the domain of publishing houses for centuries, ever since Johannes Gutenberg first threatened the jobs of all those monks in the 1400s. Due to cost, printing books was risky and making money was only possible by selling many copies. The resulting model focused on selling large quantities of a few books. On-demand publishing however brings the ability to publish small quantities of many books, popular or niche. On-demand publishing addresses the business models from other markets influenced by the internet as described by Chris Anderson in the Long Tail.
Until on-demand publishing became feasible, local stores were unable to compete with mail order giants like Amazon due to the amount of warehouse space required to stock the many possible books needed to serve niche markets. On-demand publishing reduces the amount of storage space required which could prove to be a major advantage for brick-and-mortar book stores who can now serve niche markets by selling a few copies of many different books.
Whether checking a book out from the library or purchasing, one problem has always been simply locating the book. If your bookstore or local library didn’t have the book, they had to find someone who did. The internet makes this easier in many cases, but it still depends on there being someone willing to send you the book. If a book is out of print this becomes much harder and if a book is rare it may be simply impossible. On -demand publishing combined with digitization means that a physical copy of a centuries old manuscript or first edition of a favorite book could now be available anywhere in the world.
Self publishing in the centralized publishing model involved either steep prices for books, making it less likely for the book to sell, or large printing numbers that may prove difficult for a first time author to sell. With such a low publishing cost and no minimum printing numbers, the barrier to self publishing are effectively gone. With the addition of digitization, to the equation, the self published book can reach audiences around the world. The only limit to the success of the book is now the interest or usefulness of the writing and the ability to market the book.
An additional advantage to local stores as well as to the environment is the reduction in shipping costs. Instead of shipping paper and materials to the printers, then crates full of books to retailers, then shipping the unsold books to outlet stores, and finally shipping unsold books back to printers to be recycled, with on-demand publishing a single shipment of paper and materials goes to the book store, and the new owner walks the book out of the store in their hands. The book didn’t have to be shipped from a printer to anyone. This model cuts out several middle-men that each require resources for shipping.
On the verge of the book’s digital transformation a new distribution model looks to extend the life of the printed book. With numerous iterations of the eBook reader waiting to be declared the next book killer, can an on-demand book printing model reserve a place for the printed book? Will this new generation of readers remain dedicated to printed books for traits like durability and being non-powered, or will the instant access to any printed book at a moments notice erode the feeling of nostalgia previous generations have felt for their first edition leather bound books, for their hardbacks and collector’s editions?
1 comment:
Here's the question: is a book more than the content that it contains? I would argue that it can be, but doesn't have to be. It's like getting take-out from your favorite restaurant. The meal is certainly enhanced by good service, nice ambiance, and good presentation. Chicken tikka in a styrofoam container is arguably the same "content" as when it's served in the restaurant, but the overall experience is different. I'm grateful that take-out exists, but I would be sad if that's all I could get. Similarly, I think that an on-demand printed copy or an e-book do a fine job of getting content to those who need it, but I hope that these efficiencies never fully replace the need for disorganized used bookstores run by cat-owning misanthropes. A book is also an artifact, whether a worn paperback that dates to an angst-ridden youth, or a three-hundred year-old tome passed on to successive generations. The artifact aspect is in danger of disappearing altogether if we can obtain any book at any time in any format. An e-book or an on-demand print will never smell as good as an old book, and it is the loss of the multi-sensory experience that perhaps troubles me more than the impatient convenience of it all. Both / and, yes. But hopefully the Espresso will not be a replacement for the real thing.
Post a Comment