October 31, 2009

In Demand! The Espresso Book Machine from On Demand Books

Posted by orionwell under Interviews, open publishing, publishing networks, publishing technology | Tags: , , , , , , |
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espresso_book_machine_version_2The Espresso Book Machine, manufactured and distributed by On Demand Books,  has created quite a stir since it was launched a few years ago.  The book printing system has been compared to a “book ATM.”  It can print books, stored in a digital repository, in a matter of minutes.  Essentially, the system provides the capability to produce books at the point of purchase. 

Version 2.0, a smaller and more efficient version of the Espresso Book Machine is now available and is helping drive sale at On Demand Books.  In addition, the company has recently announced deals with Lightning Source and Google which give it access to a greater catalog of books.  The video below demonstrates how the Espresso Book Machine produces a book it has retrieved from a digital repository.

Google Books: Classic Books Available via the Espresso Book Machine

Dane NellerDane Neller is the CEO of On Demand Books LLC, which he co-founded with publishing legend Jason Epstein.  He has extensive operating experience in the retail sector as former President and CEO of Dean & Deluca for over 8 years.formerly.  Future Perfect Publishing interviewed him a couple of years ago, and he recently updated us on the company’s progress since that time and the outlook for the Espresso Book Machine.

FPP - Originally, mostly libraries were purchasing the EBM. Now it seems that more bookstores are acquiring the EBM. What do you think has caused the shift?

DN – Our primary market continues to be the University Setting both campus bookstores and research libraries. Independent Trade Bookstores also are buying as they recognize the value of localized self publishing programs being able to respond immediately to their customers.

Bookstores benefit as well from an increase in their sales per square foot, increase inventory turnover, derive new customer traffic to the machine, eliminate out-of-stocks and free up shelf space for faster moving, higher-margin inventory. For libraries, the machine enhances the academic experience for students/faculty and makes more books available to more patrons. By allowing the library to acquire a title for its collection on demand when requested by the patron, the EBM helps make the library’s acquisition strategy more efficient. Our technology also enables the library to reproduce rare books in physical form, provides a vehicle for University Press titles, and improves the inter-library loans process.

FPP- Have you begun to see interest from non-bookstore retailers?

DN – Yes, as they see the Espresso Book Machine enables them to add books as a new product line.

FPP - What’s the easiest way for publishers to make their titles available through the EBM?

DN – We are committed to adding content to our network and will accommodate whatever method is preferred by the publisher. There are three methods for publishers to make their titles available to us:

(1) Through our partner Lightning Source. This is our preferred way – publishers add their content to Lightning’s POD repository, and it becomes available through the EBM at the identical pricing offered by Lightning.

(2) By providing us with an API that allows our network to access the publisher’s digital repository – in effect, we “pull” the file from the publisher any time a book is purchased on one of the machines.

(3) By the publisher “pushing” their digital repository to us and allowing our servers to host their files. In this case, we host the publisher’s digital files and perform a regular reconciliation to keep the titles and their associated metadata up to date.

FPP - What does an EBM cost? Are there lease as well as purchase options?

DN - We sell the EBM for $97,500 plus the cost of the text printer (note that the EBM comes equipped with the full-color cover printer). The price of the text printer ranges from a little over $4,000 for the mid-speed printer (35 pages a minute – or a book ever 7-10 minutes) to roughly $28,000 for the high-speed printer (120 pages a minute – or a book every 3-4 minutes).

FPP - How do you anticipate the agreement with Lightning Source and Google will impact sales of the Espresso Book Machine (EBM)?

DN - Both Lightning and Google represent significant sources of high-value books. They’ve made the EBM more attractive to our customers and are helping sales.

FPP - What are the barriers to getting all publishers to sign on with ODB and what is the company’s strategy for growing the number of books available via the EBM?

DN - Distributed printing clearly is attractive to publishers who see the advantages of a greener distribution and sales channel. There may be some technical barriers on the publishers’ side to aggregate their printable files but most are creating or outsourcing Digital Asset Management repositories. Our strategy is to make our customers successful by going after content that will sell well through their setting. Academic content for the University Bookstore, for example.

FPP - Do you see a potential market for magazines, journals or newspapers using the EBM?

DN – Absolutely. The Espresso Book Machine will print, bind, and trim absolutely anything that a laser printer can print. In addition, customers have used the machine to print journals with personalized covers and lined pages, technical manuals, custom anthologies, professor-created textbooks, lab journals, study guides, coloring books, conference documents, corporate reports, recipe books, collections of (digitized) letters, and the list goes on . . .

FPP - E-books have been steadily growing in popularity. Do you see this as competition for the EBM?

DN - No. The growth in e-books has helped us in several ways. First, to the extent that growing e-book sales help publishers and booksellers, then we are helped, since these represent our partners and customers. More concretely, the digitization of backlist books for e-readers has made more titles available to our machines. Also, with the growth in e-books, publishers and retailers have grown more comfortable with nontraditional methods of book distribution, including our own.

FPP - What new features would you like to see in the next version of the EBM?

DN - We have no major upcoming changes to the EBM. In summer 2009 we began our full commercial rollout of the new EBM, version 2.0 (previously we had installed earlier-generation machines to test the market and the technology). At 3.8′ x 2.7′, the new 2.0 machine is half the size of the previous model. Interest in the machine has been fantastic, and we expect our installations to accelerate significantly in 2010, with an early emphasis on trade bookstores and the university bookstore and library market.

FPP – What do you see as the biggest challenges ahead for On Demand Books?

DN – Managing rapid growth is the biggest challenge. Other challenges relate to selling internationally. It is an exciting time for On Demand Books and our customers and we are very confident about our ability to meet challenges as they arise.

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February 27, 2008

Espresso Book Machines Invade the Bookstore

Posted by orionwell under open publishing, publishing strategy, publishing technology | Tags: , , , |
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espresso book machineAt Future Perfect Publishing, I have often written about On Demand Book’s Espresso Book Machine(EBM) and the potential benefits of “print at the point of purchase.”  The EBM allows books to be downloaded and printed on demand, essentially at the time of purchase.   Now, according to BTW, Vermont’s Northshire Books is preparing to launch an in-store print-on-demand program. They are the first commercial bookstore in the world, to have one of the Espresso Book Machines on premises. 

General manager Chris Morrow told BTW that Northsire wants to:

. . . provide more choice for our customers.  We are bringing back into print local histories, and we will be publishing local authors. We will also have access to all public domain titles.

The store will publish titles under their Northshire Press imprint, and will also offer self-publishing services to customers under the Shires Press label.  Morrow indicated that most of the titles will be locally orientated, but sees the potential for significant expansion in the years ahead. 

An article in the Manchester Journalindicated that the store would charge between $.05 to $.08 per page.  The system is the first to be placed in a bookstore.  The other four installations have been at libraries and museums, most recently the New York Public Library.  While the system is not for commercial sale at this point in time, Morrow used his personal connections with On Demand Books to arrange to be a beta site.  Currently, only books that are out of copyright protection are available to be printed.  The founders of On Demand Books are working out arrangements with publishers to get greater access to copyrighted material as well.  The EBM has the potential to allow retailers to make less popular books readily available to customers without having to carry inventory.  From the publishers side, it could mean that stores could carry titles without the publisher having to pay for fulfillment, shipping and returns.  In both respects, it could take the “long tail” revolution to the next level.

chris and barbara morrowNorthshire Bookstorewas founded by Chris and Barbara Morrow in 1976.  The store opened its doors in Manchester Center, Vermont in  September, 1976 and has gone through two major expansions as well as the addition of a small restaurant called the Spiral Press Café.  On the store’s website, Barbara Morrow writes:

We will keep growing in the sense that we are always open to new ideas and interesting ventures. We live in a fast changing world, where one of the main constants is change itself. With your help, we hope to be able to respond.

By becoming the first commercial bookstore to use the Espresso Book Machine, they are continuing that pioneering spirit. 

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June 26, 2007

Interview with Dane Neller of On Demand Books – The Book Espresso Machine

Posted by orionwell under Interviews, open publishing, publishing strategy, publishing technology | Tags: , , |
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Espresso Book MachineImagine going into your favorite coffee shop, browsing an online catalog from your laptop, and upon finding that special book you’ve been searching for, having it printed and bound for you while you sip your latte.  The Espress Book Machine, from On Demand Books LLC, is making that dream a reality.  With a small physical and budgetary footprint, the machine promises to revolutionize book publishing, distribution and sales.   

Beta versions of the Espresso Book Machine are already in operation at the World Bank Infoshop in Washington, DC and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (The Library of Alexandria, Egypt).  Recently, a production version of the machine was installed and demonstrated at the New York Public Library.  Additional machines will be installed this fall at the New Orleans Public Library, the University of Alberta (Canada) campus bookstore, the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont, and at the Open Content Alliance in San Francisco.  A smaller version of the machine is in the works.

Dane NellerRecently, we interviewed Dane Neller (right), CEO of On Demand Books LLC, about the Book Espresso Machine.   Dane is co-founded the company with publishing legend Jason Epstein, and formerly served as President and CEO of Dean & Deluca from 1997-2005.

FPP:  Could you provide a brief description of how the machine operates and some of its general capabilities?

Dane:  The Espresso Book Machine (“EBM”) is a fully integrated patented book making machine which can automatically print, bind and trim on demand at point of sale perfect bound library quality paperback books with 4-color covers (indistinguishable from the factory made original) in minutes for a production cost of a penny a page. Digital files are retrieved and transmitted via the Internet through our proprietary web-based digital rights management software.  The EBM requires minimal human intervention and maintenance, and all printing, book block milling, page jogging, cover alignment, binding and shearing are performed in a continuous mechanical process.

FPP:  The Espresso Book Machine has been referred to as an “ATM for books.” Can it be configured to be operated in an automated fashion (like an ATM) by a consumer?

Dane:  Yes. Orders can be entered at a home/office computer, or at an in-store kiosk. The current models are not configured like a traditional vending machine, so that the printing of the book is likely to be done in a stock room, back office or behind an information desk where a clerk retrieves the book for the reader. But order entry can be done anywhere at anytime.

FPP:  How much does the Espresso Book Machine cost and how much physical space does it occupy?

Dane:  The current models are being custom manufactured but are still a fraction of the cost of a traditional POD line. Our plan is to lease EBM’s and charge on a per book basis. We expect that in mass production the EBM will cost about the same price as a large office copier. The current 1.5 model is about 8′ x 5′ but version 2.0 will be about 5′ x 4′.

FPP:  How many machines do you expect to have installed over the next 3 years?

Dane:  We hope to have installed over 500 EBM’s by the end of 2009.

FPP:  Who are your primary target customers for the Espresso Book Machine?

Dane:  Our target customer includes public and academic libraries, bookstores, coffee shops, university bookstores, university presses, hotels, US post offices and other government offices, reprographic shops, supermarkets, mass retailers, cruise ships, UN agencies, etc.

FPP:  How do you think bookselling models might change as adoption of the Espresso Book Machine spreads?

Dane:  Bookstores will be able to reconfigure their floor space to sell faster moving, higher margin inventory and rely on the Espresso for mid- and backlist books. Since the Espresso is a mini electronic book store, non-bookstore retailers will be able to use the machine to print all types of books, which will increase competition and probably reduce book prices. Also, self-publishing will become a profitable business for bookstores, libraries and other retail venues.

FPP:  How would you expect the pricing of books to change once they can be printed at the point of sale?

Dane:  As noted above, prices will likely decline as more stores have Espresso’s. Since the EBM eliminates all supply chain costs, the price of content relative to the overall price of the book is likely to increase while the cost of distribution and printing as a percentage of the price of the book is likely to decrease. While it is very difficult to predict pricing patterns, we believe that book prices will decrease especially with long tail books.

FPP:  How do you think publishers will need to adapt their book marketing strategies (if at all)?

Dane:  Publishers will need to digitize their backlists and allow these titles to be easily searched. Some marketing and promotion of these titles may be helpful, but just making them available on the Espresso will allow publishers to monetize their backlists.

FPP:  Do you think eliminating the distribution barrier will encourage more books to be published?

Dane:  Yes. With the EBM no book need ever go out of print, and any book in any language can be available anywhere in the world. More books will be published efficiently i.e., supply will be matched with demand.

FPP:  What are the remaining hurdles for getting access to all published works?

Dane:  The scanning of book files, and a settlement with Google on the copyright lawsuit, which I predict will happen since Google and content owners can both be winners.

FPP:  Are there any consumer buying habits that will need to change in order for this technology to be successful?

Dane:  On the contrary. The Espresso liberates consumer demand similar to what the iPod did for music. It’s as easy as clicking a title on line and picking up your book.

FPP:  How do you see this technology evolving over the next few years?

Dane:  The EBM will get much smaller and quicker. The printers will double in speed from 40 pages per minute (20 sheets) to 80 pages per minute (40 sheets), and the core machine will be the size of a small copier.

You can download the company’s Espresso Book Machine v1.5 overview, as well as recent articles in the New_York_Times, Newsweek and Fortune Small Business to learn more.

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