I just posted about how Amazon, via self-publishing and agent-based publishing, poses a threat to publishers who still haven’t updated their business model to compete. Here’s a post from self-publishing booster J.A. Konrath’s blog that points out one of the reasons why Amazon is such a threat. Responding to one bookstore calling for a boycott of Stirred, the book he’s publishing under Amazon’s new Thomas & Mercer imprint (and which will consequently be placed as printed editions in bookstores as well as published electronically), Konrath points out that he has done a lot for bookstores over the years, and...

On the Self-Publishing Review blog, self-publishing author Rich Evans ponders whether it’s time to go e-book-only on his next self-published title. His first book, Asylum Lake, was self-published via an Espresso Book Machine, giving him a printed 6x9 paperback book for $10 each. He was able to start out with small print runs and sell them for $15 per book, plowing revenues back into getting more copies to have on hand. He did all right selling the print book for a while, especially after promoting it by releasing the first six chapters serially on-line. The Facebook page for the...

WNYC has a look at the Espresso book machine, brainchild of publishing pioneer Jason Epstein. The Espresso takes a digital file, then prints, cuts, and binds it to produce a completed book on demand over the course of a few minutes start to finish. Of course, we’ve covered the Espresso plenty of times in the past, but it’s always interesting to see a look at the device from a new angle. And the article does point out a couple of things I hadn’t known before, such as that sixty years ago, Jason Epstein invented the trade paperback format....

The Bookseller reports that a Nielsen Book study shows that the number of new books being published every year is steadily rising, due largely to the influence of digital and print-on-demand publishing. Of course, this figure comes from the ISBNs that Nielsen issues; if the number of books published without ISBNs (offered for sale directly via websites, local stores, or other means) has also increased, that might make it even greater. This puts me in mind of the old argument about how the Internet has “killed” the music industry, and the oft-heard retort that, no, it’s just hurting the...

David Peck, co-founder of the Mischief & Mayhem Books publishing collective, had an interesting piece in yesterday’s The Daily suggesting that the end of big chain bookstores may be nigh and deservedly so. His argument is based in the economics of bookstores and distributors, in which the retail and middleman companies take most of the slices out of the retail price pie, leaving the publisher with a small sliver to pay its own expenses (including compensating the author). Even the wholesale price of the books isn’t necessarily fixed, as publishers have the clout to pass their own discounts...

I mentioned earlier this month that On Demand Books’s COO said it was poised to expand placement of its Espresso Book Machines to more locations. Now we see how: Engadget reports that Xerox is starting to get behind the Espresso Book Machine in a major way, planning to resell, lease, and service the devices. It seems like a match made in heaven, given that two Xerox printers plus some automation is all an EBM really is. Xerox’s press release reports that Espresso is going to have two booths at Graph Expo 2010 in Chicago October 3-6, and that the...

The Wall Street Journal’s “Speakeasy” blog has an interview with William Gibson, part of a longer piece it will be publishing in the next day or so. This segment focuses on Gibson’s thoughts about the future of book publishing. Gibson notes that, thanks to Twitter, he is experiencing a larger level of fan engagement than he had been able to previously and finding it “more pleasant” than he had expected. He is also able to get a clearer picture of where the book is being released and when. He also notes that he doesn’t see the...

Just by chance, here's another Espresso Machine story that came up this morning. It's from Publishing Perspectives: The University of Texas Co-Op — who is the largest seller of used textbooks in the country and the most profitable independent college bookstore in the United States — recently purchased an EBM for $150,000. It has created publishing company Forty Acres Press to manage the machine, which has been affectionately named B.O.B: The Burnt Orange Book machine, in honor of the university’s signature color. Chad Stith, who runs Forty Acres Press, is thrilled about testing the possibilities of his “new recruit”, which...

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that Oscar's Art Books has installed an Espresso Machine. They are the first private bookstore to own a Machine in Canada and it is one of only six machines across Canada. For those who do not have a built-in market to sell their books but still want to give self-publishing a try, the Espresso Book Machine is a less expensive option. Printing a book at Oscar’s costs $3 plus three cents per page, and an initial setup fee of $99. A 100-page book costs $5.99 to print. ... Timing is another advantage of the new machine,...

According to Publisher's Weekly, the maker of the Espresso Book Machine has teamed up with the National Association of College Stores to market the machine to NACS members. The article goes on to say that college stores were the earliest adopters of the machines, with the first machine in North America going to the University of Alberta bookstore in Canada. You can find the full press release here. Thanks to Resource Shelf for the heads up....

Xerox has announced a joint sales and marketing agreement with On Demand Books wherein the Xerox 4112 Copier/Printer will be integrated with the Espresso Book Machine – a fully integrated solution that prints, binds and trims books with full color covers on demand in retail locations and libraries. According to Print CEO, the Espresso Machine used a lower speed machine from Kyocera and now speed and quality will be heightened. On Demand Books expects 30 systems to be installed by the end of the next quarter, with a third of them in university bookstores. Thanks to Resource Shelf for...

We’ll get to the guy in the photo in time. But first the main point. For months, TeleRead and others have been hoping to see the actual number of Kindles sold, but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and friends are mum despite their hype. I can understand the competitive reasons for not disclosing the information, but what about Amazon’s investors and the need for confidence in America’s stock markets? Not to mention the DRM-saddled Kindle owners with a compulsory interest in the company’s survival. Amazon’s shares have soared in a year from about 50 to around 139 as of...