Bookselling giant Amazon has thrown the self-publishing world into turmoil by imposing its significant influence, announcing a new, hardline policy for publishers: if you want a print-on-demand book to be stocked on Amazon.com, you need to leave your current printer and sign up with the Amazon-owned printer Booksurge. In other words, all those publishers who currently have a large catalogue of books being printed by other sources - such as Lightning Source Inc. - must break ties with their current printer, and reformat (as necessary) and resubmit their entire back catalogue to Booksurge (no small feat).  read more »

The Boston Globe has a story of self-publishing success:

With a draft of her novel completed, Brunonia Barry of Salem wanted to find an audience. But instead of chasing after publishers - often a discouraging task for any new author - she and her husband took a different tack. They published "The Lace Reader" on their own.
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Then something amazing happened: Buzz exploded around the book, both online and in stores, and mainstream publishers came calling. In October, a literary auction was held, and Barry sold the book, and a future one, for more than $2 million.

It is one of the biggest deals ever for a previously self-published first novel and a vivid example of how old publishing norms have changed. Self-publishing was once a consolation prize for a pipe-dreamer. But today it's possible for writers such as Christopher Paolini, author of the fantasy blockbuster "Eragon," Richard Paul Evans, author of the bestseller "The Christmas Box," and Zane, whose first three novels were self-published, to bypass publishers, then score lucrative contracts with them once their books are proved.

Before us self-publishers get too excited though, perhaps the most pertinent piece of information is on page two: Barry spent $50,000 in publishing and promoting the book...

Amazon have launched their eBook reading device, the Kindle, to much fanfare:

We've been working on Kindle for more than three years," said Amazon boss Jeff Bezos in a statement. "Our top design objective was for Kindle to disappear in your hands -- to get out of the way -- so you can enjoy your reading," he said.

Content is delivered to the device via the EVDO wireless network - this could limit the gadget's overseas appeal as the technology is not widely used outside North America.

Owners of a Kindle do not have to pay to use this wireless network, Amazon pays the access costs and only charges for any content downloaded to the reader.

This wireless access is one of the key selling features of the Kindle, as opposed to the Sony Reader's need to sync with a computer. As mentioned in the BBC story though, it does create problems outside the United States.

Other reviews have been hot and cold, with a lot of criticism focusing on the look of the gadget (it reminds me of a Sinclair ZX-80, for those old enough to remember). The Boston Globe wasn't too sure about whether audiences would like the Kindle, while CNET was a bit surprised at how much electronic books cost.  read more »

The publicity blitz for the Espresso Book Machine (EBM) continues, with news now that London will get one (there are currently four in the U.S., and one at the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt). The Times Online story has a pretty good discussion of the merits and possible problems relating to the EBM. It also has a cool link to video of the EBM, for those who would like to see it in action.

The Bookseller has news and comment about Amazon.com's move into the publishing business via their new CreateSpace print-on-demand project:

Comment online has suggested that the move could knock publishers and other literary third parties out of the equation. [Timo] Hannay wrote on his Nature blog: "Amazon becomes the ultimate clearing house for books of all kinds (and much else besides), with none of the traditional middlemen getting a look in. Genius. If you're an agent, publisher, wholesaler, or retailer of books and you haven't just soiled your undies, then you don't understand what's going on."

The production price per unit is still significantly higher than if you use Lightning Source (around double, though depending on page count), but this certainly looks like a step toward Amazon becoming an 'all-in-one' book business. And no doubt many self-publishers will still find the terms attractive, not least due to the 30% take from Amazon (vs the standard book industry 50 - 65%) , the lack of setup fee/ISBN requirement, and more obviously the ease of selling and postage through Amazon's system. In fact, if anybody is going to 'soil their undies', I'd imagine it would be Lulu.com - CreateSpace appears to offer the benefits of Lulu at lower price and with better market access.

Print on Demand king-pins Lightning Source have added a video presentation to their website (Windows Media or Quicktime), which takes you right into their manufacturing and distribution operation. An excellent way to enhance your knowledge of PoD and Lightning Source - sure beats the few photos they used to have up on the website.

We've heard a bit about the 'Espresso Book Machine' previously...now comes news from The Bookseller that the first machine has been installed at the New York Public Library:

The first Espresso Book Machine (EBM), which prints and delivers books on demand within minutes, was revealed at the New York Public Library yesterday (21st June). The EBM is a product of On Demand Books, the company founded by publishing executive Jason Epstein and business partner Dane Neller, who predict that it will revolutionise publishing.

Visitors to the library can print off free copies of public domain works such as Moby Dick, and - in a nice touch - appropriately themed copyrighted titles such as Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail. Wonder what the ink/paper and cover quality is like on these things?

Update: Bloomberg has a much more detailed story about the Espresso Book Machine.

Print on Demand provider BookSurge has announced agreements with major publishers. The company, which is a subsidiary of Amazon.com said the publishers will use Booksurge's...

...Print on Demand service to make their current, backlist, out-of-print and large print books available to millions of customers on Amazon.com and through other distribution channels. Participating publishers now include HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Springer, Gale, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press, SAGE Publications, Kensington, Hal Leonard, LexisNexis, and the International Step by Step Association

It will be interesting to see how the Amazon-Booksurge relationship develops, and whether it has any impact on other providers such as Lightning Source.

The NY Times has an interesting opinion piece on whether copyright should exist into perpetuity. Currently, any written material prior to around 1922 (depending on which region you live in) is now in the public domain, and many publishers (including PoD publishers) have latched on to these works as a means of profit (with no author to pay a royalty to) - see my article "Publishing in the Public Domain". Some good points in the NYT article, well worth a read.

A story is developing in regards to publishers revising the standard contract length, with Simon & Schuster now moving towards locking in the rights to a book for the full term of copyright. The Author's Guild have taken exception to this move, pointing out that under the new agreement S&S would be able to stop printing a book at their own discretion, and prevent the author from publishing it with any other house. Agents are siding with the Guild.

This new development is no doubt a reaction from S&S to the growing markets of electronic formats and Print on Demand, which allow for continued profits even when the market for the book has diminished below the break even point for offset print runs (especially with the sizeable catalogues that larger publishers would have access to). It would be hoped that all authors understand this - or if not, are made aware of this - before entering into a 'lifetime' contract, because there could well be a case made for authors pursuing PoD and electronic routes themselves - due to greater returns over a standard book publishing contract - once the life of a standard book contract has expired.