At one time, many book publishers did their own printing. Then they discovered that the cost of maintaining a printing enterprise was less cost-effective than buying book printing and binding from commercial printers.

Over the decades, they dabbled in (photo) typesetting and desktop publishing and enlisted legions of part-time workers. At any moment in time, most of the books in production in New York City are on the subway because so many of the workers are part time.

There was more interest in the abortive Cameron Belt Press than in anything digital. Yet copiers had already established a niche. At the University of Vermont, they were using the Copyright Clearance Centre for authorisation and an original Kodak Ektaprint for on-demand books. McGraw-Hill partnered with RR Donnelley to produce custom textbooks. The concept of the modular book evolved.

Coming of age
Digital printing came of age and it was the perfect match for that universal distribution channel called the internet. Throw in e-books and you give book publishers a major tummy ache. The dream of every publisher (and author) is the long run in a world that is tending to short runs and even shorter runs.

It is already apparent that the book world will consists of a handful of very long runs, lots of long run,
many short runs, and a plethora of one-offs. We will print more titles, but fewer copies.

Those long runs will stay on offset presses, but we will not need as many presses to print them. All other books will be printed digitally, half on roll-fed printers and half on sheetfed printers. The sheetfed printers will use toner (some call them “laser ”printers) and the roll-fed printers will use inkjet.

The HP T-300 inkjet roll-fed printer/press prints on a roll of paper 30 inches wide. Major printers have acquired this device.

The Screen TruePress Jet roll-fed inkjet printer is sold by Screen, Ricoh, and InfoPrint in the US. It has already established a base in on-demand book work, as well as in academic support materials like teacher’s aids etc. Kodak will shortly release the Prosper inkjet printer/press with offset-class colour quality. We expect even more models.

They will all bring down the cost of book production and allow even more books to be printed on-demand. Over time, almost every backlist title will go on-demand and the majority
of the books ordered online will be printed on-demand.

E-book expansion
At the same time, e-books are finally gaining traction. Remember when Stephen King’s Riding the Bullet began a new era in book publishing? No one can predict the book-buying public’s preference. This must drive publishers crazy. I may want an e-book when travelling, but then would like the printed version in my library. People will still have libraries of books they can open without a machine.

It is fair to say that publishers have finally embraced on-demand printing – to a point. They still need to store/transport the longer-run books. My feeling is that they have difficulty dealing with all these formats (offset, digital, e-book) at one time. They will have just to be more bi-textual.

We will all have to deal with new book formats and new book distribution. I may visit my local bookstore only to order the book on their computer for shipment to the store or my home, or download an e-book, or even wait for them to print and bind the book in the store.

We will still make books far into the future… in many ways.

Frank Romano is professor emeritus at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

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