by Monica Sweeney
Barnes & Noble recently acquired three Espresso Book Machines to install in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey locations. EBMs are Print-On-Demand machines available at brick-and-mortar book retailers for customers to print self-published and public domain works, as well as a cherry-picked selection of other published books. B&N plans to feature the EBMs in their stores to "gauge consumer interest" in the technology, according to a B&N spokesperson.
Espresso Book Machines came into the limelight when the idea was debuted at the 2007 Book Expo of America. Since then, many indie retailers have begun purchasing the machines, which has made it a little easier for readers to get their hands on obscure paperbacks, but marginally easier for and self-publishing authors to print their own content. EBMs may be the first real competition against Amazon's Createspace outlet, printing relatively cheaply and allowing the author to stray from the corporate giant.
Most notably, EBMs are not a database of every book that has ever been written. Publishers must authorize the printing of their titles, and as of now, many of these available titles are among the old and the backlisted. If EBMs are to become a true success, publishers would need to provide their backlisted titles as well as their current bestsellers. If Barnes & Noble sees significant interest in the Espresso Book Machines during this pilot program, it's reasonable to speculate that publishers will loosen their constraints and add Espresso Book Machines to one of many consumer-friendly ways to acquire new books.
Read more at Publisher's Weekly:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/63863-b-n-testing-espresso-book-machines.html
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/60120-are-book-machines-the-right-fit-for-indies.html
Espresso Book Machines came into the limelight when the idea was debuted at the 2007 Book Expo of America. Since then, many indie retailers have begun purchasing the machines, which has made it a little easier for readers to get their hands on obscure paperbacks, but marginally easier for and self-publishing authors to print their own content. EBMs may be the first real competition against Amazon's Createspace outlet, printing relatively cheaply and allowing the author to stray from the corporate giant.
Most notably, EBMs are not a database of every book that has ever been written. Publishers must authorize the printing of their titles, and as of now, many of these available titles are among the old and the backlisted. If EBMs are to become a true success, publishers would need to provide their backlisted titles as well as their current bestsellers. If Barnes & Noble sees significant interest in the Espresso Book Machines during this pilot program, it's reasonable to speculate that publishers will loosen their constraints and add Espresso Book Machines to one of many consumer-friendly ways to acquire new books.
Read more at Publisher's Weekly:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/63863-b-n-testing-espresso-book-machines.html
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/60120-are-book-machines-the-right-fit-for-indies.html