Frankly Speaking : Are You Bitextual?
A glut of new formats and distribution options requires publishers to be increasingly nimblewilling to meet book buyers' changing habits.
February 2010 By Frank RomanoThey will all continue to 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.
At the same time, e-books are finally gaining traction. Remember when Stephen King's "Riding the Bullet" (published as an e-book) 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 traveling, but then would still like to own the printed version in my library. Yes, Virginia, people will still have libraries of books they can open without a machine.
It is fair to say that the industry finally has embraced on-demand printing—to a point. We still need to store and transport the longer-run books. My feeling is that many publishers have difficulty dealing with all these formats (offset, digital, e-book) at one time. They will just have to be more bitextual.
In fact, the entire marketplace will have to deal with new book formats and new book distribution. I may visit my local bookstore only to order the book on the store's computer for shipment to the store or my home. Perhaps, instead, I will download an e-book. Or I may even wait for the store to print and bind the book right then and there.
We will still make books far into the future … in many ways.
Frank Romano is professor emeritus at RIT School of Print Media and the author of 45 books.
