September 11 Tragedy
How it works
The system used by BookSurge to produce 09/11 8:48 AM; Documenting America's Greatest Tragedy, and other books, is relatively simple. States Davis, "It's not one big machine sitting in the middle of the room. We run a cluster print system that is cobbled together based on the needs we see as we grow." The separate components include Hewlett-Packard black-and-white laser printers, Tektronix color laser printers, a Foliant single-side laminating machine and Duplo perfect binding machines and cutters. The system relies less on machinery than it does on a group of people thinking of ways to do things more efficiently and intelligently.
It is this book production and printing system that allowed the completed manuscript to be delivered as a paperback book less than 48 hours after delivery. "The manuscript was delivered at 6:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, September 29. We had a rough draft printed when we left the office in the wee hours of Sunday morning," recalls Davis. "We came back to the office early Sunday and worked all day to complete the book. We were shipping copies Monday morning. The process usually takes 10 days, but we condensed it into a weekend." Books are printed and shipped to customers as they are ordered.
Every little bit helps
After the book became available, BookSurge partnered with Powell's [www.powells.com] to sell the print book and Amazon [www.amazon.
com] to distribute the e-book. Independent bookstores and retailers looking to carry the book can also help raise money for Red Cross by placing orders directly with Booksurge, at a 40 percent discount. The order will then be drop-shipped. Any seller who buys the book from the site must agree to donate all the proceeds to the specified charity. To fulfill European orders, the company has a facility partner in the United Kingdom.
