SPONSORED CONTENT: Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You

Or maybe that should be, Available Now at a Bookstore Near You. After all, it was only a few years ago that digitally printed books were thought of as a modern version of vanity press for wannabe authors or only appropriate for titles with narrow audiences. It was acceptable for volumes catering to niche interests, product manuals, and the college course packs but not for “real” books. After all, the machinery was relatively slow, digital printing was low quality, and existing binding equipment couldn’t deliver a marketable product.

How things have changed. Now there are digitally printed books at major book stores, at Amazon, and through numerous online booksellers.

The Changing Landscape

Publishers--even some of the largest--are seeking out print providers who can deliver on the promises of digital printing.

Out of Print is Out of Style: Backlist titles can be maintained at minimal or even zero-inventory levels when supported by digital printing, maintaining revenues for publishers, booksellers and authors. Similarly, out-of-print books get a new lease on life. For example, out-of-print titles may not exist digitally but hard-copies can be scanned and reborn as digital versions and be ready to print as needed to satisfy readers and add incremental revenue.

Short Runs Getting Longer: Short run digital printing no longer just means print quantities of 1 to 50. Digital printing can often deliver better profit margins than offset with print runs into the thousands. In addition, new workflow for traditional offset printing can also support hybrid digital/offset print operations for traditional large printers and publishers.

More Titles, Less Risk: Always in search of new titles, publishers can produce books in shorter runs--maybe just a few hundred copies--to “test the waters” with a new author before going to full production. In addition, specialty titles or those with small audiences can be profitably produced by the secondary imprints of large houses, taking advantage of economical shorter runs with high print quality.