Special Advertising Section: Digital Printing: The Burgeoning Business of Books
Such levels of control are part of the allure of digital book production, and part of the infrastructure at BookMasters, which also acts as a distributor for some of its customers.
"Low inventory levels and short runs also drive revenue for the publisher," explains Sevin. "For example, a title produced in short runs can be sold on the publisher's Web site and directly shipped to the customer. An offset version of the title that would sell through a retailer might cost the publisher $2 a copy. But they give up about half of the cover price to the retailer. A short run of digital copies might cost $6 each, but are sold through the publisher's Web site. This eliminates the retail level and returns a greater profit for the publisher, even though the cost of production is higher."