Why On Demand?

by Tatyana Sinioukov

At BookTech '99, publishers and printers shared success stories of turning to print-on-demand as a way of keeping reprints and out-of-print titles alive

Today, the industry is changing. "Authors are becoming publishers, wholesalers are becoming printers, retailers are becoming printers and publishers," said Larry Brewster, vice president and general manager, Lightning Print, a subsidiary of Ingram Industries, La Vergne, TN, at the BookTech '99 "Digital Short-Run Case Studies" session. Such factors as the digitizing of desktop publishing and distribution and existence of the Internet and print-on-demand are reshaping publishing, he said. "The bookstores are no longer limited by four walls--you can find any book on the Internet."