Malloy Inc.

What was the first ebook? Debate rages ... When Peter James published his thriller Host on two floppy disks, in 1993, it was billed as the "world's first electronic novel", and attacked as a harbinger of the apocalypse which would destroy literature as we knew it. Now it has been accepted into the Science Museum's collection as one of the earliest examples of the form, as the spotlight of academia begins to shine on the history of digital publishing.

The following are deals, court filings and closures in the printing, packaging, paper and related industries for the month of July: Transactions in the book printing industry took center stage in July; the headline act was the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Cengage Learning. The company is now moving rapidly to a digital strategy, as it seeks to shed more than $4 billion in debt through the bankruptcy process. CEO Michael Hansen, as reported by Bloomberg, squarely placed the blame on the company itself for not adopting digital quickly enough.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) presented Edwards Brothers Malloy with its 2013 Business Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding paper recycling programs. The award was presented to John Edwards, President and CEO, and Bill Upton, Vice President of Operations, at the Book Manufacturers’ Institute Spring Management Conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina on April 29th.

The six major annual book design shows listed above continue to anchor our industry in its traditions of craft, even though painfully unadorned ebooks and cluttered multimedia platforms proceed apace, charting their own course. Whatever the wide range of book show presenting criteria, as shown in the survey that follows, ultimately the purpose of book design is to enhance the readability and message of the book itself. 

Print will survive and thrive in those areas where it continues to fulfill that purpose. Where digital media prevail, irrepressible design aspirations will soon follow.

While some shows are beginning to provide digital edition categories (mostly fixed format and multi-media), print editions continue to be foundational platforms for book design and organization — at least for the time being. Leading edge designers are exploring ways to bring design criteria into the reflowable formats.

[Press Release] Ann Arbor, MI (November 29, 2012)—For over a century, Edwards Brothers Malloy has been a leader in 1- and 2-color book manufacturing.  With the purchase of a 40” Heidelberg Speedmaster offset sheetfed press dedicated to 4-color text work, Edwards Brothers Malloy can now offer 4-color book and journal printing in runs from one to 3,000 copies.  The Heidelberg offset press will be fully operational in the company’s State Street plant in Ann Arbor by the middle of January 2013.

Edwards Brothers Malloy is pleased to announce its support for World Book Night, an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books.  In one day, April 23, 2012, the organization and its thousands of volunteers will go out into their communities to promote books and reading by giving out half a million free paperbacks.

Edwards Brothers, Inc. and Malloy Incorporated, two leading book manufacturers, announced today that they would merge effective February 6, 2012, forming a new company called Edwards Brothers Malloy. The new company will have combined sales of $115 million and will be the sixth largest book manufacturing firm in the United States, offering publishers a global distributed print program and fulfillment services that combine to form a single print supply chain solution.

Self-publishing and online services, e-books, and digital demand printing are joined into a new and powerful sector that is transforming the industry. For industry professionals whose career satisfactions and livelihoods are bonded to the future of the book, this new sector offers a wild ride and a venturesome future.

Whether it says more about recent positive trends or just how awful 2009 was, one thing every printer seems to agree on is that things are looking up in book manufacturing. This, at least, is the consensus among executives interviewed by Book Business as part of its annual assessment of the state of book manufacturing, which includes our list of top North American book printers ranked by book revenue.

Regarding the book manufacturing industry’s commitment to “green” principles, it could be said that a page has truly turned. Over the past decade, consideration of climate impacts and paper sourcing has become central to the industry’s approach, and, along the way, many manufacturers have discovered ways to balance the need to economize, invest in infrastructure and reduce environmental impacts—often through innovative policies and practices that manage to do all three.