Book on demand

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Book-on-Demand (dt. Polling book or book on order , sometimes abbreviated to BaB) or print-on-demand is a mid-1990s Applied publication process of printed products . It is based on digital printing technology : the printing templates are created as a digital data record and can be kept permanently by the manufacturers. Only a single copy of a printed product may be printed out or produced immediately after the order has been placed. This is in contrast to the classic printing processes such as B. offset printing , with which only fixed editions are generally pre-produced and which, including the sometimes cost-intensive warehousing, are only profitable for the client from a certain print run or number of pieces.

For book-on-demand, there are also special workflow systems with processing methods suitable for small print runs in the area of ​​cover finishing and binding. With this method, the book has assortment expanded considerably since then in particular non-professional writers relatively inexpensive published self publish book title.

Technology and practice

To the book-on-demand process

Technically, there are still limitations compared to offset printing, especially with high-resolution images and color printing, since today's digital printing processes work with lower raster resolutions and color calibration for very small editions or even individual prints would not be economical.

The manufacturing process is significantly simplified by computer technology. First, the interior part and cover are set. As a rule, there is then a file (mostly as PDF , previously often as TIFF -based formats) for the cover and inner part, which is then subjected to a test print - so-called mastering - and after approval by the client (publisher or author) in the system of Printing house is saved for future prints. Individual copies or small series can then be produced at short notice, depending on requirements.

Although the pure production - printing of the inside and cover, cover finishing, binding - only takes a few minutes, the delivery times of most providers are usually a few days to weeks, because the economic utilization of the systems - especially before the book fairs and in Christmas business - leads to waiting times for individual orders. Many suppliers, who in addition to the production also take over the delivery, therefore work with small buffer stores in order to be able to deliver at short notice.

Manufacturing books in the book-on-demand process as “ just-in-time production ” directly on site in the bookstore has so far suffered primarily from quality deficiencies in binding and cover finishing. For this type of production z. B. designed the Espresso Book Machine introduced in the USA in 2007 . Such printing machines were in operation at 25 locations worldwide in October 2009 and at 61 locations in May 2012, three of them in Europe ( Amsterdam (2) and Canterbury (1)).

Applications

Book-on-Demand is particularly suitable for book projects whose print runs are difficult to calculate, especially as self-publications , or will only be relatively small from the outset. Although the unit costs are higher than with conventional print runs , storage, distribution and financing costs are saved.

With the comparatively inexpensive book-on-demand technology, cost publishers (“pseudo-publishers”) and in particular the self-publishing platforms that were made possible in the first place and which, as digital service providers for self-publications, make complete offers for production, sales and collection, have taken off and offer additional (individual) services such as editing, book typesetting and cover layout for an additional fee.

In the meantime, however, almost all larger publishers also use book-on-demand, especially for reprints and unaltered reprints of out-of-print works and for specialized specialist and non-fiction books such as frequently revised manuals and software documentation.

Since Book-on-Demand itself has not proven to be able to be registered as a trademark - it is the descriptive term of a process - many digital print providers now use the term Book-on-Demand in their names. The abbreviation BoD, which is also frequently used in this context, is, however, a registered trademark (and own name) of the German company Books on Demand in any spelling .

Advantages and disadvantages (overview)

The advantages of book-on-demand are mentioned:

  • Books can be kept available for as long as you like. They are only sold out if they are removed from the system and production and sales are stopped. However, since it is very inexpensive to store a template in electronic form, this is seldom the case;
  • Reprints / new editions are very easy and inexpensive and can always be updated;
  • Books can be customized, e.g. B. as conference proceedings with selected articles;
  • Less storage of printed copies, thus lower costs;
  • Lower transportation costs are possible by decentralizing the pressure;
  • No minimum print run ;
  • No waste , thus saving resources .
  • It gives publishers the opportunity to make editions available again for a small target group - be it in the scientific or fiction sector - or to keep them available.
  • Authors , especially those who earn part of their income from readings , are offered a more cost-effective option to reissue "out of print" titles that have been taken out of the publishing house as self-publications and thus to refer back to available copies of their books and to be able to sell them. More and more renowned authors are also affected by this problem . ( See also: Justifications in the article Self-publication .)

The disadvantages are:

  • With the introduction of the procedure, the number of "is vanity publisher " rapidly grown that their texts without editing or peer review , but in some cases with the assistance of this method also-using cost publishers or self-publishing platforms publish. Since such self-publications make up the highest proportion, their poor reputation sometimes rubs off on the book-on-demand process as a whole.
  • If the service provider is busy, delivery times can be expected to be considerably longer than with conventional print runs (with corresponding storage of the work in the wholesale book trade).
  • Sometimes longer contract periods with ongoing costs for data storage are common. In some cases, these costs are offset by comparatively high "author discounts", which in turn require a correspondingly high purchase of copies. With this procedure, too, there is a risk of providing more financial resources in advance than can be obtained with a book title.
  • In order to get their money's worth, not least because of the large number of clients who order small quantities, usually only a few formats, types of paper and other features of a book are offered.

useful information

  • The writer Stanisław Lem described this possibility of the book on demand in his science fiction transfer from 1961 :

“So the book was kind of reprinted every time someone needed it. Problems with editions, their size or being out of hand had ceased to exist. "

- Stanisław Lem : Transfer

literature

  • Roger MacBride Allen: A Quick Guide to Book-On-Demand Printing. Revised Edition. Foxacre press, Takoma Park Maryland 2002, ISBN 0-9709711-8-4 .
  • Tim Gerber: Book 2.0 - how the evolution of digital printing technology is revolutionizing the book market . c't 03/2008, pages 85-87
  • Wolfram Göbel: “The change of literary canons through books on demand”, in: Canon, evaluation and mediation: Literature in the knowledge society , edited by Matthias Beilein, Claudia Stockinger and Simone Winko, De Gruyter, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-11 -025994-0 , pp. 225-238.
  • Manfred Plinke: Mini-Verlag. How to Sell Your Book! 8th, revised edition, Autorhaus , Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86671-109-9 .
  • Manfred Plinke, Gerhild Tieger: German yearbook for authors. Writing and publishing: Current information and addresses from the literature and media market: theater, film / TV, audio media, books - 3000 newly researched addresses. Authors' House, Berlin 2010/2011, ISBN 978-3-86671-064-1 .
  • Jan-Felix Schrape : Gutenberg Galaxy Reloaded? The change in the German book trade through the Internet, e-books and mobile devices . Hülsbusch, Boizenburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-940317-85-8 .

Web links

Commons : Print on demand  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ EBM Locations: List of locations . OnDemandBooks.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  2. ↑ ondemandbooks.com Displayed locations on the map or in the Map View
  3. ^ Stanisław Lem : Transfer , Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag GmbH & Co. KG, Düsseldorf, 2nd edition April 1984, p. 82.