Entries tagged with “printing” from Tools of Change for Publishing

Publishers Pushing to Meet Russert Book Demand

Mac Slocum
June 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | Listen

Random House and Hyperion Books are rushing to meet demand for Tim Russert's two books, Wisdom of Our Fathers and Big Russ & Me. From Newsday:

Carol Schneider, executive director of publicity at Random House, reports that the company is immediately printing 100,000 paperbacks of "Wisdom" that began shipping yesterday [6/16/08].

Likewise, Hyperion Books has gone back to press for another 100,000 copies of "Big Russ," according to Beth Gebhard, executive director of publicity.

Amazon's listing for Wisdom says Kindle and paperback editions are currently in stock; Big Russ will be available through the online retailer on July 2.

Ebook companies and print-on-demand firms have in recent months used examples of limited print availability to showcase the strengths of their formats, but similar announcements haven't emerged in this case.

(Via Shelf Awareness)

Related Stories:

• "Last Lecture" Success Inspires Kindle Marketing
• Open Question: What is the Best Use for Print on Demand?

Open Question: What is the Best Use for Print on Demand?

Mac Slocum
June 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5) | Listen

PublicAffairs Books recently used POD services from Lightning Source to manage demand for Scott McClellan's What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception.

From a Lightning Source press release (pdf):

PublicAffairs' experience with this title demonstrates how POD can be used to supplement offset printings in specific cases in which demand exceeds supply for a short term. In this instance, the POD copies of the book will supplement large scale conventional offset reprints, which are underway.

PublicAffairs used POD as an insurance policy, and panelists in a Digital Custom Publishing session at BEA also noted POD's use in short runs, niche titles and its importance as a Long Tail tool.

But do insurance policies, niche books and Long Tail plays represent the extent of POD's opportunities? What options do you see for POD? How have you used it in your own organization? How will POD evolve? Please share your thoughts in the comments area.

Trees, Not Ebooks, Are the Real Source of Publishing's Worry

Peter Brantley
June 4, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Seth Godin is worried about the focus on paper, and how much it costs:

I worry about my esteemed friends in the book publishing industry as well. The amazing thing about the Times story today was the report that the mood at BEA was "unease" about ebooks. The fastest-growing, lowest cost segment of the business, the one that offers the most promise, the best possible outcome and has the best results ... is causing unease! All because of the trees.

Related Stories:

• The Pitfalls of Publishing's E-Reader Guessing Game
• Open Question: When Will Digital Books Overtake Print Books?
• Think Digital and Get Accessible for Free