One of the biggest moments during the Winter Institute panel about print on demand, which focused on two booksellers' experiences with Espresso Book Machines, came in an answer to a question from the audience. The person wanted to know if the machines are profitable. "Yes," said Chris Morrow, president of Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt., which installed one of the first machines two years ago. "Sales have met expectations and the machine has certainly more than paid for itself." At this news, the attentive audience became even more attentive.
Both Morrow and the other bookseller, Lindsey McGuirk, digital marketing and publishing manager of Village Books, Bellingham, Wash., whose store has an updated version of the Espresso that was installed last October, emphasized that they were early in the process of using the POD machine the way many have imagined it: a place to print any book instantly.
The ABA's Dan Cullen, who moderated the session, provided some perspective about technological innovations, saying, "The effect is overstated in the short run and understated in the long run."
A prime reason for Northshire's installation of an Espresso was to "capture lost sales," Morrow said. (Many of Northshire's customers are tourists who won't order a book that's not in stock because they won't be in the area when it arrives.) So far, however, Northshire has used the Espresso mostly for self-published works.
The author-customers tend to be happy campers. "They're so excited to have their books in print," Morrow said. "I go downstairs when I know an author is coming in so I can witness that exchange." The authors often reorder copies of their books and bring in other customers. This part of the business, Morrow continued, "builds on itself." Compared to vanity presses, Northshire's service is "less expensive and trusted," he said. "You can also talk to a person here."
Some of the books have high potential for sales in the store, and one self-published Espresso title has sold more than 400 copies at Northshire. There is also "a community aspect" to some of the Espresso projects at Northshire. "We worked with a local high school writing class and made a book of their work," Morrow said.
Concerning criticism about the quality of self-published works, Morrow said that there is a range of material, adding, "I've seen some pretty bad books from traditional publishers."
The bulk of books printed by Village Books are self-published, although it is also printing some obscure titles and has access to many titles through Ingram's Lightning Source and Google Books. Still, McGuirk said, "I'd love to have access to more titles than we do." Village Books has also published four books under its Chuckanut Editions imprint, two of which are regional out-of-print titles.
Village Books obtained an Espresso machine in part because "we wanted to establish that bookmaking belongs in bookstores," McGuirk said.
Village Books has published between 600 and 700 books so far, and the machine "is running continuously while I'm there," McGuirk said. Print runs vary from as few as 15 to as many as 200. At Northshire, initial print runs average 40 copies. Northshire also uses a digital offset printer for runs of 200-500 copies. "We've evolved the business to be a publisher, not wedded to the machine," Morrow said. Both stores have printed blank books. Northshire's most popular is The Wit and Wisdom of Sarah Palin.
For Village Books, the machine cost $75,000 for a five-year lease, which includes a black-and-white printer. A color printer would be another $28,000.
Northshire offers "three grades of services" for its author clients. Beyond an initial consultation, Northshire offers services at a rate of $45 an hour. Both booksellers noted that there is no economy of scale. Northshire has only one volume discount--on any order of 30 or more copies.
Morrow emphasized that the actual printing of the book is "simple and takes only a couple clicks." A 200-page book requires about 10 minutes to print.
Staffs at both bookstores were initially skeptical about the machine. But at Northshire, "most booksellers are on board now," Morrow said. At Village Books, McGuirk added, "there has been a little resistance with a learning curve."
Audience member Robert Sindelar, managing partner of Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, Wash., said that the addition last year in his store of the Espresso machine was very popular: "Nothing has energized the staff so much in five years than this." In any given week, he added, the store is able to say 20-50 times that it can print a title that is not on the shelves. The machine is so successful, he said, that "there could be a point where we get a second machine, one that would do only copyrighted books."--John Mutter
