Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #14 Dec./Jan. 2009 - 2010

Less Capacity & Higher Prices

By the end of 2009, International Paper will have shut down paper machines that produced over 10 million tons of U.S. paper products annually.

And, my paper insider at Central Michigan Paper, Mark Bultema, points out that pulp prices have stabilized at the increased levels mentioned in last month’s newsletter and further increases are being considered if demand remains steady.

Bureau Grotesque…

...is one of the typefaces, along with Interstate and Antenna, allegedly used without authorization by NBC shows such as Saturday Night Live and the Jay Leno Show.

Font Bureau, the designer of the fonts, has sued NBC for $2 million for trademark infringement. Font Bureau claims NBC purchased one license then disseminated unlicensed copies of the fonts to be used throughout the company.

Getting Better All The Time?

An unexpected increase in September book sales was reported by the American Association of Publishers. The 12.3% increase boosted YTD sales 3.6% over 2008.

Book Industry Study Group had forecast a 1% overall increase for 2009.

Opt-Out vs. Opt-In

September’s 28 page critique of the Google Book Settlement by the Justice

Department sent all parties back to the negotiating table.

Google has dug in its heels over the ability of copyright holders to opt-out of Google’s “orphan” book reproductions while most informed copyright advocates demand an opt-in option.

Stay tuned for the February 4, 2010 Justice Department’s response.

M & A

In a merger that apparently will challenge HP’s dominance of the digital print and office machine field, Canon, Inc., known for its cameras and midline office products, has purchased OcĂ© N.V. whose digital presses revolutionized print on demand books.

Also, the proposed merger of Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG and MANRoland AG, both top of the line German press manufacturers, was surprisingly put on hold, allegedly because Heidelberg’s financial house has some serious issues.

Heidelberg has received assistance from the German government this year to forestall possible liquidation.

Will More Mean More?

Jared Friedman, the Chief Technical Officer at Scribd (aka The YouTube for Books) has prescribed increasing the number of titles published yearly from 300,000 to 3 million to strengthen the publishing industry.

Friedman maintains that there are sufficient writers and readers but the current structure of the industry prevents such expansion.


Thursday, October 1, 2009

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #13 Oct./Nov. 2009

Illegal Paper: The Lacey Act

Effective April 1, 2010, it will be illegal to “import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase” products made from illegally sourced plants or plant products. In short, paper made from rainforest trees, in particular, or protected species cannot be used in the manufacture of books printed or sold in the U.S.

Books printed in Asia will be under heavy scrutiny, but since Asian paper, especially from China, is exported and sold globally as well as in the U.S., all books will need to have appropriate chain of custody documentation, which should be available from your printer.

There will be no “innocent owner provision” and fines can be as high as $500,000.

(See GSP Newsletter #7, Oct. 2008 for more on International Paper’s Indonesian paper mill.)

Contact us for recommendations.

Google and Espresso 2.0

Google Books has announced that it will make its 2 million non-copyrighted books available for production on Espresso 2.0 on demand book making machines. Some of the machines are in university libraries which will apparently compete with local book retailers.

Google Books will recommend a retail price of $8 per book (any trim size, any page count?) but will leave final pricing to the retailer.

You can see a short video of an Espresso 2.0 making a book at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pt4T-AJKJM

Paper Prices

Some pulp and paper mills will test an increase of roughly 10% in pulp prices effective Oct. 1 to see if demand is sufficient to support an increase.

National Bookstore Day

Publishers Weekly is encouraging publishers to offer special discounts and promotions to their independent bookstore outlets to increase store traffic and promote book buying on National Bookstore Day, Nov. 7. PW is hoping more than 200 indies will participate.

Vooks Are New

Simon & Schuster has released 4 vooks (books with video) in 4 different genres. Vooks are available for iPhones and some other handheld devices but not for the Kindle or Sony e-Reader, which have no video capability.

More information on vooks at http://www.publetariat.com/publish/what-vook-and-how-will-it-change-publishing

Print 09

A look at this year’s print show can be seen on American Printer TV http://americanprinter.com/tv/viewing/index.html. It has some upbeat print forecasts and shows the new touch-screen color controls available on the newest multi-color presses.



Saturday, August 1, 2009

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #12 Aug./Sept.2009

Chain Store Sales Up 4.8%

Chain bookstore sales rose in the first quarter of 2009 with Barnes & Noble reporting a 6.6% gain and their Superstore sales up 8.1%.

Shaman Drum Closes

Shaman Drum Books has closed in Ann Arbor after 29 years. Its owner, Karl Pohrt, had become a leading voice for independent booksellers across the country. Karl’s first article of what will be an ongoing commentary on the book world can be found at the web site of the now defunct Ann Arbor News (after 174 years of daily newspaper production)

http://www.annarbor.com/passions-pursuits/welcome-to-annarborcom-bookland/

Espresso 2.0 at Book Expo

I spent a lot of time watching the Espresso 2 (Newsletter No. 8, Dec. 2008) one-book-at-a-time book maker produce perfect bound books at Book Expo. The hype? “Ultimately…(it) will make it possible to distribute virtually every book ever published, in any language, anywhere on earth as easily, quickly and cheaply as email.” Maybe, but for now the production cost of a small book starts around $10.00.

Ingram has offered access to any book printed through Lightning Source to stores and institutions operating an Espresso 2.0.

Amazon

Because to some folks a book needs to be more than a book, Amazon is studying the impact of the Kindle experience “if and when we introduce ads”.

Hotel Readers

New York’s Algonquin Hotel offers guests the use of an Amazon Kindle during their stay and “Club Level” guests at Miami’s Epic Hotel are offered a “virtual nightstand” as part of the Epic Page Turner guest reader program (sponsored by Hachette Book Group). Sony Readers are offered on a first come basis. Purchasing titles is the guests expense.

Kindle 2

Author Nicholson Baker examines the Kindle 2 and reports on what it is and what it isn’t in the August 3 New Yorker.

One Stop Info

The numerous industry links on the News page of The Publetariat (continuously updated) offer a quick round-up of book news from PW, New York Review of Books, Slate, The Guardian, etc.

Newspaper News

Transcontinental (North America’s 6th largest printer) has purchased 4 triple wide KBA newspaper presses totaling 16 towers for its plants in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.



Monday, June 1, 2009

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #11 June/July 2009


Google Settlement

Orphan works are books whose copyright holders cannot be located. Last year the House of Representatives let a bill expire without a vote that would have opened access to these works. Now Google has taken it upon itself to seek monopolistic rights (“the Settlement”)to these works via the legal system.

Global Paper Demand Rebounds

Domtar Paper has announced that it’s reopening its Baileyville, Maine pulp mill due to an increase in global paper demand. The plant produces 398,000 air dry metric tons annually. It closed May 5.

The Bad News is Good News

Borders and Barnes & Noble reported 1st quarter losses in late May. B&N lost $2.7 million while Borders lost $86 million. Expectations were so low that both stock’s share prices rose after the announcement.

Flat is the New Up

Or so we were told at a Book Industry Study Group seminar at Book Expo America. Overall book sales climbed roughly 1% with 1.8% growth expected in 2010. For an overall look at the sector by sector sales analysis go to http://www.slideshare.net/bisg/bookexpo-america-book-industry-trends-2009 .

The Last Quebecor Story?

R.R. Donnelly, the world’s largest print services provider, has retracted its offer to purchase Quebecor World before it emerges from bankruptcy this July.

Had the offer been accepted by Quebecor’s directors (and U.S. and Canadian courts) Donnelly would have acquired all five of its largest competitors in the past decade.

Donnelly profits declined 92% in the 1st quarter.

I doubt this story is over. Donnelly began speaking with key participants in the bankruptcy filing last September.

B&T do P.O.D.

Baker & Taylor has contracted with R.R.Donnelly to establish a book “print on demand” division in its Momence, Illinois distribution facility to compete directly with Ingram’s Lightning Source.

Digtal vs Offset 2008

Bowker reports that the number of titles printed “traditionally” (offset) declined 3.2% while “on demand” titles increased 132%, the third straight year of triple digit growth.

Beware of Scammers

Hucksters abound in the publishing services business. Go to http://www.sfwa.org/Beware/, the SFWA site that identifies and details most of the scams and how to recognize them.

Heidelberg Presses

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, makers of legendary Heidelberg presses used by book manufacturers around the world announced that new press sales declined 18% last year.


Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #10 April/May 2009

Is There Hope for Borders?

After just a few months on the job, Borders CEO Ron Marshall said, “We are really focused on re-engaging our customers in a way Borders hasn’t been for a while…the serious bookseller for the serious book lover.” As a fan and customer of the first Borders Books in Ann Arbor many years ago, I wish him all the luck.

The Museum of Printing

I know printing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I just found out there’s a Museum of Printing in North Andover, MA displaying 500 years of graphic arts technology. For additional information, and hours of operation go to http://www.museumofprinting.org/index.html

Quebecor Emerges

Despite posting a 4th quarter loss in excess of $654 million, Quebecor (North America’s second largest book printer) has said its restructuring is complete and it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy this July

Libel Tourism

While the states of Illinois and New York passed bills to protect their authors from damages in libel cases adjudicated overseas, the US Senate let S. 2799 die without a vote last year. Please watch this short video www.thelibeltourist.com that illustrates the importance of this bill.

E Hubris

Russell Wilcox, CEO of E Ink, the company whose technology makes possible the Kindle and Sony reader screens said, “We’re not only going to save publishing, we’re also going to save civilization.”

It Just Gets Better

Perseus Books Group announced that some of its titles will be available for reading on your cell phone.

At last.

Closing

Courier Corp. has announced that it closed its subsidiary short run book manufacturer Book-Mart Press of North Bergen NJ. Courier’s largest division is Dover Publications.

140 Character Maximum

Forbes Silicon Valley editor Lee Gomes observes that Twitter may have stifled complex discourse with its 140 character “tweets”. He writes in the March 30 edition, “Since Plato, people have been complaining about shrinking attention spans. But the recent acceleration of the decline is breathtaking.

I thought that digerati were forbidden to do anything but gush?

eAdvance Readers?

Random House, Simon Schuster and others have agreed to occasionally offer free, downloadable copies of their new titles from www.Scribd.com as books or excerpts. They are hoping to generate some internet buzz.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #9 Feb./March 2009

Consumer Product Safety Comm.

The CPSC kicked off February by delaying implementation of the stupidest law of 2008 for one year. The requirement for lab testing and certification of lead content in children’s books will be reviewed further.

Borders Turnaround

Borders has replaced turnaround expert George Jones with turnaround expert Ron Marshall as CEO.

Kindle 2

While Wall Street analysts admit Amazon’s e-book reader Kindle is hardly a success yet (even at a million sales) the introduction of Kindle 2 has the digerati swooning in ecstasy.

New features include a joystick, smaller buttons to avoid accidental page turning, and faster page loads.

Everything I’d want in a book.

The Anti-Kindle

If, on the other hand, the evolved book form brings you comfort, check out www.featherproofbooks.com/Mambo.

Review their titles, print out and fold a Mini-Book and discover a publisher for whom books are part of the creative process, not just an information delivery system.

Frankfurt Survey

About 1,000 attendees (out of almost 300,000) at the Frankfurt Book Fair volunteered for an industry survey. 40% believed digital distribution would surpass traditional book sales by 2018.

One third of those surveyed disagreed and thought it will never occur.

It’s a Different World

Even if you don’t have a name and avatar in the virtual online world of Second Life, you now have an incentive to visit at www.secondlife.com. Sign up (free) and log in to tour “Printalution”, a virtual island where basic print workflow and methods are presented for graphic arts students and the print community.

New Uses for Old Presses

A starring role in the movie Seven Pounds with Will Smith and Rosario Dawson is saved for a 1955 Heidelburg Windmill letterpress. An evil little Chandler & Price hand fed letterpress is the featured villain.

Is the growing popularity of letterpress printing a reaction to digital output? Does toner smell as good as ink?

Also, Konarka (Lowell, MA) produces flexible plastic solar panels on an offset printing press originally used by the defunct Polaroid Corp.

New Uses for New Presses

Toppan Printing (Japan) prints tenth generation LCD television color filter masks as well as photo masks used in semiconductor production. Toppan has net sales exceeding 16 billion dollars and is the world’s largest printing company by revenue.



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