GrubStreetPrinting Newsletter #18 - August/September 2010

B&N For Sale

Barnes & Noble announced that it will investigate a possible corporate sale to enhance stockholder value.

Kindle News

The introduction of the iPad seems not to have hampered Kindle Reader sales which experienced a sharp increase when the price was lowered to $189.00

Amazon also announced that ebook sales for the Kindle reader have surpassed their sales of hardcover books by a ratio of roughly 1:1.4.

Mid-Year Sales Reports

Sales figures for the first half of 2010 are being released that show that publishers are actively adjusting their market sector mix.

Book Production Methods

While letterpress is no longer commonly used in book printing, even seasoned publishers ask about the differences between offset and digital book production. Here's a primer.

Amazon Exclusive

The Wylie Agency has seized the ebook rights for titles it represents and is offering them exclusively through Amazon, angering brick and mortar bookstores and some copyright holders.

Impressing Booksellers

Suggestions by booksellers for improving publisher relationships with booksellers can be followed on Twitter.

ISBN Info

As more of the publishers I work with are breaking into the industry via digital printing, I've been explaining ISBN numbers more frequently. How much do you know about buying one ISBN number?

Green Printing Tax Credits

Paper mills, printers and publishers may be eligible for federal tax credits under a proposal that would encourage eco-friendly print production. The proposal over-reaches in a few areas but expect a slimmed down version of the credit to become law.

Chasing 13%

Articles in the latest edition of Publishing Executive focus on electronic distribution of magazine content.

Yet in a poll of 1,000 magazine subscribers earlier this year, 87% said they prefer print over digital editions.

Gibson Guitars Busted

Perhaps the first citation under the enhanced Lacey Act protecting rain forest woods occurred when U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel raided Gibson Guitars in Nashville TN and seized office records, computers and wood samples showing Madagascar rosewood was illegally imported for the manufacture of its guitars.

The Gibson CEO sits on the board of the Rainforest Alliance.

Do you know where the wood pulp used in your book's paper is from? You need to find out.

Enhanced ebooks

In an interview some years ago I was quoted saying that ebooks would command a set portion of the market until they were capable of sound, video and web links.

Meet the enhanced ebook from Simon & Schuster.

Past GrubStreetPrinting.com newsletters available at http://grubstreetnews.blogspot.com/

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #17 - June/July 2010

Book Expo 2010

It wasn't possible for us to attend Book Expo this year, but a number of friends managed to get to NYC and were kind enough to share their experiences.

Nearly everyone mentioned that a two day show is simply too short. Acquiescing to the majority (and angering the NYC publishers) next year's show will resume the three day exhibition format, May 24 -26 at the Javits Center.

The ABA announced a partnership with the forthcoming Google Editions to make digital books available for all e-readers but Amazon's Kindle.

Cursor's Richard Nash explained why copyrights are irrelevant at a morning panel, using Cursor's 3 year contracts as a business model.

Carole Horne of the Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA, acknowledged that the store's reliance on an Espresso Book Machine as part of its three pronged “green delivery system” has received an underwhelming response.

And while the BISG gushed about the rise of the e-book (5% of the total market!) the Wall Street Journal questioned proprietary formats in the industry. Further format discussion is ongoing. And concern about piracy and profits haunts many authors and publishers.

Flat Was the New Down

At last years BEA, the BISG predicted modest 1.8% growth for book sales, proclaiming “flat is the new up” (Slide Show page 30). In April the AAP reported that book sales fell 1.8% in 2009.

All Hail iPad

Even though we're more paper and ink than pixels and iAnything, we've received many questions
about e-book formatting this year, and the introduction of the iPad has spurred about half of them. Current info on iPad formats is still being released. If you use Adobe CS or InDesign, this video offers an overview of converting books to the ePub format for iPads (and many other readers).

This blog is an e-book format do-it-yourself guide.

Calligraphy, Typography and Hermann Zapf

Your word processor probably has at least one font created by Hermann Zapf. In the past century he's designed 61 typefaces, including Palatino, Optima, and a collection of dingbats.

CMYK and RGB

There's still confusion about the difference between what your monitor shows and what your printer produces. Additive vs. subtractive color reproduction isn't that hard to understand, but even with all of your devices (monitor, printer, scanner) calibrated, there is no way to perfectly convert RGB colors to CMYK.

Changes at Borders Group (Again)

Borders has shuffled the name plates in the executive wing one more time. Mike Edwards has been named President of Borders Group and CEO of Borders Inc.

Big time Borders investor ($25 million in May) Bennett Lebow is the new Borders Group Chairman of the Board and CEO of Borders Group. Edwards will report to LeBow (in case you were as confused as us).

Past newsletter issues are available at http://grubstreetnews.blogspot.com/

No. 17 June/July 2010

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #16 - April / May 2010

Tight Paper Market

After years of downsizing, international paper markets may face shortages due to a dockworker strike in Finland and halted paper and pulp production in Chile after the Feb. 27^th earthquake, affecting roughly 12% of the world's annual paper production.

The dockworkers settled their strike March 19^th after Finnish paper producers cut production by 70%.

India is poised to ramp up production to take advantage of the current spike in pricing.

Although some American paper mills immediately began allocating (rationing) paper, caution needs to be used when changing paper suppliers. The Amended Lacey Act is now law and you will need chain of custody documentation for your book papers proving they are not from threatened or rain-forest habitats or you will be liable for infractions to the same extent as the printer, the paper vendor, etc.

Another Google Opt Out Lawsuit

Google's model of introducing inclusive products that require users to opt out of participation faces another lawsuit for including 31 million Gmail addresses in its newGoogle Buzz social networking product without the address holders consent.

Do Games Sell Books?

Random House has announced it will partner with video game creator Stardock in an effort to enhance the sale of ancillary gaming products like, books, posters, trading cards, comics, reference books, etc.

Future of the Book

They say that if you only have a hammer, all of your problems look like nails.

HP sponsored a webinar on the future of the book, which posits that digital production across multiple media platforms will save publishing.

Since HP is trying to be the dominant supplier of digital production equipment, take it all with a big grain of salt but the webinar has as much information as hype.

(Download the free MS Silverlight plug-in to watch the video, available at the HP site.)

3D Printing

Azuna LLC has pioneered the ability to print non-lenticular 3D images on a synthetic substrate. Information and a free sample are available here.

Eco-Freebie

If you have an iPhone or Blackberry, this free Eco-Calculator app from Neenah paper quantifies the ecological benefits of using recycled paper as well as paper made with renewable energy. It's also available online for PCs here. If you have questions about how many sheets of paper and the sheet size your book requires, call me or ask for the information when you request pricing.

Down but Not Out

As stockholders were heading for the exits anticipating a $42.5 million loan default, Borders surprised the industry with a 1^st quarter $59.9 million profit in spite of a drop in sales.

Grub Street Printing Newsletter - Google Settlement

DOJ Asks for More Changes

The Department of Justice issued its comments on the proposed Google Settlement on February 4^th and has provided eight specific problems that continue to need attention.

Justice has filed a statement of interest in the case and recommended that the judge postpones ruling and allow the parties to resume negotiations.

Even before the DOJ issued its comments critics of the revision voiced their dissatisfaction with a number of points that were not addressed or changed, including opt-out vs. opt-in, Google Book's immunity to future claims, and legal, monopolistic rights to copyrighted orphan works.

The opt -out option originally would have affected all books with a U.S. Copyright published after Jan. 5, 2009. The deadline to opt-out then was last September 4.

Hopefully Google Book (named Google Print in 2004) will once again roll back it's deadlines to claim ownership and opt-out of the agreement as negotiations seem destined to continue. The most recent deadline was Jan. 28, 2010, eight days before the DOJ comments were released.

Google is no stranger to the opt-out option and has been sued by a number of parties over a variety of its actions. Google's Street View service was sued for invading homeowners privacy both here and in the UK. Google's standard defense is that people are free to opt out after the fact.

The Onion put a humorous twist on the Google opt-out system last year and a You Tube video shows how ubiquitous yet invisible opt-in, opt-out is on the internet.

Here are more reactions to the DOJ comments.

The Paper Situation

Demand for paper in the US is expected to decline by 1.2% in 2010, following an 11.8% drop in 2009. Surprisingly, uncoated free sheet (e.g. offset, text, etc.) is expected to rise by nearly 2%. Domestic paper manufacturers also face increased paper imports into an already soft market place. Downward price pressure is coming from Asia and Indonesia which are currently offering uncoated free sheet at lower prices than coated.

I would encourage all publishers to review the Lacey Act which takes effect this April and requires chain of custody documentation establishing the origin of the trees used to make the paper in an effort to stop the use of rainforest trees in the making of paper products, sold or manufactured in the United States.

International Paper has announced plans to close it's Franklin, VA plant this spring idling three paper machines and 1,100 employees.

Grub Street Printing Newsletter #15 Feb./March 2010

Google Settlement

This issue of the newsletter was to be delayed a few days to report on the Justice Department’s response to last fall’s revised “Google Settlement”, which is due to be released on February 4.

Then all sorts of book industry announcements were made. A special newsletter will be sent after the Justice Department comments are available.

While We Were Waiting…

Quebecor Redux

On January 26, the nations largest privately held printer, Quad Graphics, announced that it has begun to acquire World Color Press, formerly known as Quebecor before last years bankruptcy, for $1.3 billion. The new public company would equal the nation’s largest printer, R.R. Donnelly, in revenues.

Borders Redux

Also on January 26, Ron Marshall resigned as CEO of the Border’s Group. Border’s faces numerous challenges according to Debtwire.

After a frustrating year, the turn-around expert leaves to head the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P).

Apple Newton Redux

And on January 27^th, Steve Jobs attempted to erase the memory of the 1993 Newton by introducing the iPad. Steve Jobs exalted that it was a “truly revolutionary and magical product.”

Priced from $499 to $699, WiFI capability is standard, while 3G adds $230 to the price.

Wii Read

A reading game called Storybook Workshop has been introduced for the Nintendo Wii. Participants can read the story on screen and read aloud with it, listen to the narrator read it or playback their voice reading the story while the program alters their voice for each character.

It’s Official

Pantone Inc. has named 15-5519 turquoise as the Color of the Year 2010.

Books Recalled

Oxmoor House has recalled over 1 million home improvement books going back to 1975 because of errors involving electrical wiring that could lead to fires or death.

A 5’ x 6’ Book

The largest book in the world will be on public display for the first time ever this summer. The 350 year old Klencke Atlas may be viewed at the British Library .

Brouhaha Brewing?

Steven Covey has moved the electronic rights for two of his best sellers from his longtime publisher Simon and Schuster to Rosetta Books which will offer the ebooks exclusively through Amazon (Kindle).

Simon and Schuster said it intends to protect all electronic rights for its backlist.

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 Océ 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.

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.

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 6^th largest printer) has purchased 4 triple wide KBA newspaper presses totaling 16 towers for its plants in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.

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 1^st 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 1^st 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.

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 4^th 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.

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.