It's always been true
that the technology a printer has in the shop defines the products
that can be produced most efficiently. Now the digital age has
redefined “short run book printing” by introducing technology
that expands the meaning of “short run”.
When I started in book
manufacturing in 1979, Michigan, and especially Ann Arbor, was known
as the “Short Run Book Capitol”. There were seven companies from
Chelsea to Saline to Dexter known as Ann Arbor book printers jostling
for a piece of what seemed to be an ever expanding pie, a market that
national printers pretty much ignored.
And while Ann Arbor book
manufacturing goes back to the 1860s with Dr.
Chase and his steam press in the building at
the corner of N. Main and Miller, it was a little before the turn
of the century when Thomas and Daniel Edwards began mimeographing and
selling their law school lecture notes that trade book publishing
began in Ann Arbor.
As Edwards Brothers grew,
some of their employees saw the volume of work available and left to
start their own shops. Today there remains five companies in eight
Washtenaw County locations dedicated exclusively to making some of
the highest quality, most affordable books in the world.
We're all aware of the
changes that are occurring in all aspects of printing. From over
50,000 print shops in America at the turn of the century there are
fewer than 30,000 now, and adapting to the digital revolution has not
been easy for the Ann Arbor book industry where multimillion dollar
investments in state-of-the-art presses and bindery equipment
efficiently produce 1,000 copies of a book but don't adapt well to
fifty copies.
But one of the most
informed print industry observers claims that the same need for short
run books that originally powered the Ann Arbor book manufacturers
still exists, albeit with the new interpretation. In fact, Frank
Romano (lecturer, author and professor at RPI) claims that ultra
short run book manufacturing may keep the printed and bound book
relevant in the future. So as he traces the history of digital
printing he points out that there has always been a need for ultra
short run book manufacturing and that unmet process has breathed new
life into the form.
So long as the next best
sellers like Harry Potter and Fifty Shades of Grey are
being written and sold there will be a need for conventional offset
book printing, but that market is changing and is rife with over
capacity.
Ann Arbor may or may not
be the Short Run Capitol of America anymore because everyone's still
adapting to the new definitions of short run. But currently,
everyday, over a hundred tons of books are loaded onto semi-trailers
headed for warehouses and distribution centers across North America
from Ann Arbor.
Books
Live, but Publishers...?
In
response to an article that argues for the continued existence of the
book form, questions
are raised about the future of publishing as it's practiced
today. I was quite amused by the comment that BEA exhibitors were
“terrified” about Consumer Day at BEA. Once publishers went to
BEA to sell books and everyone in the booth knew how to do that.
I
wish they would get the BEA Expo out of NYC where the legacy
publishers live.
Weekly
Reader Euthanized
Just
months after purchasing Weekly Reader,
Scholastic has
announced it's shutting
down the print version but planning an online edition. Former
executives claim Scholastic bought the Weekly
Reader for its circulation information and by
closing it now has only one competitor for its Scholastic
News.
...and
The Writer Goes “On Hiatus”
After
125 years of publishing, The Writer
magazine will
cease publication and search for a buyer. The
Writer fueled dreams and fantasies for many
of us with its writer's contests, tips and directories.
The
Rise of Self Publishing
Some
time ago I was castigated for using the term “self publisher” in
a newsletter. I explained that the term no longer was seen as
derogatory. Not only has the University of Arizona just released a
study of self publishing, Media Bistro serves up a weekly Self
Publisher Top Ten list and Penguin (a division of Pearson) has
just purchased
Author Solutions to actively market services to self publishers.
The acquisition has provoked some criticism.
eBooks:
Less Experiment, More Business
Defining
when a new product is no longer a fad but a marketable, profitable
product is no easy matter (think Facebook). Perhaps the time has come
to quit debating the viability of eBooks and concentrate
on the content, creation, piracy, and marketing of them.
Pirating
eBooks
Fascinating
but grim thread on Reddit discussing
eBook piracy and all the rationalizations that people use to
justify it.
Thomas
Nelson/Zondervan Are Merged
Having
recently closed on the purchase of Thomas
Nelson publishers (Nashville TN), Harper Collins just announced
it was merging it with its other Christian publisher Zondervan
(Grand Rapids MI). Thomas Nelson can trace its origins to Scotland
in1798 and was the first publisher of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Zondervan began in Grandville MI in 1931, started by two nephews of
publisher William B. Eerdmans.
LTL
Freight Rates Rise
More
LTL (less than truckload) carriers have announced
general rate increases (GRI) of nearly 7% effective in July.
Damaged
Books and Freight Claims
Over
the years I've received many phone calls reporting damage to a
shipment of books that had just been received. This
is a comprehensive overview of the applicable laws. My advice?
Whenever you sign a freight receipt add the comment “Subject to
Inspection” beside your signature. Also, keep a small camera
wherever your books are delivered to immediately document the damage
(before unbanding the skid).
2012
BEA Attendance Up
After
years of falling attendance it's great to see an
increase this year, although exhibitors and rights personnel
still greatly outnumber the book buyers.
“Progressive
Hotel”
Sensing
that the Gideon Bibles in their guestrooms weren't being used, the
Damson Dene Hotel in England's Lake District has
replaced them with copies of Fifty Shades of Grey. Sure, but will
they lull you to sleep?
Bookstore
Map
Publishers
Weekly has provided a
scalable map of bookstores in America and identified each,
including closed Borders stores. I know they missed a few because
some independents that I know aren't included.
Final
Thought
Starting
a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see
very little but you can smell the earth and feel the wind blowing.
~ Iris Murdoch
