The Espresso Book Machine: A Revolution in Publishing?
Jennifer Pinkowski -- Library Journal, 08/17/2007
This summer, visitors to the New York Public Library’s Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) are getting a chance to check out what some are calling a revolution in book publishing technology. The much-hyped Book Espresso Machine, the creation of publishing pioneer Jason Epstein’s technology venture, On Demand Books, has printed 300 books for free since it debuted in the SIBL lobby in early June. (The On Demand web site offers a video.)One of three $200,000 prototypes‑the others are in the World Bank’s InfoShop in Washington, DC and Egypt’s Alexandria Library‑the Espresso Book Machine looks like two typical office photocopiers crossed with a high-tech machine from a hospital radiology department. (Smaller, sleeker models will be available by the beginning of 2008 for about $20,000.) Inside, the machine's computer sends a PDF of the book to the printers; the pages go to the black-and-white printer, the cover to the color printer. A few minutes later, the completed pages are run through a mill that roughens their edges, which are then daubed with heat-activated glue. The cover is bound onto the pages, and the book is trimmed to its original size in the shearer. In about ten minutes‑but only three for a slim 1902 edition of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence‑emerges a perfect-bound book.
Why is the machine at SIBL? “Since we opened 11 years ago, one of our missions was to demystify technology and introduce it to the public,” said SIBL director Kristin McDonough. “We decided Espresso was an exciting area of book production that really could be revolutionary. We thought, rather than have only people at Book Expo America [the annual booksellers’ conference] see it, why don’t we put it right in the middle of Manhattan?”
From math to classics, and The Long Tail
On Demand Books, which is footing the bill for the machine’s stay at SIBL, has access to 200,000 public domain titles through the Open Content Alliance, as well as 2200 World Bank titles and Arabic texts from the Alexandria Library. Only 13 titles are available at SIBL as of now, with a few more on the way. Selected mostly by SIBL librarians, the list is mix of science, business, and math titles, plus a couple of familiar literary classics. Also available are two books still under copyright: Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, and Epstein’s Book Business, a memoir detailing his decades as editorial director of Random House. Licensed for inclusion, they are the most requested. (In third place is Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Benjamin Bunny.)
Anderson told LJ in an email that he agreed to license The Long Tail because On Demand's venture "is an interesting experiment of a very Long Tail production model. Also, my next book will be titled Free, and is all about how to make money by giving things away. Walk the talk, etc."
Backlist and beyond
Epstein’s On Demand Books partner, Dane Neller, has suggested the machine is ideal for backlist titles‑out-of-print books for which there is little demand. Libraries can print such titles for about a penny a page (and charge what they like). But SIBL’s McDonough sees other possibilities. “I think it will be good for preservation,” she said. “There’s also a green aspect to it that I find attractive. Not only because you don’t have to produce these materials that you might have to destroy later, but also because it’s like buying locally. It doesn’t involve shipping or transportation costs.”
People who want print runs smaller than what most printers will do‑say, 30 copies rather than 1000‑also seem to be keen on the machine’s possibilities, said McDonough, who was fielding phone calls from writers, law firms, students, and librarians for months before the machine even arrived at SIBL.
To get a free book, SIBL visitors request one from the Espresso operator, On Demand’s Dana Baikenzhina. The day Library Journal visited, 18 people had done so. One was Kenneth P. Nielson, director of All Seasons Art, a NYC-based multimedia production company. “I don’t know anything about it, I just read about it in the paper,” said Nielson, whose company has printed 23 literary works over the years. He was investigating the machine for a friend who owns a print shop. In a practiced tone, Baikenzhina explained to Nielson how the machine works, and Nielson, after expressing disappointment that Langston Hughes wasn’t on the list of available titles, requested a copy of Book Business.
In early September, the Espresso Book Machine moves to the New Orleans Public Library.
