“In 1999, Les Presses Universitaires de France (PUF), the 95-year-old publishing house specializing in books on human and social sciences, closed its bookstore located on the Place de La Sorbonne.
“Now, the Associated Press reports, the store has reopened, with a remarkable 3 million titles available for sale in a space of only 72-square meters, or 775 square feet).”
PUF general manager Frederic Meriot says:
“It is a model for the future, a model in which digital and paperback books can work together.”
And, he goes on to say:
“But also in terms of costs for us. We could not have afford[ed] to rent a 600-square-meter (6,450-square-foot) shop like we had in the past.
“With the Espresso Book Machine, we don’t need warehouses to stock the books, we don’t spend money to pulp the already printed that didn’t sell, and it’s also a low-carbon way of making books.”
So, not only can libraries and drugstores and universities help folks self-publish, on the spot—so also can a publisher create a tiny bookstore of their own and offer folks 3 million books, on the spot…
Time to watch this special Espresso do its thing:-)
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Readers not from the U. S. A. might misunderstand the title of this post—a “drug store” is a place with books, food, magazines, personal hygiene items, makeup, greeting cards, school supplies, electronics, a photo shop, and, way in the back, a counter to get prescription drugs.
Regular readers of this blog know I’ve covered Self-Publishing from many angles…
They stand out because they both feature the Book Publishing Machine Espresso—take your flash drive to a store with the machine and walk out with a printed copy; or, have them print any of millions of other books in the machine’s memory, in just a few minutes (see the video below…).
GeekWire recently had an article called, Bartell Drugs to bring print-on-demand book publishing machine to Seattle store—“Bartell Drugs is partnering with Kodak Alaris to put a new kiosk in its University Village store that will allow users to print books on demand in addition to printing photos. The new machine combines the functionality of Kodak photo kiosks as well as the Espresso Book Machine…”
Some of you haven’t been to a library in years. Some still utilize them regularly.
One thing is for sure, some libraries may close from the friction of dragging their feet.
Others are stepping out into new forms of service.
In the previous post, Been To Your Local Library Lately?, I linked to a study that said, “…regular public library users don’t just borrow books. They are also active books buyers who make many of their purchasing decisions based on the authors or books they first discover in the library.”
In another one called, Should We All Self-Publish A Book?, I reference stories about a few libraries getting into the publishing business.
One of those, the Sacramento Public Library in California, U.S.A, is really getting their act together.
If you visit their site, you’ll see that they:
Help people Write—“Whether you are a beginning writer or a seasoned professional, we have a class for you.”
Help People Publish—“We can print whatever book you can write.”
Help People Read—“The Espresso Book Machine: print from a database of over three million titles.”
Talk about a Full-Service Library :-)
What’s you local library like??
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You’ve probably heard the old adage: “Everyone has a novel in them.”
Sometimes, it continues with, “and that’s right where it should stay.”
I can believe everyone does have a novel or autobiography or memoir or non-fiction book inside them.
What I can’t believe is that everyone has what it takes to get it out.
Some folks use ghost writers. And, the ones who are brave write it themselves and self-publish.
I guess you could call me brave………
If you’re new to this blog, you should know that, even though my latest book is for sale, I still give it away. [HINT: it’s one of the pink links in the left side-panel]
I self-published for two reasons:
* My book needs to be read as soon as possible by people because, even though it’s a novel, the story has the potential to help our human family.
* I really didn’t think traditional publishers would see my book as a profit-maker.
Walk in and, in five minutes, have one of thousands of books, possibly one you’ve just finished writing (and, hopefully edited well), printed on the spot, for extremely nominal cost. I saw one library charging only $6.00/book…
What does this phenomenon mean?
Not only can folks self-publish through companies that take care of the production end of book-birth, people can walk into a library or bookstore and walk out with their own book in mere minutes…
Is this intriguing to you?
Does it sound like something that will turn into a short-lived fad?
Will it make lots more people believe they have a book in them just waiting to get out?
with the machine and walk out with a printed copy; or, have them print any of millions of other books in the machine’s memory, in just a few minutes (see the video below…).
World News
Notes from An Alien 