The Web is revolutionizing book publishing, buying.

Burke Campbell

The Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday 4 July 2000  

Your summer vacation is fast approaching and you've made a list of must-have books. The new Titles bookstore on Bank Street promises a quick shopping experience so, using one of their voice-interactive information kiosks, you quickly identify the latest Margaret Atwood novel, preview the sampler pages, check the online critical reviews, even confirm the novel's success on the bestseller list. It's hot, all right, so you click the book into your shopping basket.  

For your history buff friend with the sloop, you search the archives for the location of shipwrecks in the St. Lawrence. Settling down with a coffee and your Palm Pilot in an easy chair, you call up an index of navigational charts and zoom in on some detail areas you want to assemble into a portfolio.

After browsing and selecting the remaining items on your list, you press the Buy button. Only Atwood is in stock. You must dash but you want everything now, so you select the Buy-n-Publish button on your handheld. Once you specify mode of payment and your account, in a few minutes, you pick up all your treasures, the freshly published books bound with personalized glossy covers and the customized detail charts. You leave the store secure in the knowledge that you have paid not only the storekeeper but for any and all copyrights to author, literary agent, and publisher.

This book buying experience may not be far off. New technologies are changing the way books are both made and sold. The invention of moveable type 560 years ago led to the creation of the Gutenberg Bible and triggered a publishing revolution.  

Last May, about 400,000 members of the media and print industry converged on Dusseldorf, Germany, to attend DRUPA, a massive trade fair showcasing the latest digital presses, part of the next publishing revolution.  

Here's why: The market trend in publishing is moving away from mass production and the stockpiling of books to customized, limited print runs for a particular audience and demand.

Traditional offset presses, which use metal or plastic plates to imprint ink on paper have been cost-effective for high-speed, high-volume production.

Digital presses, which apply ink directly to paper, are more efficient for small runs (up to 500 volumes). They don't require the setup of plates, or the change of plates for updates and late, minor corrections called "errata." Digital presses print fast, in monochrome or dazzling colour, and easily process any content that needs frequent updating.

Print-on-demand eliminates warehousing costs

At DRUPA, pioneering Xerox Corp. turned an empty warehouse into a bustling showcase of print-on-demand technology. Xerox demonstrated its Book Factory, which loads an electronic file, then prints and binds a book of say, 200 pages, in about one minute. Linked to such equipment, a novelist can e-mail his manuscript to press, punch a button, and watch as just the right number of volumes pop out "hot off the press" to supply demand.

Large offset print runs automatically mean surplus and the need for warehouse storage, adding to costs. "Depending on the particular publishing discipline, 20 to 50 per cent of the books manufactured in the last 10 years, are still in a warehouse," estimates Peter Perine, a Xerox Corp. vice-president and general manager of publishing for the graphic arts industry. Fearful of such waste, publishers shy away from new writers.

Authorlink (www.authorlink.com) is in the vanguard of companies using technology for innovative publishing. Primarily a cyber-hub, Authorlink brings together writers, publishers, and literary agents. Authorlink Press utilizes digital presses to publish books. Once in print, the authors are marketed, with Authorlink on hand to connect them to larger publishers.

From her office in Irving, Texas, Doris Booth, the company's editor-in-chief, observes that, "Electronic printing lowers upfront costs for publishers and so encourages them to publish more titles. The writer has a greater opportunity than ever before to become legitimately published."

Technology dictates emerging business practices and models

Print-on-demand technology is having an impact on publication rights as well. "Traditionally," says Dean Cooke, president of Livingston/Cooke Literary Agency of Toronto, "the author retained copyright of his work, while the publisher merely licensed it for publication. The publisher retained the licence as long as the book was in print, that is, available off the shelves or from storage. Today, since books stored electronically can be published at any time, it's more difficult to determine when a book is 'out of print.'" Now writers, publishers, and agents seek agreements to define at what point a publisher might forfeit licence over copyright.

Preserving copyright and credibility 

Digital documents become increasingly hard to track for source, authenticity, and copyright ownership of the literary work.

Figures by StatsCan put book sales in Canada at $1.5 billion and periodicals at $1.4 billion. Theft or abuse of intellectual rights and property could cost the industry dearly. That's where ContentGuard comes in.

Xerox PARC, the corporation's famed research lab, developed the copyright technologies and spun off ContentGuard Inc. Supported by Microsoft, the suite of ContentGuard software products deploys rights management, no matter where a document travels. Users locate a document and immediately see who has what rights and authority in copying, printing, presenting, or quoting from it.

Print-on-demand complements in-store services

Dennis Zook, CEO and president of Pegasus Wholesale, Inc., a book and media wholesaler 82-per-cent owned by the Chapters bookstore chain, confirms that the Brampton, Ont., firm is investigating print-on-demand capabilities with specialists in the industry. Chapters Online is responsible for the in-store kiosks, which now operate in Chapters bookstores, and from which shoppers can order out-of-stock books for home delivery.

Martha Cass, director of public relations, says Chapters Online is exploring how customers at the kiosk might arrange to have such books printed on demand.

Screen versus page

Many new technologies will link up and complement the new bookstore and reading in general. Microsoft's Reader software displays text and image on screen in resolution and contrast rivaling the printed page.

Operating on a wireless Casio's Cassiopeia, Compaq's iPAQ or Hewlett-Packard's Jornada, Microsoft's Reader permits easy viewing, even on the go.

As screen quality improves, we might expect increased acceptance would mean abandoning paper print altogether. However, our consumption of information continues to soar, so we'll see more of both screen and paper formats.

"The growth of new works for publishing exceeds the rate at which we are redirecting hard copy publishing to the digital media, such as Web viewing, Rocket eBooks, and CDs," says Peter Perine of Xerox. "As a result, both digital and offset publishing will continue to grow."

Technologies link up for new retail environment

As technologies integrate, shoppers-in-transit easily link up with retail outlets. Online retailer Indigo.ca offers a wireless shopping service in collaboration with the Bank of Montreal, 724 Solutions, and Bell Mobility. Customers can access Indigo.ca through the wireless service called Veev, available on Bell Mobility "dot-com" ready mobile phones. Just call up a menu to order from a list of books, and have the book shipped anywhere. When wireless works in tandem with print-on-demand, you'll be able to order your book to be custom bound and delivered.

New markets drive publishers, retailers to invest in print-on-demand

The Internet, combined with print-on-demand, is fostering new markets for used books or books out of print. So notes Roberta Barens, vice-president, trade sales, at Stoddart Publishing Company Ltd. in Toronto.

In turn, publishers are exploring print-on-demand as a way to keep books in print. Owned and operated

In Victoria, B.C., www.abe.com or www.abebooks.com provides more than 5,900 member booksellers with the online capability of selling books rare, used, and out-of-print. With a database of more than 17 million books by title, condition and availability, abebooks.com offers advanced search and e-commerce facilities for booklovers.

Further, the American chain of Barnes and Nobles provides a search mechanism to find out-of-print books at www.barnesandnobles.com .

Self-publishing

For those who wish to circumvent traditional publishers, new online businesses are providing options. For example, in Canada, Trafford Publishing (www.trafford.com), headquartered in Victoria, B.C., offers services to writers seeking self-publication. These include print-on-demand, editing, layout, artwork and marketing.

New technologies including digital presses, wireless devices, and high resolution screens are coming together to change our notions of the traditional retail environment.

Rich Gold, manager of research in Experimental Documents at Xerox PARC, observes that the Web is itself a "giant reading machine."

In the next few years, the Web may very well hold every book ever written, making it possible to print them on demand.

END