Personalized Books

Today, the epub movement has connected with the print on demand movement, to allow anyone to create a personalized book, even of the classics.
Here are some of the companies.
--blurb.com -- You can upload your own pictures and text, create the book and then have it printed and delivered. The process is oriented to books with lots of pictures and creative layout.
-- bookbrewer.com -- This site is for aspiring authors. In minutes you upload your manuscript and it becomes an epub, availalbe for marketing in all the traditional channels. If you want to print the book and get it delivered to you, the option is there.
Both of these technologies will be demonstrated at the Personalize MEdia Conference in Boulder, CO, June 20-21.

Libraries unite

If ever there were a push for ebooks from a source that can truly make a difference, especially in demanding and receiving a standardized format for epubs, it would be the libraries of America.
So this announcement is very interesting.
(You can go to this site to see the list of libraries that have joined the movement:
http://www.archive.org/post/349420/in-library-ebook-lending-program-launched.)

Internet Archive and Library Partners Develop Joint Collection of 80,000+ eBooks
To Extend Traditional In-Library Lending Model

San Francisco, CA – Today, a group of libraries led by the Internet Archive announced a new, cooperative 80,000+ eBook lending collection of mostly 20th century books on OpenLibrary.org, a site where it’s already possible to read over 1 million eBooks without restriction. During a library visit, patrons with an OpenLibrary.org account can borrow any of these lendable eBooks using laptops, reading devices or library computers. This new twist on the traditional lending model could increase eBook use and revenue for publishers.



Borrow in partner library"As readers go digital, so are our libraries," said Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive. "It’s fabulous to work with such a great group of 150 forward-thinking libraries." (See the list of participating libraries below.)

This new digital lending system will enable patrons of participating libraries to read books in a web browser. “In Silicon Valley, iPads and other reading devices are hugely popular. Our partnership with the Internet Archive and OpenLibrary.org is crucial to achieving our mission – to meet the reading needs of our library visitors and our community," said Linda Crowe, Executive Director of the Peninsula Library System.

A recent survey of libraries across North America was conducted by Unisphere Research and Information Today, Inc. (ITI). It reported that of the 1,201 libraries canvassed, 73% are seeing increased demand for digital resources with 67% reporting increased demand for wireless access and 62% seeing a surge in demand for web access.

American libraries spend $3-4 billion each year on publishers’ products. "I'm not suggesting we spend less, I am suggesting we spend smarter by buying and lending more eBooks," asserts Kahle. He is also encouraging libraries worldwide to join in the expansion of this pool of purchased and digitized eBooks so their patrons can borrow from this larger collection.

How it Works


Borrow in partner libraryAny OpenLibrary.org account holder can borrow up to 5 eBooks at a time, for up to 2 weeks. Books can only be borrowed by one person at a time. People can choose to borrow either an in-browser version (viewed using the Internet Archive’s BookReader web application), or a PDF or ePub version, managed by the free Adobe Digital Editions software. This new technology follows the lead of the Google eBookstore, which sells books from many publishers to be read using Google's books-in-browsers technology. Readers can use laptops, library computers and tablet devices including the iPad.

What Participating Libraries Are Saying
The reasons for joining the initiative vary from library to library. Judy Russell, Dean of University Libraries at the University of Florida, said, "We have hundreds of books that are too brittle to circulate. This digitize-and-lend system allows us to provide access to these older books without endangering the physical copy."

"Libraries are our allies in creating the best range of discovery mechanisms for writers and readers...”
Richard Nash
Founder of Cursor, PublisherDigital lending also offers wider access to one-of-a-kind or rare books on specific topics such as family histories – popular with genealogists. This pooled collection will enable libraries like the Boston Public Library and the Allen County Public Library in Indiana to share their materials with genealogists around the state, the country and the world.

"Genealogists are some of our most enthusiastic users, and the Boston Public Library holds some genealogy books that exist nowhere else,” said Amy E. Ryan, President of the Boston Public Library. "This lending system allows our users to search for names in these books for the first time, and allows us to efficiently lend some of these books to visitors at distant libraries."

"Reciprocal sharing of genealogy resources is crucial to family history research. The Allen County Public Library owns the largest public genealogy collection in the country, and we want to make our resources available to as many people as possible. Our partnership in this initiative offers us a chance to reach a wider audience,” said Jeffrey Krull, director of the Allen County Public Library.

Publishers selling their eBooks to participating libraries include Cursor and OR Books. Books purchased will be lent to readers as well as being digitally preserved for the long-term. This continues the traditional relationship and services offered by publishers and libraries.



Borrow in partner library"Libraries are our allies in creating the best range of discovery mechanisms for writers and readers—enabling open and browser-based lending through the Internet Archive means more books for more readers, and we're thrilled to do our part in achieving that,” said Richard Nash, founder of Cursor.

John Oakes, founder of OR Books said, "We're always on the lookout for innovative solutions to solve the conundrum of contemporary publishing, and we are excited to learn about the Internet Archive's latest project. For us, it's a way to extend our reach to the crucial library market. We look forward to the results. "

OCE checks in

The acquisition by Canon slowed OCE's printing developments a bit, but now they are back with the announcement of the new Colorstream.

http://www.printweek.com/News/1051378/OcE-heralds-new-era-production-colour-ColorStream/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

Here is full Printweek story:

Océ heralds 'new era' in production colour with ColorStream
Tim Sheahan, printweek.com, 26 January 2011

Dutch digital equipment manufacturer Océ has claimed that the introduction of its latest machine, the ColorStream 3500 heralds a "new era in production colour".

The company gave a European debut to the high-volume inkjet machine at its international headquarters in Poing, Germany yesterday (25 January).

The full-colour web press can print on a web width of 540mm and Océ is pitching the machine at customers operating in the transactional, transpromo, direct mail and book-printing sectors.

Speaking at the event, Roland Stasiczek, international director of marketing continuous-feed printers at Océ, said the addition of the ColorStream 3500 cemented the company's status as the "biggest continuous-feed provider in the industry.

"The ColorStream 3500 takes the digital experience of Océ to provide a highly-flexible machine that is also low risk as it is based on proven technology," he added.

The manufacturer's new press can print at speeds up to 75m per minute, the equivalent to 505 A4ppm on a single unit configuration or 1,010 A4ppm on a twin model. The 3500 prints at a resolution of 600dpi.

Although the new machine is available in a four-colour configuration with the option to add a fifth or a sixth colour when required, customers can also opt for an entry-level mono model with the option to add colour further down the line.

Sebastian Landesberger, executive vice president of Océ Production Printing, said: "By consequently expanding our continuous feed colour family, we can cover the widest range of market requirements.

"The Océ ColorStream 3500 meets both full-color and monochrome demands, along with the need for efficient simplex and duplex printing."

Chat, of course

E-books should come with the ability for readers to chat. No doubt.
It's already happening.

Check out nytimes.com/2010/10/25/business/media/25link.html?_r=1

Here's the full text from the Business section of the New York Times.
Blurring the Line Between Apps and Books
By NOAM COHEN
Published: October 24, 2010


STEPHEN ELLIOTT, a 38-year-old from San Francisco, just introduced his first piece of software for sale: an app for the iPad and iPhone called “The Adderall Diaries.”

He’s not exactly a programmer — better to call him a writer. And the app that he conceived looks a lot like an electronic book. That is, most people who buy the app will do so to read the text of “The Adderall Diaries,” his “memoir of moods, masochism and murder” based on his childhood in Chicago group homes, which was published in hardcover last year by Graywolf Press.

But Mr. Elliott says he has good reasons for producing his own iPad app, separate and apart from the e-book version of “Adderall Diaries” that is for sale, say, for the Kindle or the iPad reader from Apple. But those reasons are not the artistic, meta-fictional ones you might suspect — you know, so that when characters enter a bar, you suddenly hear music and a glass dropped by the waiter, or more fancifully, you can make them turn around and go somewhere else.

Rather than exploit the multimedia potential of an app book, Mr. Elliott said he wanted to include tools that cater to a special group: Stephen Elliott readers.

“As an author, I want you to have the best experience,” he said. “People want to talk about the books they are reading with other people. Why, with everything we know, wouldn’t you include a chat room with your e-book?”

Once readers buy the app, he says, they are beginning a relationship with him and other readers; they can leave comments and read responses and updates from the author. They may even be told down the line that he has a new book for sale and then be able to buy it through the app.

This practical, business-oriented focus is something he shares with the developer of his iPad app, Electric Literature, a company with offices at the foot of the Brooklyn entrance to the Manhattan Bridge that was founded by Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum, who met as Brooklyn College M.F.A. students in 2006.

Electric Literature is a literary journal that enlists all manner of digital formats, like PDFs, Kindle, iPhone, YouTube animations. The money saved by not using a printer ($5,000 by their reckoning) goes to pay five authors $1,000 each for appearing in the journal.

In the more than a year since the founding, Mr. Hunter and Mr. Lindenbaum said in an interview at their offices, the challenges of marketing a digital journal have taken up the bulk of their time, rather than finding great writing to publish. Early on, the novelist Rick Moody worked with Electric Literature to produce a short story in little bursts on Twitter, generating a lot of free publicity.

“We really care about the community of independent publishers,” Mr. Hunter said. “We’re publishers. We’re not going into the game to be software developers.”

Nonetheless, last weekend, Electric Literature introduced a separate service at electricpublisher.com, to create an inexpensive book app along the lines of what it made for Mr. Elliott. The pricing starts at $600 for a single book app, with additional charges for creating an app-based bookshelf that contains more than one book for sale.

To create a book app, Electric Literature had to come up with its own e-reader software: before you can consider tools that allow for sharing comments or sending messages, or incorporating video and audio clips, for that matter, Mr. Hunter said, “the experience has to be equal with iBooks,” referring to Apple’s e-reader software.

And how can a little company come up with software to equal Apple or Amazon? Motivated programmers who believe in the literary mission, he said: “That’s what technology is all about. It’s a disruptive force, where a very small group can compete with the big guys.”

Right now, Electric Literature has only a few book apps either made or in development, including the journal’s. Mr. Elliott, the author of seven books, says he has sold apps only in the “double digits,” substantially fewer than in print or e-book form. Dennis Johnson of Melville House Publishing says he is working with Electric Literature to introduce an app book before Thanksgiving. He will not disclose the title now, for fear of stoking interest before it is for sale.

The attraction is obvious, he said.

“If you publish work that is hard to sell in the American market, say literary fiction in translation, this is another format to hardcover, paperback and e-book,” he said. “A fourth line of revenue.”

In an interview, he imagined the possibilities, such as having readers whose devotion is deeper than merely dipping into a title, who would install a piece of software onto a phone or tablet. “I love the idea of putting books on subscription,” he said, “of having a membership in your publishing house, of having a readership invested in your books.”

Of course, for all the independence an app gives a publisher, especially a small publisher or individual writer, there are tolls along the way: Apple gets 30 percent of every app sold and every “in-app purchase,” which is processed through its iTunes store. Mr. Elliott pays that charge, as well as the share his publisher, Graywolf, takes for an e-book sale. (Thus the iBooks version of “Adderall Diaries” costs $9.99, the iPad app $14.99.)

And Apple makes no bones about being more intrusive in dealing with apps, which it “curates,” as opposed to the books it sells. As Jesse David Hollington, the applications editor for the Web site iLounge, described last month, Apple has particular guidelines for apps developers: “We view Apps different than books or songs, which we do not curate. If you want to criticize a religion, write a book. If you want to describe sex, write a book or a song, or create a medical app.”

Which means that to Apple, Mr. Elliott is a programmer, not a writer.

“They have some kind of rating system,” he said. Before approving the app, “they asked me if there was sex and violence, and I said, ‘Yeah, a lot."

Better than Starbucks

You gotta see the Espresso Book Machine in action at the London Book Fair. It prints paperbook quality books on demand in about 4 mintues for 1 cents a page.

Take a look: http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=Q946sfGLxm4&feature=related

It's already happening

Pearson Books, one of the largest academic book manufacturers in the world, allows professors to mix and match sources of content to make their own books that are sold online to students, who then pick and choose and create their own covers, all before the final UNIQUE book is printed.