[extropy-chat] Book printing

[Joseph Bloch]

It's called "on-demand printing". Lulu.com is one of the better ones, 
but there are literally scores of 'em out there, and have been for years.

The problem with them is that there is no editorial process; books are 
printed with tons of typos, grammatical errors, etc. Not to mention 
factual or conceptual errors that would never have made it past the 
slush pile of a more mainstream publisher. But they do indeed have a 
place; I think there's a niche for a value-added service that provides 
editorial, proofing, etc. services, for works which are then turned over 
to an on-demand publisher.

It also speaks to the notion that there is NO reason any book should 
ever go out of print again. Even the most obscure academic title should 
be able to be had without scouring the Internet or used bookstores 
across the globe. (H.R. Ellis-Davidson's "The Road to Hel" comes to mind 
as a perfect example.) Perhaps this is a good avenue for university 
presses to pursue?

Joseph

Dirk Bruere wrote:

> I have just come across an interesting site, which presumably makes 
> use of a fairly new printing technology.
> The tech in question is a machine that takes electronic document text 
> and turns out a complete, bound, printed book.
> The quantities are almost irrelevant, whether it's one or ten 
> thousand. This is not like the old style vanity press, as you will see 
> if you examine the site in detail.
> To give one example, a 500 page book in black/white  8" x 11" will 
> cost $14.55 (about £8) for one off. 100 copies will get you a 13% 
> discount and 1000 22% ($11.30).
>
> All rights retained by the author.
> Check out the site for more info
> http://www.lulu.com/uk
>
> Dirk
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>extropy-chat mailing list
>extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
>  
>