Publishers Turn To Digital Printing

By Ellen Harvey

Diminishing the Digital Stigma

One highlight of the conference was the Publisher Panel, moderated by Book Business editor-in-chief Denis Wilson. Panelists dispelled some of the stigma associated with digital printing and explored how publishers are using it to make their companies more nimble and efficient.

Digital printing is not just a new way of printing books, noted the panelists, it's also a catalyst for new publishing processes. For example, pointed out Bruce Watermann, senior vice president of operations at Blurb, it can extend the life of a title.

"At the beginning, a new title will be published digitally," said Watermann. "If the title is successful it will move into offset or high-speed inkjet. Once the title moves into the author's backlist it will go back to digital"-and continue generating revenue after the height of a book's popularity.

A by-product of the speed and short-run capabilities of digital printing is the reduced need to warehouse books. Brandon Nordin, vice president of sales, marketing and web strategy at American Chemical Society (ACS), describes digital printing as "inventory-less publishing." He says that improvements in the quality of digital printing have led ACS to produce titles digitally that it wouldn't have considered in the past.

Fellow panelist Bill Gadoury, vice president of strategic sourcing and supply planning at Macmillan Science & Education, agreed that digital printing should change how publishers assess the cost of producing books.

"It used to be, when offset was the only weapon, we tried to print at minimum cost," he said. "Now because digital printing can save on inventory costs, we look at the total cost of ownership over the life of the title."

This has helped Gadoury's team assess audience interest and demographics and weigh whether offset or digital is the appropriate means of production.

Although digital printing is an important tool for all three panelists, they admitted that it has not replaced offset. But Watermann noted, especially in the realm of inkjet, the difference in quality is diminishing. "It's just a matter of time for [digital printing's] quality to match that of offset. It's getting consistently better."

More than 150 book publishers, book manufacturers and suppliers met at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square recently for the first Digital Book Printing Conference, organized by IPG's parent company, NAPCO Media (formerly North American Publishing Co.) The networking and educational event featured an insightful keynote from Marco Boer, VP of IT Strategies.

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Ellen Harvey Author's page

Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.

Publishers Turn to Digital Printing