Printing a document can be a rather involved process…or it can as simple as ^P, but printing a book is a whole ’nother thing. Sometimes when you want to print a document to share with a few folks (or even just keep a copy in your file cabinet), your ink jet printer is a fine choice. You can even get colour without having to worry about upgrading. If you happen to have a laser printer, then you probably don’t have colour…unless you went for the big ones. The problem with printing out a document locally is that you typically don’t get to select any kind of binding. If you go to the nearby office supply store, then there are often a few different binding choices: spiral, comb, tape, and wire, as well as the ubiquitous saddle staple, so your result looks like a comic book.
The problem with any of these methods is that you can’t print a book…not a real one anyway. If you want to print only one book, then you can try any of the print and bind methods available on the web, but I’m assuming that you have bigger things in mind.
Espresso
We’re not talking coffee here. Rather On Demand Books has created the Espresso Book Machine (EBM). It’s not something that you’ll want to get, though…at an estimated cost of $125,000, it’s something that only a big bookstore or library might invest in. Close to two dozen machines are spread across the US—if you happen to be near one, check it out! Here in the Sacramento area we’re lucky to have one right downtown: The I Street Press. The next closest one is in Los Angeles, and after that Provo, Utah, so count yourself lucky if there’s one near you. (Check the map.)
Watching the pages of your book come together, the cover wrapping around, the gluing, the pressing, and finally the book falling out the slot in the back are sights that every writer will want to experience. The book literally comes out still warm—hot off the press. (We can arrange tours for interested folks.)
The EBM is good for small print runs and for local distribution, but for bigger plans, there are POD options. Print On Demand is just one process of getting ink on paper—it does not necessarily mean Self-Publishing, so don’t connect the two. Some Big 5 books are such low volume that they are printed only when ordered, and a few self-published books use web printers. (‘web’ printers have nothing to do with the Internet—instead of using sheets of paper, web presses use paper on huge rolls that forms a web in the press, getting cut down to size after printing.)
Whatever method of getting ink on paper you opt to use, remember to proofread before going to press. It’s easy enough to update an ebook, but once the ink dries, it’s rather difficult to change it.