Print On Demand and the Changing Face of Book Publishing. (cover story)

PUBLISHING; ON-demand printing; BOOK industry; AMAZON.COM Inc.; LIGHTNING Source Inc.; DIGITAL printing presses; DIGITAL technology; BOOKSTORES

The article discusses the impact of the growth of the Web and the maturation of print-on-demand technology to the book publishing industry in the U.S. The author stated the two companies Amazon.com and Lightning Source are primarily responsible for setting in motion the tectonic shift in book publishing. He added that Amazon has brought a larger selection of books than any brick-and-mortar store and offers discounts on prices. Meanwhile, Lightning Source enables customer to decide what discount to offer.