10 - On-demand book publishing trends

Abstract

The book has three parts and this is the first chapter in Part 3: Forecasts and trends in print-on-demand for academic publishing (2018–25). This chapter considers on-demand publishing trends of which five are identified: more digital first print-on-demand editions as publisher rework their pre-press capability; a greater variety of book types meaning more flexible finishing and higher quality will accommodate more types of books; more customisation of books being generated from publishing platforms with variable data in them; greater market extension across the globe of print-on-demand services – both high-tech and low-tech; and empowered academic authors who will engage with new intermediaries. All trends in academic book publishing which point to an ongoing role for print-on-demand books for the foreseeable future. The chapter concludes with two interviews and a case study. The case study summarises two services engaged in the fruits of biblical scholarship. Bible translations on-demand at the American Bible Society for indigenous minority languages and another project at Wycliffe Associates where print-on-demand technology albeit low-tech is being delivered to remote locations to enable immediate access to bible translations in print. The two interviews are reproduced with permission from Research Information. One is an interview extract by Rebecca Pool who interviewed Harmen van Parajijs, Vice President, Human Sciences Publishing, SpringerNature based in The Netherlands. Originally published as: A Monograph for Tomorrow, Rebecca Pool (July 2017). The second is an interview about the rise of author services self-publishing for academic books supported by print-on-demand first published in December 2016: Independent Publishing? The Next Big Thing by Daniel Berze, Senior Vice President, Academic Publishing, Glass Tree Academic Publishing/Lulu Press based in the United States.