| FAQ:
HARDWARE
1.What are the benefits of the EBM and EspressNet?
2.Is the EBM an environmentally friendly technology?
3.How many books can the EBM produce?
THE LIGHTNING SOURCE AGREEMENT
4.How are Lightning Source Inc.™ (“LSI”) and On Demand Books, working together?
5.How does the EBM fit within LSI’s print-on-demand strategy?
6.How can a publisher participate?
CONTENT
7.How many titles are available through the EBM network?
8.How do customers select books to print?
9.Will books from publishers be available in all areas/countries?
SECURITY
10.What security precautions has On Demand Books taken to ensure that content is protected?
11.What security precautions has On Demand Books taken to ensure that publisher/author royalties are properly attributed?
BOOK SPECIFICATIONS
12.Are all books the same trim size?
13.What are the book specifications for the EBM?
ESPRESSNET
14.What is EspressNet?
15.What can I do with EspressNet?
16.How many titles are available through EspressNet?
17.Why does On Demand Books refer to EspressNet as having a “catalogue of catalogues”?
18.What precautions are used by EspressNet to ensure my content is protected?
19.What precautions are used by EspressNet to ensure publisher/author royalties are properly attributed?
20.I’m a publisher and my files are with Lightning Source; what will my royalties look like?
21.How do I monitor when and where my files are printed?
22.What will my EspressNet look like?
23.Does EspressNet allow a user to design a cover or edit the layout?
24.How do I find a book?
25.Who manages my content repository?
26.How do users select an item? Can they also do it remotely, from their own computer?
27.How does the payment part work? How can I integrate with my POS system?
28.Can we create digital files of anything a user might want to print? It doesn’t just have to be a book, right?
HARDWARE
1. What are the benefits of the EBM?
The EBM has been created to provide readers in a worldwide marketplace with access to the expanded multilingual backlists of the world’s publishers and libraries. In short, the EBM reverses publishing’s existing business model from:
print > ship > sell
to:
sell > print
Supply is matched with demand at point of sale for the first time in the history of publishing, eliminating returns and giving life to “long tail” titles. No book need ever be out of print again.
Publishers enjoy: Higher profit margins, greater unit sales, no more returns, monetized backlist, reduced inventories.
Retailers enjoy: Higher sales per square foot, faster inventory turnover, more customer traffic, no more out-of-stocks, no more supply chain costs, freed-up shelf space for faster moving, higher-margin inventory.
Libraries/Universities enjoy: Enhanced academic experience for students, more books available to patrons, new forms of revenue, the ability to print digital collections and perfect facsimiles of rare books.
2. Is the EBM an environmentally friendly technology?
Yes. Producing books at point of sale saves tons of CO2 emissions and eliminates returns and the pulping of unwanted books. According to the OECD’s 2008 publication Sustainable Development, “Print-on-demand [the technology used by the EBM and EspressNet] uses an electronic file to produce the book in the country where it is sold, in the exact quantities needed. There is no need to transport the book from one central location, print too many copies ‘just in case,’ or store copies waiting to be sold (or destroyed).” According to a 2007 survey by the Book Industry Study Group and Green Press Initiative, the book sector emits an average of 8.8 pounds (almost 4 kg) of carbon per book produced.
3. How many books can the EBM produce?
A single machine operating 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, can produce over 60,000 books per year with minimum supervision.
4. How are Lightning Source Inc.™ (“LSI”) and On Demand Books, working together?
LSI is a subsidiary of the Ingram Book Group (the world’s largest wholesale distributor of books) and the industry’s premier POD distributor of books. In April 2008, ODB announced a strategic partnership with LSI to share expertise and create a future collaborative digital platform for books. Under the agreement, ODB has the use of LSI’s digital conversion facilities and the right to print LSI’s vast library of titles, pending publisher approval. LSI also provides sales and marketing support for the EBM with publishers and retailers.
5. How does the EBM fit within LSI’s print-on-demand strategy?
The EBM is a revolutionary new technology that allows LSI publishers to offer their titles to consumers through a new, fully distributed channel of distribution at point of sale, on demand, in minutes.
6. How can a publisher participate?
Publishers currently with LSI can let their LSI sales representative know they are interested. Non-LSI publishers can opt in for the EBM-only network. Contact:
LIGHTNING SOURCE INC.™ (US), TEL 615.213.4000, inquiry@lightningsource.com
LIGHTNING SOURCE UK LTD.™, TEL 44 (0)845 121 4567, enquiries@lightningsource.uk.co.
7. How many titles are available through the EBM network?
ODB’s growing digital library includes nearly two million titles (pending publisher permission). ODB’s most significant catalog is Lightning Source, with nearly one million in-copyright titles from over 6,500 publishers. ODB also has access to more than one million public-domain books through the Open Content Alliance, as well as to additional titles through numerous individual publishers.
8. How do customers select books to print?
Users can access the EspressNet catalogue of titles either onsite at the EBM or remotely via the Internet. Book files can also be printed in person from CDs, flashdrives, etc.
9. Will books from publishers be available in all areas/countries?
A publisher can select specific markets for specific books. ODB is actively collaborating with content providers and publishers to make the EBM channel available in markets with the greatest commercial value for publishers.
10. What security precautions has On Demand Books taken to ensure that content is protected?
EspressNet uses industry-standard cryptography to provide secure communications, and delivers fine-grained visibility as content travels throughout the network.
11. What security precautions has On Demand Books taken to ensure that publisher/author royalties are properly attributed?
All ordering and financial transactions employ digital signatures from all involved parties. This is intended not only (1) to guard against piracy but also (2) to provide for mathematically ironclad certification of orders and payments (i.e., non-repudiation). Revenues for books sold are collected at point of sale, and royalties are remitted to publishers and content providers.
12. Are all books the same trim size?
The trim size is infinitely variable between 8.5" x 11" and 4.5" x 4.5". Readers will detect no difference between the EBM copy and the publisher’s edition.
13. What are the book specifications for the EBM?
• Binding: Perfect-bound
• Interior: B&W (with a color option at certain EBM sites)
• Page-Count: 40 to 830 pages
• Trim Size: Infinitely variable between 8.5" x 11" and 4.5" x 4.5"
• Speed: A 300-page book in less than 4 minutes (serially, less than 3 minutes)
• File format: Standard PDF for book block and cover. Books can be selected onsite, online, or even uploaded in person from CDs, flash drives, etc.
14. What is EspressNet?
The Espresso Book Machine® (the “EBM”) is essentially an ATM for books. Using digital files, it automatically prints, binds, and trims, on demand at point of sale, perfect-bound, library-quality paperback books with full-color covers. These books are indistinguishable from other books found in a bookstore or library.
EspressNet is the custom software system that connects the EBM to a vast network of content as well as to other EBMs. It enables books to be ordered and printed onsite at the EBM or remotely via the Internet. It tracks sales, remits all publisher/author royalties, and uses industry-standard encryption methods.
Both EspressNet and the EBM are the creation of On Demand Books, LLC (“ODB”).
15. What can I do with EspressNet?
Manage texts, permission what can be ordered where, and by whom, prioritize job queues based on demand. And of course, you can search, select, and print a book.
16. How many titles are available through EspressNet?
The EBM’s growing digital library (its “catalogue of catalogues”) includes nearly two million titles, pending publisher permission. The EBM’s most significant catalogue is Lightning Source, Inc.™ (“LSI”) with nearly one million in-copyright titles from over 6,500 publishers. The EBM also has access to more than one million public-domain titles through the Open Content Alliance, as well as to additional titles through numerous individual publishers.
17. Why does On Demand Books refer to EspressNet as having a “catalogue of catalogues”?
ODB has relationships with many content providers (e.g., publishers, content aggregators, universities, etc.). These content providers allow ODB access to their catalogue of digital files via EspressNet and the EBM. When users search the EBM’s library digital, they are in fact searching multiple catalogues from various content providers.
18. What precautions are used by EspressNet to ensure my content is protected?
EspressNet uses industry-standard cryptography to provide secure communications, and delivers fine-grained visibility as content travels throughout the network. All transmissions between an EBM and a catalogue of digital files are encrypted at the base level with a standard and strong PKI-based encryption. Furthermore, EspressNet utilizes the highest-level (file) wiping algorithms to ensure absolute un-recoverability from hard-disk drives.
19. What precautions are used by EspressNet to ensure publisher/author royalties are properly attributed?
All ordering and financial transactions employ digital signatures from all involved parties. This is intended not only (1) to guard against piracy but also (2) to provide for mathematically ironclad certification of orders and payments (i.e., non-repudiation). Revenues for books sold are collected at point of sale, and royalties are remitted to publishers and content providers.
20. I’m a publisher and my files are with Lightning Source; what will my royalties look like?
For publishers in the LSI network, compensation will be identical to their current compensation model with LSI.
21. How do I monitor when and where my files are printed?
Content owners can see exactly where their content has been ordered and produced, and EspressNet tracks every step of every transaction, providing all data needed to apportion royalties, production costs, network fees, and so on.
22. What will my EspressNet look like?
The onsite user interface will depend on the site, but will likely show an image of the book cover, a description of the book, its genre, and any other necessary metadata.
23. Does EspressNet allow a user to design a cover or edit the layout?
No, the EBM is a printing, binding, and trimming machine and EspressNet does not have editing or graphic capabilities for layout, publishing, etc. The EBM prints books and covers (including spine) from pre-formatted PDFs--exactly the same files that one would send to a traditional offset or large-scale digital press.
24. How do I find a book?
Books are searchable by title, author, keyword, subject area, publisher, and year of publication—anything that is included in the metadata of the book.
25. Who manages my content repository?
You can, or if you’d prefer, you may wish to speak with ODB’s partner company, Lightning Source, about joining the EBM program. LSI can manage and monitor all technical and financial processes for publishers large and small.
26. How do users select an item? Can they also do it remotely, from their own computer?
Users can access the EspressNet digital library and order a book onsite or remotely, via the Internet. Book files can also be printed in person from CDs, flashdrives, etc.
27. How does the payment part work? How can I integrate with my POS system?
Catalogue items have unique identifiers that can be used to map to retailer-specific SKUs just like any other supply-chain item. EspressNet uses MySQL for all data.
28. Can we create digital files of anything a user might want to print? It doesn’t just have to be a book, right??
The EBM will print, bind, and trim absolutely anything that a laser printer can print. Customers have used the EBM to print journals with personalized covers and lined pages, technical manuals, and report collections.
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