PUBLISHED JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 by Deb Vanasse, Reporter, IBPA Independent magazine — Publishers are facing offset print run delays, lengthy turnaround times for print-on-demand orders, cost increases, and other obstacles—but they are drawing on their characteristic agility and ingenuity to survive. Article Synopsis: COVID-19 was a catalyst for the current supply chain issues, but the origins …

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 by Matt Baehr, Executive Director, Book Manufacturers’ Institute — As the executive director of the Book Manufacturers’ Institute, I have seen some noteworthy ideas take hold, from experimentation on the production line, breakthroughs in inkjet printing hardware, and data analysis. What’s new, and what’s next? It was 2007 when Amazon started selling …

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2017 by Rob Price, President, Gatekeeper Press & IBPA Board Chair — There has never been a better time to be an author. For decades (centuries, actually), all-powerful gatekeepers ruled the landscape, determining whose books would be seen by the masses. If you weren’t one of the lucky few, your chances of getting …

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2017 by Peter Goodman, Publisher, Stonebridge Press – Pitches for large-quantity sales need to answer at least these five questions. Can anything save independent publishing? Can anything save independent bookstores? In the July 2017 issue of IBPA Independent, I speculated that such a savior might already exist: the Espresso Book Machine (EBM). The …

PUBLISHED JULY 2017 by Peter Goodman, Publisher, Stone Bridge Press — I read recently in Business Insider that Amazon’s strategy for making its brick-and-mortar stores successful hinged on three factors: exploiting big data to tailor the store’s offerings to its local demographic; reducing inventory to only a few thousand titles of proven sales potential; and …

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2016 by Deb Vanasse, IBPA Independent staff reporter The flexible nature of independent publishing allows you to select the processes and printers that match your needs. To paraphrase Mark Twain’s famous quip, rumors of the death of print have been greatly exaggerated. As technological advances improve the quality and cost of production, print …

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2016 by Todd Pollack, Director, Green Press Initiative In 2006, Random House became the first large publisher to adopt a formal environmental policy, but many independent publishers were using environmentally responsible paper long before then and helped demonstrate that using such paper in books was possible and economically feasible. Since 2006, most of …

      Digital Short Runs: What’s Great; What Can Be Trouble by Linda Carlson What is digital printing? Does your business need it? And if it does, what advantages and disadvantages do you need to consider? “Really and Truly Print on Demand: The Pros and the Cons” (June) focused on the POD technology developed …

      Book-Publishing Terms in Turmoil by Dan Poynter Writers are confused, and it’s not their fault. In searching for the best way to break into print, they come across self-described “self-publishing companies.” I get emails asking if I can self-publish for writers. That is impossible—by definition. The problem is that many POD vanity …

      This Way to That Wonderful Feeling by Dar Hosta It’s the look of the squared and bound cover, the slick and glossy dust jacket; it’s the smell and feel of the newly printed and crisp, not-turned pages, the luxurious texture of the endsheets; it’s the realness of a real book, finished and …