POD Book Market: Is it Growing?

It’s inevitable; growth and change go hand in hand. Today’s book publishing industry is a perfect example of this philosophy.

InfoTrends’ 2010–2015 U.S. Digital Production Printing Application Forecast explored 28 specific application segments and measured digitally printed application volume changes in several key market segments, including book publishing. The book market shows the largest gains of all segments, with an anticipated annual growth rate of 14.2%. 1. This represents more than 45 billion pages by 2015. 

In another August 2011 study, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) released U.S. BookStats—one of modern publishing’s most comprehensive statistical surveys. It captured size, scope, revenue, and expansion across multi-platform content and sales distribution channels. Net sales for publishers increased to $27.94 billion in 2010, representing a 5.6% increase over 2008.  Publishers sold 2.57 billion net units in 2010, marking a 5.6% increase over 2008. Growth hit all segments. Higher education textbooks were up 18.7%, with sales reaching $4.55 billion in 2010. Sales of trade books grew 5.8% to $13.9 billion.

The growth is evident with all numbers pointing upwards for book publishing with the largest increases in print on demand. Print-on-demand (POD) publishing is destined to grow in volume at the expense of conventional printing. One reason is print quality; digital printing has made great strides within the last decade. By pushing technology to the limits, POD offers a valuable solution over conventional publishing.

A Print on Demand Success Story

Sarah King’s passion is stained glass. It’s a passion that has led her to undertake research on the history and evolution of art glass, so prevalent in the Oak Park, Illinois neighborhood where she and her husband reside and own a business.

And that’s how we found out about Sarah.   Sarah has printed two books with Publishers’ Graphics:   ART GLASS IN 1909 and more recently ART GLASS IN 1913.   Both are facsimiles of actual art glass catalogues published by the National Ornamental Glass Manufacturers Association.

Sarah King’s second book, ART GLASS IN 1913

The catalogs showcase collections of residential and ecclesiastical art glass designs popular in bungalows and middle-class homes built in the early 20^th century.   With over 500 images in each catalog, it was important to Sarah to accurately represent the intricate patterns, colors, and details of the stained glass images.

Of Publishers’ Graphics, Sarah says:   “Everyone has been very impressed with the print quality, paper, and price of the books.  The printing depicts the graphic detail of the designs and the clear subtle colors of the antique prints without looking new or glossy. The cover paper with its matte lamination is especially suited to new books that need to look clean but old-fashioned.   Publisher’s Graphics offers all the convenience of short-run or “print-on-demand” publishing with all the quality any book lover would demand from a traditional publisher. “

Original art glass design in the book

Sarah is particularly intrigued with reflective gold glass because Chicago is the only city in the country to feature this gold mirrored glass in thousands of its residential glass windows.  The pure 24 karat gold material was used in the famous Frank Lloyd Wright houses and his Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

Sarah’s passion for Chicago’s stained glass and especially the double-sided gold mirrors in the historic Chicago bungalows has led her from restoring stained glass to selling mirroring supplies online through angelgilding.com .  Her goal is to help homeowners and stained glass studios appreciate, preserve, and restore this uniquely Chicago art form.

For more information, please visit pubgraphics.com.