OnDemand Books unveiled exciting kiosk-based technology in the last couple of years with its user friendly Espresso Book Machines. These print-on-demand interfaces potentially have the opportunity to change the book industry by allowing bookstores to offer almost limitless works without having to stock expensive inventory and ship heavy titles to their physical locations. Unfortunately, the technology has not become very widespread yet.
Now, Eastman Kodak Company and ReaderLink announced their partnership with OnDemand to put the kiosks in retail locations via integration with Kodak’s 105,000 user-based photo printing machines. This will allow consumers to print custom photo books and self-published books at the point of sale.
ReaderLink’s involvement in the partnership means the largest book distributor in the US will allow consumers to also print and purchase back list and out-of-print titles from traditionally published sources.
“Our partnership with On Demand Books delivers exciting new capabilities to consumers and retailers, and is a great example of Kodak’s focus on bringing innovation to market,” said Laura Quatela, President of Kodak, in a press release. “Consumers will enjoy getting from our valued retail partners immediate delivery of a whole new offering of high-quality photo books as well as a broad library of book titles. In addition, our retail partners will have new avenues for increased revenue as they expand their photo book sales in-store and deliver a massive list of book titles to their customers instantly.”
Dane Neller, CEO of On Demand Books adds, “We are thrilled to be able to work with ReaderLink and our publisher partners to bring a broad list of book titles to Kodak’s vast, worldwide retail footprint and expand the capabilities of the Espresso Book Machine to produce photo books. We envision an integrated solution that can substantially redefine the publishing industry and bring exciting new solutions to customers.”
The integrated machines will become available in the US during 2012, and plans are underway for international placement next year.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
