Hardware

1. What is the Espresso Book Machine®?
2. What software powers the EBM?
3. Who makes the EBM?
4. What are the benefits of the EBM?
5. What does the EBM cost?
6. What consumables are used to make a book and how much does it cost?
7. How many books can the EBM produce?
8. What training or special skills does the machine operator need?
9. Is the EBM an environmentally friendly technology?
10. What safety standards does the EBM meet?
11. What are the EBM’s electrical requirements?
12. What are the network and internet requirements?
13. How much does the EBM weigh?
14. What type of environment does the machine need?
15. I am outside the United States, can I buy a machine?

1. What is the Espresso Book Machine®?
The Espresso Book Machine® (the “EBM”), which Time Magazine named an “Invention of the Year,” provides a revolutionary direct-to-consumer distribution model for books.

Put simply, the EBM is an automated book-making machine. The operator selects a title to print, and within a few minutes a book emerges, with a full-color cover, trimmed to an exact size, and indistinguishable from the publisher’s version. As we say, “Hot off the press!”

All EBM books are perfect bound with paperback covers. They may have color interiors or black-and-white interiors, depending on the installation’s text printer. A typical book can be produced in three to four minutes for a total cost of consumables of about one penny per page (USD $0.01 per page). The EBM can produce a book of up to 830 pages. The trim size is variable between 4.5" x 5.5" to 8.25" x 10.5" (11.4 x 14.0 to 21.0 x 26.7 cm).

2. What software powers the EBM?
EspressNet, the EBM’s proprietary and copyrighted software system, connects the EBM to a vast network of permissioned content. EspressNet assures the security of publishers’ titles, tracks all jobs, and remits all royalty payments. Content owners retain full ownership and control over their digital files.

The EBM was created to provide readers in a worldwide marketplace with access to the expanded multilingual backlists of the world’s publishers and libraries, as well as to a wealth of custom- and self-published material. Ultimately, the EBM will make it possible to distribute virtually every book ever published, in any language, anywhere on earth, as easily, quickly, and cheaply as email.

3. Who makes the EBM?
Both the EBM and EspressNet are the creation of On Demand Books, LLC (“ODB”). ODB is based in New York, NY. The EBM is manufactured and assembled entirely in the United States.

4. What are the benefits of the EBM?
The EBM eliminates supply-chain costs and allows for increased sales of books by producing them on demand at point of sale. In short, the EBM reverses publishing’s existing business model from:

produce → ship → sell
to:
sell → produce

Supply is matched with demand at point of sale for the first time in the history of publishing. This radical new model eliminates returns and gives life to innumerable titles. Books stay in print forever.

Publishers: The EBM allows you to increase unit sales, eliminate returns, eliminate supply-chain costs, monetize your backlist, and reduce your inventories.

Retailers: Enjoy higher sales per square foot, faster inventory turnover, more customer traffic, no more out-of-stocks, reduced supply-chain costs, freed-up shelf space for faster moving, higher-margin inventory, and new revenues from custom and self publishing.

Libraries/Universities: The EBM enhances the academic experience for students, makes more books available to more patrons, provides new forms of revenue, and allows you to print your digital collections and create facsimiles of rare books.

Authors: Enjoy more sales, more royalties (which might otherwise be lost to the used-book market), and access to a powerful new self-publishing and distribution model.

Readers: Gain better access to more books in multiple languages, and ultimately, the ability to get any book on demand, onsite, in minutes.

5. What does the EBM cost?
USD $97,500 plus printer. The printers range in price from about $4,000 to $28,000.

6. What consumables are used to make a book and how much does it cost?
The EBM uses paper, coverstock, toner for the interior, ink for the cover, and glue for the bind. Together, the cost of these consumables comes to about one penny per page (USD $0.01 per page).

• The paper for the book block is 20lb bond (50# offset/75.2 gsm) or 24lb bond (60# offset/90.3 gsm). Paper is white or cream.
• The coverstock is a 10-millimeter, water-resistant, single-coated stock with Colorlok technology. It is not laminated.
• The toner and ink cartridges are purchased from the printer's manufacturer or dealer.
• The glue is purchased in hard, pellet form and sourced from a New Jersey supplier.

7. 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. We recommend you anticipate producing about 10,000 books per year with your EBM. For the first five years of purchase, the EspressNet minimums are 5,000 units per year. Your own books will count towards those minimums if they have been added to EspressNet.

8. What training or special skills does the machine operator need?
The EBM was designed to be operated by an entry-level employee. Anyone comfortable with a computer and very basic mechanics can learn to operate the EBM and EspressNet.

We have had very successful experiences with operators of all ages and backgrounds. The operator should be proactive and invested in the EBM’s success. A site may decide to have its operator interact directly with customers for ordering books and self publishing, in which case those necessary skills should be taken into consideration as well.

9. 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.

10. What safety standards does the EBM meet?
The EBM is CE/UL certified and C-Tick certified. The machine is instantly turned off when an access panel is opened while the machine is running. The machine is powered by a single circuit and a single switch can de-power everything in accordance with electrical safety codes. The EBM has no external heat points.

11. What are the EBM’s electrical requirements?
The EBM with high-speed black and white text printer or color text printer requires 240V 30A.

The EBM with mid-speed text printer requires 240V 30A (can be 15A).

Dependent upon local codes and internal procedures, the user can either cable the EBM to a disconnect box (two wires plus ground) or have an electrician use a cable and plug/socket rated at 220V 30A (similar to what a household dryer uses).

12. What are the network and internet requirements?
EspressNet and the EBM require access to a dedicated IP address 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for purposes of catalogue updating, service, and support. The network download speed should be 10 Mbps or better.

13. How much does the EBM weigh?
With its accompanying text printer, the EBM weighs a total of 1,800–2,000 lbs (815–900 kg). The EBM weighs 1,200 lbs (550 kg); and the text printer weighs 600–800 lbs (275–360 kg), depending on the brand.

The EBM and the text printer are each supported by four casters (i.e., wheels), so the weight is not evenly distributed across the floor but concentrated at the eight point loads.

14. What type of environment does the machine need?
Most installations in bookstores and libraries tend to be on the main floor, where customers and patrons can walk past it and see it (though some sites use it as a back-office solution).

Ideally, the EBM should be in a spot where the temperature does not vary wildly—a consistent temperature helps maintain consistent paper handling—and preferably on a hard, level surface. When moving the machine, doorways and passageways need to be a minimum of 34 inches (86 cm).

15. I am outside the United States, can I buy a machine?
Currently, EBMs are being sold only to locations in North America, the UK, and Australia. We expect to add more regions as our service and support network grows.

Software

1. What is EspressNet?
2. Why does On Demand Books refer to EspressNet as having a “catalogue of catalogues”?
3. What can I do with EspressNet?
4. How many titles are available through EspressNet?
5. How do I find a book?
6. How do I enable my customers to find EspressNet content?
7. How long does it take to transfer a book from EspressNet?

1. What is EspressNet?
EspressNet is the proprietary software system that connects the Espresso Book Machine® (the “EBM”) to a vast network of content as well as to other EBMs. It enables books to be ordered and produced onsite at the EBM, and can also be integrated with a retail/library website so that consumers can order books remotely via the Internet. EspressNet tracks sales, remits all publisher/author royalties, and uses industry-standard encryption methods (as detailed below) to keep content safe. EspressNet is not an e-commerce system. it is an integrated component of the EBM (no other software system can be used).

Both EspressNet and the EBM are the creation of On Demand Books, LLC (“ODB”).

2. Why does On Demand Books refer to EspressNet as having a “catalogue of catalogues”?
ODB has relationships with many content providers, including publishers, content aggregators, libraries, university presses, self-publishing sites, etc. These content providers allow ODB to access their catalogue of digital files via EspressNet and the EBM. When users search EspressNet’s digital library, they are in fact searching multiple catalogues from all these different sources.

3. What can I do with EspressNet?
EspressNet users can search and discover content from a vast catalogue, organize print jobs, track transactions, and manage catalogues.

EspressNet allows users to select which books they would like to print, and how many of each book. You can change the print order and remove books from the queue. EBM operators can refer to a log that details the books that have been produced and the associated information (cost, publisher, quantity, date and time, etc.). EspressNet functions include not only project and transaction information, but also a basic interface for searching the catalogue and adding your own books. The catalogue search shows the title, author, publisher, source, royalty cost, suggested retail price, and any other metadata attached with the book, such as cover art, description, etc. Users can upload their own book by selecting a (pre-made) PDF file for the cover and a (pre-made) PDF file for the book block, and the trim size.

4. How many titles are available through EspressNet?
The EBM’s growing digital library (its “catalogue of catalogues”) will include nearly 800,000 in-copyright titles from 8,000 publishers through Lightning Source, Inc.™ and millions of public-domain titles through other content aggregators. In September, 2009, ODB announced an agreement with Google giving ODB instant access to over 2 million public domain titles from Google Books. These titles are discoverable through EspressNet and can be printed on the EBMs.

The EBM also has access to 1.5 million public-domain titles through the Internet Archive, as well as to a wealth of custom- and self-published material and to additional titles through numerous individual publishers and major content aggregators.

5. 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.

6. How do I enable my customers to find EspressNet content?
We have developed a procedure (API’s) suitable to batch upload files via standards-based XML to your customer-facing website. Content information is held in a relational database so ONIX feeds can be provided and/or feeds at the SQL level, including authentication calls, search calls, order calls, job routing calls, etc. We can also support more ad-hoc information exchange (e.g. some php or python scripts in a query-response fashion) depending on how the customer-facing interface is being implemented. Information is updated more or less continuously into our systems. 

7.  How long does it take to transfer a book from EspressNet?
In general, less than a minute.

The size of a book file varies greatly depending on the length of the book, whether it is scanned versus purely digital, and other matters. The file size can be anywhere from a few hundred kilobytes up to hundreds of megabytes for long, scanned, image-intensive books. “Transfer Time” varies according to file size, of course, although the EBM is normally constantly connected (over TCP/IP) to our systems.

Security

1. What security precautions has On Demand Books taken
to ensure that content is protected?
2. What security precautions has On Demand Books taken
to ensure that publisher/author royalties are properly attributed?

1. What security precautions has On Demand Books taken to ensure that content is protected?
ODB believes copyrighted content must be protected and royalties properly attributed; content owners retain full ownership and control over their digital files.

EspressNet uses industry-standard cryptography (2048 bit el gamal inside a 128 bit transport tunnel) 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.

2. What security precautions has On Demand Books taken to ensure that publisher/author royalties are properly attributed?
Any book printed on any EBM generates a royalty to the book’s publisher or content owner, if one has been set.

All ordering and financial transactions employ digital signatures from all involved parties. This provides 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.

Books

1. Where can I get books to print?
2. What are the specifications of an EBM book?
3. Are all books the same trim size?
4. Can we create digital files of anything a user might want to print? It doesn’t just have to be a book, right?
5. What self-publishing platform is offered with the EBM?
6. How can I use the EBM with my POS system?

1. Where can I get books to print?
There are several different levels at which content can be used on the EBM.

1. Local Content – Every EBM comes equipped with an onboard web-based interface that allows the EBM operator to upload books (one PDF for the book block, one PDF for the cover). This is great for “one’sy two’sy” content handling, where a patron or internal process has produced a book and wants to easily load it and make a few copies.
2. EspressNet Content – This is a mix of in-copyright traditional trade content and public-domain content. EspressNet content includes public domain titles from Google Books. EspressNet content is continually growing, as new publishers, authors and content aggregators permission their titles for distribution on our network of EBMs. The EBM comes equipped with a browser interface to discover this content (based on search strings) and, once discovered, order it.
3. Open Content Alliance Content – This is out-of-copyright content that is available at the Internet Archive (http://archive.org). We can (with a few exceptions) print any of their scanned books. As the archive.org collection is difficult to integrate with, the process is currently one of cut and paste—that is, find something on the archive.org site, locate its unique identifier, and then cut and paste that into a form provided by the EBM’s interface.

2. What are the specifications of an EBM book?

• Binding: Perfect-bound, with a full-color paperback cover
• Interior: B&W (color is available at sites with a color text printer)
• Page-Count: 40 to 830 pages
• Trim Size: Infinitely variable between 4.5" x 5.0" to 8.25" x 10.5" (11.4 x 14.0 to 21.0 x 26.7 cm)

3. Are all books the same trim size?
No. One of the EBM’s most impressive features is its ability to trim any book automatically to the desired trim size. The metadata attached to the book’s digital file communicates with the EBM’s robotic trimming function to tell it precisely what size to cut the book to. There is no human intervention required, and no mechanical setting or re-setting of the blade—books come out, one after the other, cut to the right size “on the fly.”

Specifically, the trim size is variable between 4.5" x 5.0" to 8.25" x 10.5" (11.4 x 14.0 to 21.0 x 26.7 cm).

4. 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, custom anthologies, professor-created textbooks, lab journals, study guides, coloring books, conference documents, corporate reports, recipe books, collection of (digitized) letters, and the list goes on. . . .

5. What self-publishing platform is offered with the EBM?
ODB is developing a tool set for self publishing that can be used to produce books on the EBM. The tool set can be branded and will enable the location to offer book creation and fulfillment services and also to add self-published authors’ titles to EspressNet for printing by other EBMs. Authors who choose to add their books to EspressNet will receive revenue when their books are printed.

6. How can I use the EBM with my POS system?
The EBM’s software can be integrated with POS systems based on search and/or unique identifiers.  Catalogue items have unique identifiers, such as ISBNs, that can be used to map to retailer-specific SKUs just like any other supply-chain item. Integration would occur after gaining a clear understanding of how your POS systems are architected. EspressNet uses MySQL for all data.

Publisher Relations

1. How are Lightning Source Inc.™ (“LSI”) and On Demand Books (“ODB”), working together?
2. How can a publisher participate?
3. How does the EBM fit within LSI’s print-on-demand strategy?
4. I’m a publisher and my files are with Lightning Source; what will my royalties look like?
5. Who manages my content repository?
6. How do I monitor when and where my files are printed?
7. Will books from publishers be available in all areas/countries?

1. How are Lightning Source Inc.™ (“LSI”) and On Demand Books (“ODB”), 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.

2. How can a publisher participate?
Publishers currently with LSI can let their LSI sales representative know they are interested. 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

Non-LSI publishers can opt in for the EBM-only network. Contact: info@ondemandbooks.com

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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. A third alternative is to place your content on the ODB servers.

6. 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, network fees, and so on.

7. 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.

General Inquiries

1. Does ODB offer franchises or agent relationships?
2. Is ODB a publisher?
3. Does On Demand Books offer book printing service? Do you sell books?
4. I am an author, how much does it cost to print my book on the EBM?

1. Does ODB offer franchises or agent relationships?
No, we are not offering any distribution, franchise, reseller, or other representative relationships at this time.

2. Is ODB a publisher?
No. If you would like your books produced on an EBM or you would like to self-publish a book, please contact one of our customers. They are listed under “locations” on the website.

3. Does On Demand Books offer book printing service? Do you sell books?
ODB does not offer printing services or book selling. We produce and market the EBM and EspressNet. For printing services and to inquire about buying books, please contact one of our customers located under “locations” on our website.

4. I am an author, how much does it cost to print my book on the EBM?
As services, pricing, and fees vary by location, please contact our customers directly. A complete listing is available under “locations” on our website.