POD @ A&R

Jason Epstein argues that Print on Demand is a more likely scenario than e-books, and it appears that some booksellers agree. Here in Oz, Dymocks has gone the ebook route, and its big chain rival has zagged the other way, embracing the Espresso POD machine:

Angus & Robertson today became the first Australian book chain to install the Espresso Book Machine (EBM), capable of printing, trimming and binding a paperback book on demand within minutes.

Shoppers will initially be able to choose from several hundred out-of-print or difficult to get hold of books, but Angus & Robertson said the range would expand daily, reaching 10,000 within 18 months. They would cost the same as the current shelf price of paperbacks or less, the retailer said.

And in a final damning with faint praise aside, the SMH piece suggests that:

Dymocks had sold only about 10,000 ebooks and many hundreds of reading devices

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