It’s a book nerd’s gum ball machine.
In the time it takes to order up a latte, the Espresso Book Machine can spit out a bound paperback book with full-color cover. It could be an out-of-print 1920 guide to candy-making or your own compendium of favorite family recipes.
Weighing in at more than 1,800 pounds, the miniature printing press is the product of New York-based On Demand Books, and gives book store and patrons access to millions of out-of-print titles that otherwise would never see the dust of a shelf.
The Puget Sound is an apparent hotbed for the new technology. When the University Book Store in Seattle’s U-District brings its machine online in February, the region will have three book machines along the I-5 corridor.
For Snohomish County readers, the closest book machine is at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. It has been up and running since mid-November, just after a similar machine got going at Bellingham’s Village Books.
Western Washington boasts an unusual cluster of the machines, which are installed or under order at only 30 locations worldwide, said Andrew Pate, senior vice president of business development for On Demand Books.
“It may be that the area may be more progressive in adoption of some technologies — or, ‘Hey, that guy’s got one.’ I’d like to think it’s both, but I tend toward the more innovative side,” Pate said. For his company, it proves the machine is no mere “clever novelty.”
With a current price tag of $97,900 to $122,500, the machines certainly are not a light addition. Comfy reading nook or espresso bar, this is not.
On top of the start-up costs are the costs to print books. A typical book can be produced in three to four minutes for a total cost for materials of about one penny per page. The book machine can produce a book of up to 830 pages.
On Demand Books collects a buck-a-book fee, as does Google if the title comes from its vast database of scanned out-of-print titles.
The bookstore business is a tough sell these days, and everyone’s looking to stay relevant, said Lindsey McGuirk, digital marketing and publishing manager for Village Books in Bellingham.
“This might be another way for us to bring in more income and stick around as part of the community,” she said.
The machine allows bookstores to expand their shelves virtually. And that’s a big draw — particularly for, say, researchers, historians and professors, who thrive on the obscure.
Bookstores also are finding creative uses for the machine as they take on the mantle of publisher.
Third Place Books took a scanned version of Arthur Denny’s 1888 book, “Pioneer Days in Puget Sound,” from the University of Washington Library, then converted it to text, reformatted as needed, put back the original photos, and is now selling copies on the shelves for $10 with the new Third Place Press imprint.
Village Books in Bellingham similarly printed copies of George Hunsby’s “Birth, Death and Resurrection of Fairhaven,” combining the two 1970s-era volumes into one for $16.95, with its Chuckanut Editions imprint.
“The possibilities are pretty wide-ranging,” said Robert Sindelar, managing partner with Third Place Books.
Several bookstores with the machines also are beginning to partner with teachers and professors, ensuring the titles they want students to have access to are ready at the click of a mouse.
At Third Place, they’re exploring the idea of taking public-domain works and wrapping in teachers’ discussion questions. “It can be a Brookside School edition of ‘Hamlet: Teacher’s Edition,’” Sindelar said. “There’s a lot of cool things like that that can be done.”
Talk of the machines has been circulating in the library industry, as well, and has come up at staff meetings at the Everett Public Library, director Eileen Simmons said.
“We don’t have that kind of discretionary budget to jump on something like that. So it’s nice some private bookstores have been able to do it. They can be the guinea pigs for us,” she said. “We’re going to be watching … with great interest.”
Third Place Books expects the real money to kick in with people who want to self-publish a novel that’s been lurking on their hard drive or a beloved grandparent’s memoir.
Village Books started fulfilling self-publishing requests in December, while Third Place recently started taking orders.
Self-publishing packages at Village range from $99 for a set-up fee and proof copy, to $329 for added professional layout and design work, an ISBN, barcode, copyright and in-store placement. Copies beyond proofs run 3.5 cents per page.
Prices at Third Place Books include an initial consulting and layout fee of $50. Prices beyond that fall in the range of 6 cents per page, depending on the length of the book.
Will the machines pay off in the long run? Bookstore operators are betting on it.
“We just increased our title base by more than 2 million titles,” Sindelar said. “If you wanted to do that physically, you’d have to remodel or expand your store. And you’d be hard-pressed to expand or remodel your physical store for less than $100,000.
“You have to believe in the long-term vision of it.”
Because Espresso Book Machine just doesn’t have the right ring, bookstore owners found ways to make it their own. Privately owned Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass., named its machine Paige M. Gutenborg, a play on Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press.
Third Place Books went for a random name, Ginger. Village Books didn’t bother. “I sometimes call it ‘The Beast,’ but that’s completely unofficial, depending on how bad my day is going,” said McGuirk, who is sometimes referred to as the shop’s book barista.
Where to find it
Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park
www.thirdplacepress.com
Book machine hours: 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to noon Thursdays.
To place orders or for more information, call Vladimir Verano, 206-366-3306
Village Books
1200 11th St.
Bellingham
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