Espresso Book Machine

*click*

That’s the sound of the publishing industry changing forever, irrevocably.

I’ve explained in previous posts about waste in the publishing industry.  Once the Espresso Book Machine gains widespread use, the crime of unloved books dying on bookshelves and in warehouses should disappear.  The machine works like an ATM printing a book in less than five minutes.  The EBM contains almost half a million books in its library.

Recently on the 4HWW, publishing houses were explained as only being good for two things: distribution and book covers.  This invention eliminates the publishing industry’s distribution advantage leaving only book covers, which can be easily outsourced.  This invention makes me wonder how, or if, the publishing will change?  Using the music industry as an marker, I doubt they’ll bother looking up until they’re over the cliff.

I’m in the editing process of my science fiction novel called The Digital Sea and I’ve been having a long debate with myself about self-publishing or using a publishing house.  Due to my unknown status, the onus of marketing would fall on my shoulders, so the advantage of using a publishing house for distribution would be nearly non-existent.

If my book can be ordered online at Amazon using a print-on-demand service, printed in a big book seller using the Espresso Book Machine, and downloaded directly to a Kindle2, Sony Reader or any other digital book reading device, then why do I want to use a publishing house?

I’m still editing so I have four to six months to decide, but it sure seems like the pendulum is swinging to self-publishing.