Xlibris Announces On-Demand Publishing Service
Posted on December 12, 1997
Xlibris Corporation today announced the launch of a digital on-demand publishing service. The service includes two major components: on-demand publishing combined with on-demand book manufacturing and distribution. Using the on-demand publishing tools available on the Xlibris web site, authors interactively publish their books from their own computers. Publishers use the same systems to enable continued publication and sale of books which would otherwise go out of print. Once a book is in Xlibris' systems, the company manufactures and fulfills orders for that book in single copy quantities.
The company has developed the technology to provide all authors with access to publication, and to keep every book permanently in print. "[Xlibris] could be a badly needed alternative to the tyranny of Parnassus," wrote Piers Anthony, a best-selling science fiction author. Anthony recently published his novel "Volk" on Xlibris.
Anyone can use Xlibris' publishing services to publish books at a speed and a cost never possible before. Authors can interact with Xlibris' systems at Xlibris.com and achieve publication within a few hours. Authors can put their books in print for a one-time fee of $300. Once a book has been published into the Xlibris environment, the company's systems automatically process the book into multiple formats for sale, including trade paperback and electronic editions.
The most unique aspect of Xlibris books is that they do not exist in print until readers order them. Once a reader has ordered a book, the company custom manufactures a single copy for that reader at bookstore prices. This process makes it possible to deliver to readers a universe of previously unpublished and out-of-print books that would otherwise be unavailable.
"A service like this could build a farm team for the whole industry," said Harry McCullough, a long-time industry veteran and former vice president of the MacMillan Publishing Company. "If authors can prove themselves on Xlibris, it makes it much easier for publishers like me to pick up their title."