Amazon introduces print-on-demand

Amazon announced a new Print-on-Demand (POD) program designed to help book publishers sell lower volume book titles through a more economical supply chain. The new POD program removes the upfront economic barriers associated with traditional book publishing while making those titles available to the tens of millions of active Amazon.com customers. Books are printed as they are ordered, providing publishers an easy and economical way to bring back out-of-print titles and introduce new, lower-volume titles, offering Amazon.com customers a dramatically expanded selection of books to purchase.

For a limited time, BookSurge will provide discounted book scanning services with no upfront investment to the publisher and free setup for titles with POD-ready digital files. BookSurge is also offering competitive manufacturing rates as part of a comprehensive solution. Publishers participating in POD will also be provided the option to enroll these titles into Amazon's Search Inside the Book and Amazon Upgrade programs at no additional cost. Further, these titles will receive the same retail treatment as other book titles on Amazon.com and are eligible for both the Super Saver Shipping and Amazon Prime programs.

"Publishers have told us they are looking for ways to serve lower-volume book markets more effectively," said Greg Greeley, vice president of worldwide media at Amazon.com. "This program offers our customers increased choice and selection while providing publishers quick and efficient distribution of previously unavailable titles without exposure to the risk and expense of traditional methods."

Proprietary print-on-demand technology allows BookSurge to economically print and ship a single book in response to an Amazon.com customer order. This technology eliminates the need for inventory making it efficient for publishers to supply customers more lower-volume titles through Amazon.com's catalog. Even books in print with existing physical inventory would benefit from the POD program to absorb unexpected demand spikes and ensure continuous availability.