http://www.ondemandbooks.com/video2.htm

Back? Okay, this is pinch-me stuff. This is a book-lover’s Batmobile. This could save unborn postage, bubble wrap and trees. Consignment and returns? Feh! A thing of the past with Espresso.  Once the instant book machine becomes readily accessible, traditional publishing’s clunky infrastructure could dissolve before our very eyes.

Writers need to keep a sharp eye out, though. The Espresso and its ilk could double as a fog machine.

Here’s what a long-established, writers’ advocacy group in the UK, the Society of Authors, advises:

Works still available via POD might never go out of print, but the publisher might be sitting on a title which a new publisher would be happy to relaunch and promote along with its publication of your latest book.

1. POD rights should never be licensed to a third party without your agreement.

2. There should be guarantees about the quality of paper and binding of POD copies, and that they will not be sold at a price which differs by more than, say, 20% from the retail price of the traditional-form version without your agreement.

3. Your royalty should be no less than that on traditional copies, and any escalating royalty rate should continue to apply.

4. The POD version should be included in the publisher’s current catalogue, and orders met within a specified time.

5. You should have the right, if you choose, to terminate the contract if sales fall below an agreed threshold in any two consecutive accounting periods (or the right to terminate at any time on, say, three months’ notice).