I really had pictured something much prettier. I guess the Espresso part made me think of an upscale coffee machine.

I have trouble understanding why this would mean the end of publishers and editors. Somebody still has to find the new manuscripts, polish them into shape, prepare the files… Even if traditional print runs ended altogether, that’s just one way of producing the finished copy. A lot goes into a book before it’s printed. So the agent who made that statement must be aware of something I’m not, or else is the type who screams “The sky is falling” at any sign of transformation.

I am definitely open to being educated if I am missing something important.

if the Espresso takes off, publishers and editors will be dead men walking

Julia, I believe in that graph I saw here on this blog a while back.

There will still be big, big stars. There will still be a long, long tail. What there won’t be is a middle.

The job of publishers becomes to create big books and only big books, because anything else won’t be worth doing.

Maintenance, and mechanical failure, may well nip this gimmick in the bud.

If the machines tend to jam or otherwise break down, as do commercial photocopiers, customers will be greeted with “It’s cool, but it’s out of order right now.”

And even when it does work, the books it produces will have to be cheap enough for people to buy them, as opposed to ordering them from Amazon, or buying them used online.

Lot of hype surrounding this. Why? This is a vending machine that does on a small scale what POD already does.

That being said, I’m all for it. Bring it on. The industry needs these shake-ups. But this thing reminds me of those machines I used to see along the boardwalk, the ones that made plastic dolphins while you waited.

Hey, get a few vials of DNA, enzymes for differentiation and growth acceleration, shake and stir… and we got – Aldous Huxley!

Haste yee back

[...] Will the Espresso Machine Make Waves the Size of the Kindle … [...]

[...] real Netflix is driving big-box rental outfit Blockbuster to bankruptcy.) As Julia at HarperStudio recounts, “I vividly remember an agent I respect sitting in my office a couple of years ago saying “if [...]

[...] real Netflix is driving big-box rental outfit Blockbuster to bankruptcy.) As Julia at HarperStudio recounts, “I vividly remember an agent I respect sitting in my office a couple of years ago saying “if [...]

I think we’ll be seeing a diversity of means of making books, depending on the book, size of audience, and the level of risk the author/publisher is willing to take on. As for the Espresso Book Machine, I’m giving it a go–and have started a blog on the process: http://litadventuresinpod.blogspot.com

Thanks for posting this!

thanks judith – great blog.

I usually don’t post on Blogs but your blog forced me to. Excellent work.. beautiful

Very informative! Great post!