Introduction

The development of digital print-on-demand technology has opened up the publishing market to many new authors who traditionally have struggled to get support from the mainstream industry. Authors no longer need to print large quantities of books to get published; the new processes can print individual copies to order.

With publishing opportunities now requiring only a minimal financial investment, many more authors have access to the market and projects that could never have been cost-effective in the past are becoming success stories in the new information age.

The print-on-demand process also means books never need to go out of print. There is also no need for quantities of stock to be held as books are only printed to order.

However, whilst print-on-demand has many advantages it does not necessarily suit all types of book. Currently, the process available does not allow for internal colour; pictures and diagrams are limited to black and grey scale. Also, because all book pages are printed on the same non-glossy paper, black and white photographs may have a slightly grainy appearance. Technology continues to progress though, and improvements are coming on-stream all the time.