"It's kind of neat to come and order a book and watch it being printed and have it in your hand almost immediately. It takes 3 - 5 minutes to print a book on the machine. I think it also says that people still want books." - Liz Treidler, bookseller at McNally Robinson.

CBC Manitoba Scene recently dropped by the store to check out our new Espresso Book Machine and watch it in action. They filmed a short segment with Liz as she walked them through the process of having a book printed.

You can read an article on the machine and watch a video of it in action online here.

An introductory post that goes into further detail about the machine itself can be found on our website here.

I mostly read fiction, memoirs, and poetry--preferences that are reflected in my night table choices. I've selected books that have been published relatively recently, because I believe it's important to support new works. (I've allowed myself one exception, The Smoking Diaries, by Simon Gray, which I excuse on the grounds that it's new to me.)

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McNally Robinson has acquired a machine that manufactures a quality paperback book every 4 minutes or so. The machine is part of the bookstore, standing in the front window, and customers can watch books being printed and bound.

The finished book is hard to distinguish from books printed by publishers except for the fact that the paper used for print-on-demand is better quality.

The print-on-demand machine (called the Espresso Book Machine by its manufacturer, On Demand Books, because you can custom order like a specialty coffee and in about the same time), immediately addresses three niche markets.

First, self published authors can now print, launch and distribute through McNally Robinson, avoiding the difficult decision to print many copies without knowing how many will sell.

Second, readers and researchers can buy physical copies of out-of-edition titles, of which there are millions available to McNally Robinson through print-on-demand databases like Google Books and Lightning Source.

Third, teachers and professors can customize textbooks and print only as many as they have students enrolled.

In future, print-on-demand will meet mainstream demand. Negotiations are in progress to make publisher catalogues available for print-on-demand in independent bookstores, which would help shore up the physical supply chain.

The store can now print a book faster than anyone can deliver it from a distant warehouse, with no shipping and handling fees.

Self publishers can email enquiries to bookmachine[AT]grant.mcnallyrobinson.ca.

For more information contact Liz Treidler (453 0424 extension 242) or Paul McNally (955 1937)

Our Books of the Season Catalogue for 2011 is now available online. Please browse through it for gift ideas for everyone on your list. And take note of the illustrations taken this year from the work of children's author Oliver Jeffers.

Click here to view the catalogue.