Book Printing Outlook : Riding the Higher Ed Wave

“E-books do reduce total print sales, but they also make demand planning more difficult for publishers,” the Quad executive notes. “As a result, reprint lead times are dropping. The fall trade cycle has seen a higher peak relative to the summer than in prior years.”

Heading into 2012, Freschi sees more of the same: e-book growth will continue, with more bundling of print and digital formats. Publishers will continue to avail themselves of short and multiple POD runs; e-books also enable targeted niche titles to become economically viable. Newcomers and non-
conventional retail sources will help offset the loss of Borders.