As it continues to look toward ways to position independent booksellers to take advantage of new bookselling models, the American Booksellers Association announced that it has entered into a marketing partnership with On Demand Books, the maker of the Espresso Book Machine. Under the agreement, the ABA will market the book machine to member stores and help permission publisher titles to the EBM sales channel. In turn, On Demand will offer a 10% discount off the up-front software license fee of $25,000 to ABA members that purchase or lease an EBM before April 5, 2012.
“The Espresso Book Machine provides a unique opportunity to help our members differentiate themselves from their competitors,” says ABA COO Len Vlahos. By offering retail-level on-demand printing, indie bookstores can explore new custom publishing business models, and more quickly and efficiently meet consumer demand for books.”
Several ABA member stores already have EBMs, including Northshire Books in Manchester Center, Vt.; Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.; Village Books in Bellingham, Wash.; and most recently McNally Jackson in New York City. On Demand plans to have more than 150 EBM installations worldwide by the end of 2011.
ABA also announced this week an enhancement to its Google partnership, which began late last year. Customers can purchase Google eBooks using Givex gift cards, an option that IndieCommerce stores had requested at Winter Institute. For stores that aren’t using Givex, ABA is working on a gift code module that will allow stores to generate gift certificate codes, which can be redeemed for e-books and other products on the store site. Customers would also be able to buy gift certificate codes for each other. The module will be ready in time for the holiday selling season.
