Welcome to D-BOOKS.NET

This website is dedicated to promoting book-on-demand (BOD) printing. BOD books (call them d-books if you like) are real, printed books printed on demand, as opposed to e-books, which exist solely as digital files. The only difference between d-books and conventional books is the way they are printed -- and that difference is of little interest to the ultimate user. BOD book publishing is a way to make real books for yourself.

New information added!  Go to the Link List at the bottom of this page and then visit the Book-On-Demand Resource page.

Go directly to Link List at bottom of this page

Introduction

D-Book, or Book-on-Demand, Printing is a new and exciting technique that can, should, and probably will turn publishing upside-down. But if you run a search on "Book On Demand" on most of the search engines, you will find precious little usable information on how to do d-book printing for yourself. This website is meant as at least a partial solution to that problem. I'll be posting information, links, tips and queries from readers of this page. I'll be soliciting articles and other material from those who work in the field. And, of course, I wouldn't mind a bit if you decided to order a copy of my book, A Quick Guide to Book-On-Demand Printing.

For now, however, I want to start out by providing a basic overview of the subject. The article in the Main BOD Information Page includes basic information on most of the issues involved in at-home BOD printing, as well as links to other books and information sources on the subject. Go have a look at it.(Note: the links on the Main BOD Information Page have not been updated in a while. If a link doesn't work, visit the Book-On-Demand Resouce Page for more current information. The article in the Bare-Bones D-Books Page offers one possible procedure for creating your own books with the absolute minimum of equipment. The job won't move fast, but it will get done using the techniques shown in the article on Bare-Bones D-Books.

At present, there is little material about third-party d-book printing on this page. As time goes by, I'll include more information on getting other people to print d-books for you.

Why the name d-books? I have long thought the name "book-on-demand" was very awkward, and I've been trying to come up with an alternative term for some time. I considered "desktop publishing," but that term was already being used -- inaccurately. What's called DTP is not publishing -- it's desktop layout and design. Even so, it was too late to lay claim to what would have been an appropriate name. I thought about "tabletop publishing," but even that was too close to the phrase "desktop publishing." After several other false tries, I finally hit on "demand books," or "d-books"". (Though I suppose d-books could stand for "desktop books" or "digital books" just as easily.) Anyway, I finally came up with the term "d-books," and did so recently enough that it doesn't appear in most of the web-pages below, which instead refer to "book-on-demand." The terms can be used interchangeably.

Please write to me at roger@d-books.net with any information, corrections, queries, or suggestions you might have.

All the best --

Roger MacBride Allen

Link List

Jump to the Main BOD Information Page

Jump to the Bare-Bones D-Books Page for a tutorial on how to create your own books with the bare minimum of equipment.

Jump to the Link List for the article on D-Book printing published in the Febuary 2001 issue of Science Fiction Chronicle.

Jump to the Update Page for A Quick Guide to Book-On-Demand Printing

Jump to the Book-on-Demand Resource Page for names, addresses, and websites of companies linked to book-on-demand printing.

 

Jump to the FoxAcre Press Main Page

Return to the Top of This Page.

Contact the author of this webpage at roger@d-books.net

This page created July 14, 2000.

Last update: July 5, 2002.

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