The emergence of print-on-demand Amazon paperback books

Post by jrmg » Mon, Mar 16, 2026, 1:29 PM UTC

georgefrowny wrote: post #14

jn6118 wrote: post #2

This article really resonates with me and I'm somewhat relieved to see someone else feels the same way. I love physical books for general reading and will often buy both physical and ebook format for technical books to get the best of both worlds. I now cannot stand print-on-demand books and, like the author, I can spot them very quickly. The quality is abysmal, and I might as well be printing them myself at that poi…

It's also incredibly annoying that Amazon slurped up AbeBooks way back in 2008.

Post by swiftcoder » Mon, Mar 16, 2026, 2:09 PM UTC

nswango wrote: post #112

lich_king wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one part of the story, but I think you're glossing over two other issues. First, digital printing allows anyone to sloppily OCR public-domain works (or download them from Project Gutenberg), typeset the text haphazardly, and put it on Amazon. The result is terrible for reasons that have little to do with the limitations of the technology. Take the Russell book: terrible kerning ("Proble ms"), an AI-generated a…

> If you have an older, low-volume book, providing a shoddy version will make you more money than letting it go out of print. From my point of view, what you are describing is "if you're the owner of an interesting but niche work, making it available in a basic version will please a lot of people who want to buy and read it". The alternative to most of these 'shoddy versions' from reputable publishers is simply no ve…

Post by JR1427 » Mon, Mar 16, 2026, 2:47 PM UTC

paozac wrote: post #29

Buy second hand books if you can: wider selection, good for the environment, lower price (usually), supports small businesses (usually).

Post by randusername » Mon, Mar 16, 2026, 2:58 PM UTC

allturtles wrote: post #152

julianeon wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something I don't understand: Why don't you buy used books? Plenty of supply for a book like the one he mentions, Knut Hamsun's "Growth of the Soil." No question that it was made to the quality level of the time when it was published; early 2000's is probably peak. I understand some books are so new they won't have any used copies. But for everything else, there's an endless buffet to choose from.

I can't speak for jn6118, but for me the reason I tend to avoid used books unless there is no other option is the lack of reliable quality standards. Used book listings rarely come with pictures of the actual item being sold, and the same used book listed as "very good" may be nearly brand-new from one seller with minor wear to the dust jacket, and from another have a broken spine, writing inside, discolored pages an…

Post by nswango » Mon, Mar 16, 2026, 3:13 PM UTC

swiftcoder wrote: post #153

nswango wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you have an older, low-volume book, providing a shoddy version will make you more money than letting it go out of print. From my point of view, what you are describing is "if you're the owner of an interesting but niche work, making it available in a basic version will please a lot of people who want to buy and read it". The alternative to most of these 'shoddy versions' from reputable publishers is simply no ve…

Most of these are also available in ebook (free ebooks, in the case of public domain works like the Bertrand Russell), which makes me think that the people who don't value paper books in-and-of-themselves probably aren't buying the shoddy paperbacks either. For someone who specifically likes the experience of a paper books, the option of a better print (or at least disclosure of the print quality) is highly desirable