I can’t tell you how many times every week, I come upon a terrific book that I’d love to buy but it’s out of print, new or used.

In a modern burst of old technology, publishing a book — any book — on demand is coming to a bookstore or literary gathering place near you. Exactly when, I’m not sure, but I’m working on it.

The Espresso Book Machine

The London press reports that the Espresso Book Machine, billed as the biggest change for the literary world since Gutenberg invented the printing press more than 500 years ago, debuted for real yesterday at Blackwell’s Charing Cross Road branch in London.

This revolutionary modern-day printing press prints and binds one copy of a book in five minutes, while customers wait. Consider it an ATM for booklovers.

The Espresso Book Machine hopes to increase its ‘library’ of available titles from 500,000 to 1 million by summer’s end. Not only does the Espresso Book Machine assist us in consummating our reading pleasures, but the folks at Blackwell’s argue that it will allow smaller booksellers to compete with Amazon, as long as they come up with the six-figure investment to finance the machine.

Jason Epstein’s dream came true.

In a series of lectures in 1999 at the New York Public Library, Jason Epstein, founder of OnDemandBooks, outlined his vision of the next generation of pod technology: a fully automatic, low cost device that could be placed in a neighborhood bookshop, coffee shop, newsstand, library, hotel, even aboard a cruise ship or in airports. Unknown to Mr. Epstein, a prototype of the machine he envisioned actually existed in the St. Louis workshop of its inventor, Jeff Marsh. Mr. Marsh remains actively involved with ODB in research, development and design.

In 2003 Mr. Epstein and his partner Dane Neller founded ODB to develop Marsh’s machine and integrate it with the digital world.

This modern marvel printing machine has traveled the world the past couple years, performing limited run exhibitions, to cultivate interest in having quick access to the book of one’s dreams, with only a five-minute wait on site. Presumably a mail-order business will also support this business model; and presumably Amazon will somehow license the technology.

The potential for small presses to invest in marketing and exposure for authors, knowing that they have access to a wider publishing and distribution network should benefit talented writers everywhere.

Greentracker: On-demand digital publishing is promoted as ‘green’ technology, avoiding bulk packaging and the emissions from the planes, trains and trucks that transport books in today’s publishing distribution system.

Watching the Espresso Book Machine video, I’m amazed not only of the speed of printing but the quality of the final product, ‘indistinguishable’ from a typical bookstore book, per the video.

I’m a bit cloudy on where the machine actually exists in America, versus where it’s appeared in a beta exhibit to promote the concept. I have a keen, selfish interest in this idea and will follow it through for all of us. Anne