Reviewing the pros and cons of espresso machine self-publishing
The table of Chapbook Press published books at Schuler Books & Music in Grand Rapids, Michigan back in 2013.
When I decided to self-publish my book I ended up going about it in what may have been the strangest way possible: an espresso machine.
No, I did not have a very talented barista transcribe my novel onto latte foam—rather, I used an espresso book machine. This relatively small machine prints, trims, and binds a book in minutes, all you need is the cover design and the formatted pages. It’s a pretty nifty piece of tech that emerged around 2007 and made it possible for retailers to produce books of good quality.
I’m originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan where there’s an indie bookstore called Schuler Books & Music. Schuler got its very own espresso book machine in 2009—one of about 20 in the world at the time—that was just as I was entering high school. I remember being very excited about this as I had been working on a book of my own for about 10 years at that point. It occurred to me that this could be a great way to release my book.
In hindsight, this was maybe not the most unusual way to release a self-published book at the time. It was 2007 when Amazon first started opening up to indie authors, but really only in the ebook space (the company would make printing books available to authors in 2016). IngramSparks wouldn’t court indie authors with a print-on-demand service until about 2013.
Last year I used the same espresso service to republish a revised and rewritten version of my high school book, Light Keeper Chronicle: The Unspoken Prophecy. As I look toward my next project, though, I’m thinking of using IngramSparks. While I’ve yet to use IngramSparks (likewise for Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s respective print publishing services) I thought I’d talk about the pros and cons of my espresso machine experience.
Pros of espresso machine publishing
Firstly, the ability to communicate with the people printing your book is huge. The biggest issue I’ve heard regarding other services is poor customer service. With my espresso machine book If I want copies or want to make a change to an aspect of my book, I send an email or make a phone call and—even if those copies need time to print and ship or the changes take time to make—I can usually figure out what needs doing in a day or two.
Hand-in-hand with that customer service is the fact that this process was fairly beginner friendly. Schuler Books does a great job breaking down the cost of things and offering services that would normally eat up a bunch of your time as a self-publishing author. While I didn’t end up using the Schuler Books proof-reader or cover design services (opting to use people I know) those were all options they can provide. I can comfortably say that—in this case—the services are reasonably priced, generally being not that much more expensive than it was for me get tap friends and colleagues to do the same work.
On top of that, by using an espresso machine you’re supporting a local business. In my case, this local business is in Grand Rapids, Michigan and happens to be (I think) the largest set of indie-bookstores in that state, but it’s a store I’ve loved since childhood. So, personally, I consider working with them a huge plus over giving Amazon or Barnes & Noble more sway over my material (especially since I inevitably end up publishing ebook editions of my novel with both those companies).
My next positive is a bit more subjective and likely depended on the particular espresso machine service you go with, but the quality of my latest paperback is a huge plus. I like the quality of the paper used by the service I use. I also like how well the spine has held up with my re-publishing last year. While my 2013 book spine creased down the middle (the text was, admittedly, a lot longer) my 2022 publication’s spine has held up! If I did have to find a possible downside in quality, I’d say that that I’ve experienced the colors on my book cover smudging off slightly (though this is only with the copy I’ve handled the most for final edits, so that’s to be expected).
Lastly, I still own my book after printing with Schuler Books’ espresso machine. So that means that I still possess all the rights and have the option to publish somewhere else if I’d like to. This isn’t all that unusual with indie publishing, however, Amazon has increasingly used its market share to add caveats in its services that contractually bind authors and their books to Amazon’s ecosystem (especially for audiobooks).
Cons of espresso machine publishing
The first and BIGGEST con on Espresso Machine publishing is the cost of a book. While the prices, as far as I can tell, are pretty standard for the upload and other services. I pay about $16.35 for Schuler to print a single copy of the book. I sell that copy for $19.99 and make about $3.64 from a typical physical purchase.
While I consider that fairly reasonable, the bigger hurdle comes when/if I decide to include the book in a store other than Schuler. Since bookstores typically take 40% of the price of a book, I need to change my price. I can’t sell them at $19.99 since 40% of that would be about $8—I’d be losing money at that price point. Because of that, when I have sold through other stores, it’s been marked closer to $30 just so I can make something a literal dollar off of a sold copy.
In contrast—according to the website calculator—IngramSparks would charge me about $8 per book. That means if I used that service and sold it at another bookstore, I could charge $19.99 and still make about $4 from selling it (before accounting for shipping and handling).
This segues nicely into the next biggest con which is your book will not be easy for stores to stock. While getting your book on Amazon’s virtual storefront is not a huge barrier, if you’re looking for a local place to carry your book you have to deliver physical copies yourself. With IngramSparks, most booksellers could just order your copy from a catalogue—with an espresso machine, there’s not an easy way for other bookstores to get a copy without going through me. I should note, this publishing option is not necessarily a huge issue. Even with IngramSparks, bookstores are unlikely to order your specific indie-book unless it’s already selling like hot cakes or has some great buzz.
The last negative of note is that you are limited in the number of pages you can have in your book. Again, this isn’t a huge issue for me, since Light Keeper Chronicle clocks in at about 300 words—but if you’re planning to write something that’s going to go over 600, you might be in trouble. This may be different from printer to printer, but Schuler Books’ machine has a limit of 650 pages, which I don’t think will be an issue for most people.
Should I use an espresso machine to self-publish my book?
As with everything, it depends on what you’re looking to get out of self-publishing.
For me, I had a long-time passion project that I wouldn’t have a lot of time to actively promote. Because of that, I wanted to be cost effective while also being able to make it easy for people I know (friends and family) to walk into a bookstore they know and get a copy.
I’d broadly say that espresso machine printing is best for smaller projects and instances where you’re dipping your toe into self-publishing. I think I probably had the most low-stress possible experience I could have had with getting my book to print with Light Keeper Chronicle. Because of that, when I inevitably publish something through another mode, I’ll be a little bit more prepared.
Knowing that IngramSparks, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon all have their own printing services, I’d say all of those are great if you’re REALLY going for it as a self-published author. The first two (Ingram and Barnes) seem particularly great if your book ends up taking off since it makes it easier for brick-and-mortar stores to stock your book without having to go through you.
As I said though, for me, pacing myself and having a positive experience was more important. On top of that, nothing beats being able to finish your book, send it in, and have it in hand in a matter of minutes!
This piece was also posted on the Windsor Heights Book Fair’s Medium page, check out work from and on other Midwest-based indie authors over there!