You could argue that IT-Harvest has been in the book publishing business since 2012 when it published UP and to the RIGHT: Strategy and Tactics of Analyst Influence. But that, and our other books, were published via Create Space (now transitioned to Kindle Direct Publishing). It’s a different matter entirely to contract with a printer to produce books in volume. But the cost is dramatically lower. About one third the cost of Print on Demand.
For Security Yearbook 2020 we had visibility into potential sales. Secure Cloud Transformation has already sold 30,000+ copies. So, why not cut out the Print on Demand middleman and sell direct?
The process is similar: write a good book, format the interior, create a great cover, and submit files. But this time the files went to a printer, Sheridan Books, in Chelsea, Michigan. You may be surprised to learn that the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area is the epicenter of book printers in North America.
But, instead of a digital press, the files are converted to sets of pages that are etched onto aluminum plates on a giant laser printer pictures below. The flexible plates are wrapped around cylinders that print the pages at high speed. This is called off-set printing. The paper is sliced and cut and assembled into signatures that are sewn down the middle. Those are collated and bound together and then the hard covers are added.
Finally, the books were packed in boxes and shipped to Fulex, the fulfillment warehouse in Warren, Michigan.
Now for the next steps. Create an online shop to sell the books directly. That is hosted here at it-harvest.com.
Security Yearbook 2020 is already available for pre-order on Amazon.
If you are coming to the RSA Conference in San Francisco at the end of the month you can find copies all over. Check out Where to Find Stiennon at RSAC 2020.
