Libri

Libri is a German book wholesaler that runs Libri Print-on-Demand, a platform for publishers that prints books to order in Bad Hersfeld and feeds them straight into its wholesale logistics for delivery to the book trade. Libri describes itself as a partner of the book trade "seit mehr als 90 Jahren" (for more than 90 years) and as a "führender Buchgroßhändler" (leading book wholesaler), with 850 employees at two sites. The print-on-demand service is for publishers, including small presses, that want every title permanently available to bookstores without printing and storing a run.

Libri and BoD under one roof

The print-on-demand page explains that Libri and BoD, as companies in the same group ("Im Firmenverbund"), combine proven wholesale logistics with demand-driven print production. In its words, "Libri Print-On-Demand vereint am Standort Bad Hersfeld die neueste Digitaldrucktechnologie von BoD mit dem hochmodernen Distributionszentrum von Libri" (Libri Print-On-Demand unites BoD's newest digital printing technology with Libri's highly modern distribution center at the Bad Hersfeld site). The company calls the result an offer unique in Europe. The printing itself is BoD's: the FAQ says trade orders go through the wholesalers directly to BoD, which produces the titles on demand, and the printed copies reach bookstores through the wholesale channel.

How an order moves

The page walks through the chain step by step. Orders from the book trade are served from stock for titles held in the warehouse, or, for digitized titles, printed on demand the same day in the quantity needed. Fast-track production lines produce a paperback copy in less than two and a half hours, so that even orders placed by bookstores just before the order cutoff can be produced and delivered the following day.

The printed books then move into the wholesale logistics through a pocket sorter that carries one book per pocket. Within minutes the ordered copies are consolidated and sent to the picking station. The sorter started with over 26,000 pockets and will hold more than 45,000 at full expansion. At the picking station, the newly printed books meet the crates coming from Libri's warehouses: depending on the bookstore's order, they go into that store's crate or are packed directly for shipping, then leave through goods-out. Delivery to the trade happens overnight on the same day. The page concludes that for paperbacks there is no longer any difference in timing between titles physically in stock and titles held digitally, and summarizes the promise as "Über-Nacht-Lieferung nahezu aller Titel" (overnight delivery of almost all titles).

For planning outside the trade flow, the FAQ gives production times: paperbacks are usually produced within 1 to 2 days, and for hardcovers the production time grows by 2 to 3 days because of drying and binding.

Listing and distribution

Libri lists a publisher's titles directly in the book wholesalers' catalogs; reporting the title to the VLB, the German directory of books in print, is the publisher's job. The FAQ says the titles are then "flächendeckend im stationären und im Online-Buchhandel in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz verfügbar" (available across brick-and-mortar and online bookstores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Through connected partners, titles can also be listed and sold internationally; the page names ten connected markets, among them the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, China, Brazil and Japan.

Direct orders that come from the publisher or its distributor can also be printed on demand and sent to the recipient in the publisher's name and with the publisher's accompanying documents. The FAQ adds that all well-known publisher distributors are already connected to BoD through established ordering interfaces, and that other distributors and publishers can be connected at any time.

Service packages

The page lists the services a publisher can combine:

• Libri Print-on-Demand Print Service: professional book printing from a run of 1.
• Libri Print-on-Demand Drop Shipment: worldwide direct shipping in the publisher's name.
• Libri Print-on-Demand Performance: full listing across the entire book wholesale trade.
• Internationaler Vertrieb: print on demand combined with Libri's international wholesale distribution.
• eBook: conversion of titles into ebooks on request and distribution through the relevant shops.
• Scan-on-Demand: sales-driven digitization of print materials, so that titles without digital files can enter the program.
• Biblioconnect: publisher software for upload and order management in print on demand and for managing production of press copies.

Small runs are possible too: although BoD produces from a run of 1, the FAQ confirms that short runs can be printed as well. Multi-volume works can be published under a collective ISBN, and all print data is stored on servers in Germany.

Formats and finishes

The FAQ sets out the specifications. Formats can be chosen freely from 12 x 19 cm up to DIN A4 in 1 mm steps, with page counts from 24 to 1,200 pages depending on cover and paper. Paperbacks come with a matte, gloss or structured laminated cover, and printing on the inside of the cover is possible. Hardcovers come with a laminated case or a dust jacket, a round or straight spine and a headband, with a ribbon bookmark and thread binding available on request. Booklets run up to 48 pages in A5 or A4 with wire stitching, and the list adds wire-o spiral binding and calendars. Paper options are 80 g and 90 g in white or cream, and 120 g white matte coated. Catalog data has to be supplied in the ONIX standard, plus details of any special features such as the position of color pages in the book block and the paper type.

Costs

Libri pitches print and logistics through the platform as "die kosteneffizienteste Lösung" (the most cost-efficient solution) for keeping titles permanently available across the trade, because storage, logistics, returns and administration costs fall away. On actual prices, the FAQ says the publication cost per title depends on the service package chosen, and the print price per author copy depends on binding, page count and share of color, and can be worked out in the company's retail price calculator ("Ladenpreis-Kalkulator"). The page itself prints no figures.

Sustainability

The page argues that producing and delivering books on order can, compared with print runs, reduce unsellable overproduction and the energy-intensive storage that goes with it, as well as transport and returns from the book trade and e-commerce. Libri's homepage also reports that it is switching its book delivery service BOOXpress to electric trucks step by step.

Who it suits

Libri Print-on-Demand suits publishers of every size that sell through the German-language book trade and want backlist, niche and out-of-print titles orderable overnight like stocked books, without tying up capital in print runs. The packages for drop shipment, international listing, ebooks and scan-on-demand make it a single route for a publisher's whole program.

It is set up for publishers rather than hobby authors. Listing depends on VLB registration and ONIX data, costs run through service packages, and the page speaks to publishers and their distributors throughout.