Print on demand proves ace for Sydney publisher

Adopting a print-on-demand system opens new chapter for Ace Press Publishing.

The Sydney-based publisher, which officially launched last week, wanted to offer an outlet to writers of all ages and backgrounds whose work may not make it through the slush pile at larger publishing companies.

“I’ve been involved with community and university workshops and seen a lot of good writing that doesn’t go anywhere because it isn’t viable to do a large print-run with it,” explained publisher, Adrienne Sallay (pictured). “Here, the author pays an upfront fee and shares the risk with the publisher. We will also sell digital copies eventually and turn the manuscripts into open source networks.”

Sallay said that without the use of print-on-demand, it is unlikely that she could have embarked on such a venture. “I don’t think I would do it without POD,” she admitted. “It would be too risky: POD is changing what we can do with books.”

Sallay chose SOS as the company’s printer after meeting Michael Schulz during her time as a student at Macquarie University when he spoke to the students about printing. “Initially, I tried a printer in Indian – they did a great job but the postage was enormous and I wanted to give the business to an Australian company,” she said. “Michael’s team are flexible, responsive, good tempered and reliable.”

Schulz sees POD as reinvigorating the publishing industry. “Digital book print and POD do make a big change, and enable so many interesting new projects,” he said.

“Whether that’s bringing back titles that were out of print for authors and publishers, niche publishers that focus on any subject under the sun, or enabling authors and independents to publish books that would otherwise not have seen the light; no wonder last year the number or titles released more than tripled [in the US].”