The emergence of print-on-demand Amazon paperback books

jn6118

This article really resonates with me and I'm somewhat relieved to see someone else feels the same way. I love physical books for general reading and will often buy both physical and ebook format for technical books to get the best of both worlds. I now cannot stand print-on-demand books and, like the author, I can spot them very quickly. The quality is abysmal, and I might as well be printing them myself at that point. I too used to default to Amazon, as the price was often about 30% cheaper. However, I've come to realise that you get what you pay for. In the UK, I just buy from Waterstones or local bookshops, as then I can trust that it has likely come from the publisher or at least can inspect in advance. I am never buying a book from Amazon again.

tianqi

I don't have any reason to believe this is not a scam. If Amazon had any good intention in doing this, why didn’t they simply note on the webpage that this book is printed on demand? Those introduction on pages look exactly the same as those for the original edition. It’s only once you’ve received the book that you realise Amazon has printed it themselves. I don’t like this game, and now I never buy books from Amazon unless I absolutely have to.

userbinator

Is it really the enshittification of books, or the enshittification of printers that's responsible?

zecg

I gave up, bought a kobo libra2 that never saw an internet connection (you can find updated firmware online to download) and now just borrow epubs in the soulseek library.

EddieB

The last 3 books I’ve purchased from Amazon (UK) have been of questionable quality. The most recent was Designing Data–Intensive Applications (O’Reilly) and I’m still not sure if it’s print on demand, counterfeit- or just a reject. Roller marks, damaged pages, slightly off print. The returns process is inconvenient, one-offs are okay but on multiple purchases it’s fatiguing and so the book stays. This isn’t specific to Amazon, I had the same issue with Waterstones in the UK (online) I now just buy second hand (Abe, WOB) and hope for the best.

heisenbit

It is not just the print, it is also the way pages are cut and bound. The printed area is not where it should be on the page.

nottorp

Isn't paperback basically dead in the US because most sales are digital now? Tbh i've given up on dead tree books with the lone exception of a few hard covers because ... space the final frontier.

emchammer

It’s easy to tell when these books are printed by a high-volume inkjet printer. They are not as pleasurable to read. It’s a certain fuzziness, like when cinemas first went to digital, and when planetariums got rid of their optical star projectors.

ljm

I like to buy books and would never buy from Amazon. Haven't for a long time for many reasons. I find it more enjoyable to browse a local bookshop or charity shop and, if I want to buy something specific online I'll go with bookshop.org.

liendolucas

I've experienced this. Actually when I received the book from Amazon I thought it was a counterfeit copy, only to discover that on the very last page it says: "Printed by Amazon Logistica Italia S.r.l". Amazon's business shouldn't be printing books and obviously they should state clearly that the book you are purchasing is printed by them. The current solution? Just return the item.

dev_l1x_be

The enshittification of Amazon. Full stop. When the MBA types with excel sheets took over everything started to go downhill.

crimsontech

I remember getting some questionable quality books from amazon which didn't match up to the usual standard of a publisher. No Starch Press called this out in the past saying amazon sell counterfieght books. https://x.com/nostarch/status/1183095004258099202 I'm not sure what actually happens, but I mostly stopped buying paperbacks on Amazon a good while ago, and if I do, and I'm unhappy with the quality I'll return it.

emacdona

I noticed this years ago with technical books. IIRC, Manning was the first publisher that I noticed doing it. Pages so thin that I could see the text on the reverse side as I was reading it - it drove me crazy. O'Reilly started doing the same. I had a PDF version of On Lisp (Paul Graham put it on his website for free some time after it went out of print). I used lulu.com to turn it into a printed book (1 copy for myself). I love it. The cover art isn't great (low-res image; not Lulu's fault), but the paper stock is amazing (I got to choose it!). The print quality is also great. Lulu provides some evidence that you can run a profitable business and still offer users the ability to do _very small_ print runs (1 book). I wish they (or someone like them) could work out a deal with publishers that would let me choose the paper stock I want when I order a book online. But, maybe there are other options... Two quotes from the article: > I purchase most of my books through Amazon. I don’t find the speed of delivery that valuable, but the competitive pricing (especially factoring in Prime), ease of ordering [...] > To add insult to injury, print-on-demand books seem to be significantly more expensive than stock equivalents That's the classic enshittification playbook right there. Hook 'em with low prices. Once you've captured the market, lower your costs and raise prices. Vote with your wallet. Go to a bookstore. Small and local is fun if you don't have a particular book in mind. If you do have a particular book in mind, check Barnes and Noble's website. It will tell you if it's in stock near you. If not, order it. If you go to pick it up and don't like the quality of the print/binding -- return it. edit: fixed spacing for quoted text

newsclues

I don’t have issues with print on demand books but they should be clearly labeled and Amazon should invest in increasing quality. In fact I love the idea of high quality print on demand books that are distributed everywhere.

mat0

if you appreciate books, you don’t buy them from amazon. that’s been true for a number of years now. of course, if someone is tight on budget and wants to get a book, I wouldn’t go at them for getting the cheapest option available, which in 99% of cases, amazon is. but for people that can afford it? no excuse. I find it to be immoral to buy from amazon. my wife and I have switched years ago: small local libraries > dussmann > amazon

rleigh

It's not just Amazon. I bought a copy of an ARM assembly book from a proper bookseller (Blackwells) which was a proper hardback for a high price--something like £80, and I received a print-on-demand mess with a hardcover. The print was there but barely legible, a dotty mess which gave me a headache. I returned it. I can see print-on-demand working very well, but not until the quality issues are sorted out. Being charged top dollar for something which is substantially inferior is unacceptable.

g947o

Somewhat related: Amazon has a huge fake ebook problem as well. I recently spent $2 buying an ebook that is still copyrighted. It is cheaper than the first item in search result that has more reviews. I thought, it's an ebook, what could go wrong. Upon opening it, I found that the formatting is completely off. Words are concatenated. It was impossible to read. A few days later, I noticed that the book is gone from Amazon store. I cannot open the link from my order page, and I cannot even ask for a refund. I had to ask customer service to do that. I guess this was a pirated book that was taken down. It was a shame Amazon did not even notify me of this. And I hope this doesn't happen on kobo or elsewhere.

danaris

If you want to buy books nowadays, and care about quality (or about not having your money go to fund fascist billionaires), your best bets are bookshop.org for new books, and alibris.com for used books.

paozac

Buy second hand books if you can: wider selection, good for the environment, lower price (usually), supports small businesses (usually).

wolfi1

I buy books which are classics or longsellers usually from used book stores or at flea markets, or generally from book stores where I can inspect the books before buying.