Media (Not Size) Matters-Mary Schilling

By Mary Schilling

I had the pleasure speaking at the Digital Book Printing Conference co-hosted by Printing Impressions and Book Business magazines on Nov. 19th in New York City. Leading book publishers, printers/manufacturers and industry suppliers were on hand to create a jam-packed event with more than 150 attendees.

Although I spoke about the technical aspects of integrating inkjet printing into their digital printing processes, it was very evident throughout the conference that “printed” books are decreasing. Designers, printers, paper mills, and printing ink and equipment manufacturers should all wake up.

E-book sales have had, and will continue to have, a major impact on how we acquire content. And as Marco Boer of IT Strategies stated, “Printed books are in decline and there are no guarantees that e-books sales will start to trail off any time soon.” This statement really had an effect on me. As I looked at the book printing market from a 10,000-foot view, it was inevitability clear that this impacts all our professions and businesses in a big way.

Now, I am all for progress and what the Internet and digital publishing have given us. Everyone now has access to published knowledge. Students now have the option for their books and curriculum to be electronic form, which I am sure will save some chiropractic bills later on in life.

Crazy thing is, we all know we spend too much time on our electronic devices, but we continue to do it. You know that electronic books impact your business, but still buy the current novel and read it on an e-reader.

I am pro “printed book,” not because I am part of the printing industry, but more because I feel the connection with printed books. If you are in, or supply to, the printing industry stop and think before you buy that electronic book. Step back and think about what you enjoyed about printed books LONG before e-readers came along. Here are some of my favorite reasons:

You get to see what’s popular—When large groups of people sitting around an airport have books open, you can see the covers of what they’re reading. This is a great way to check out what is hot and could be interesting.

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Mary Schilling Author's page Mary Schilling works with all the elements of the digital process-from conventional and inkjet technologies to fluids and substrates-and provides technical support to print providers on optimizing print quality while lowering total print cost. Understanding the dynamics of the digital marketplace, and the incredible growth and advancements in inkjet technology, Mary provides customers with print quality, color gamut, fluid consumption, machine and print quality analysis, utilizing G7 methodology. She also works with inkjet fluid and machine developers to align paper development of new, innovative inkjet substrates. As the owner of Schilling Inkjet Consulting, she consults with fluid and inkjet machinery suppliers and end users on how to improve color and print quality for paper, plastics, metal, fabric and glass with UV, solvent and aqueous inkjet fluids. Mary received Innovator of the Year awards from the Flexographic Technical Association and from Xplor International for her efforts in closing the gap between document printing and digital packaging. She is G7 certified and a member of the IDEAlliance Print Properties Committee.