Print-on-demand: The future of publishing in Bangladesh?

The sun is slowly fading away. People are rushing home after a day's work. The mechanical pace of Dhaka city rarely allows people to slow down and enjoy a moment. Still, some people slow down and take a moment to browse the books on the pavement. 

It matters little if it is the end of the month and they have an empty pocket. They buy their favourite book with the bit of money they have and then resume their hurried pace.

This is a very common scene in the Nilkhet area of the capital. Sometimes, you find Murakami on the pavement. Sometimes, it is Kafka's Metamorphosis or Sarat Chandra's Srikanta. From academic to literary – whatever book you want to buy, Nilkhet can give you that. 

A book captures living feelings in printed letters. The history of the book has gone through many ups and downs, adapting to various changes. These changes have been made possible by combining the readers' demand and the printing industry's capacity. 

The traditional image of the printing industry has gone through changes as well, keeping pace with the changing demands. This is where the concept of print-on-demand becomes relevant.

Print-on-demand is a business model where books or any material can be printed on demand in small quantities according to the order. Traditionally, large-scale operations in the printing industry require at least 300-400 books at once. Then, keeping that book in a warehouse, the publications sell them year-round and reprint them when they sell out. 

Going beyond this concept, in the print-on-demand model, around 50-100 copies can be printed according to the demand for the book. Covid-19 pandemic disruptions in book printing and supply and the growing popularity of e-commerce have led to the proliferation of print-on-demand in Bangladesh. According to a study by Precedence Research, the size of the global print-on-demand market was estimated to be $6.34 billion in 2022. It is estimated to be worth around $67.59 billion by 2032.

Recently, The Business Standard went to the Gausul Azam and Nilkhet area to find out how much "demand" print-on-demand, which is spreading rapidly worldwide, has in the printing world of Bangladesh. 

The alleyways were humming with activities – some shops printed corporate office visiting cards, while others printed local and international books. 

Gholam Rabbani Sujan, who was busy printing books in his shop at Gausul Azam, said, "Once books were copied from books. But now books are made from soft copies like Epub, PDF, and photocopy machines. New machines cost around three lakh taka but between one to one and a half lakh taka if reconditioned."

Sujan, who has been involved in this profession since 1998, said that besides printing traditional books without intellectual property, they print personal books and copies of out-of-stock books from various publishers. 

According to him, one of the interesting features of the book business in the Nilkhet and Gausul Azam area is the small number of books and customised books printed here "at low cost from PDF and other soft copies. Publishers do not want to print a small number of copies from the press. And even if it is printed, its cost is usually much higher."

Higher cost becomes the biggest problem in the press when printing a few copies of books. We talked to a few printing presses in Fakirapool about this. According to them, there is usually a baseline printing cost, which does not decrease or increase much based on the number of books printed. 

The plate is one such cost. It is determined based on the size and number of prints (book, poster, or leaflet). This cost varies between Tk100 and Tk400 depending on the plate size. If the plate size is large, the cost of the plate becomes higher, even though the print cycle could be small. 

The cost also varies depending on the number of colours and printing quantity. If you print less than a thousand copies, the cost is Tk500 per piece. However, if you print more, it comes down to Tk300 to Tk400. 

Besides, if printing quality is to be ensured, the cost increases in various ways. Fakirapool or Banglabazar presses do not want to print books below a minimum of 300 copies. However, few presses do small runs of 50–60 copies if the pages are high quality, such as art paper.

There is also a lack of interest in print-on-demand from the publishers' end. Many of the publishers in Bangladesh do not have a comprehensive understanding of print-on-demand. And even though there is interest in this new thing, many find it troublesome and complicated. 

The time it takes to print a few books is the same as printing more books, but at the same time, the cost is also a bit high. Besides, as the reader's demand for print-on-demand books is still not that high, the traditional style of the publications seems easier.

However, Rumman Tarshfiq, publisher of Pendulum Publishers, said that except for a few of their publications, most books are done through print-on-demand. They have their own setup for it. He started working on print-on-demand in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"Costs are a bit high, true. But costs also decrease in many ways. For example, printing on demand is much more convenient than paying godown rent or investing in a press to store books yearly. I don't have to think about investing huge sums of money simultaneously. The price of books is increasing slightly, but it is not unmanageable," said the publisher.

Rumman also talked about various other advantages of printing the books on demand. As fewer books are being printed, there is an opportunity to test the market according to the readers' demand. Hoping that the world of book editing will become richer, especially in Bangladesh, he said, "We can encourage good book editing in the country through print-on-demand. To deliver a carefully edited book to the reader is the best reward for the editors."

Print-on-demand is increasing "self-publishing" at the individual level, with the opportunity to print small volumes of books at relatively low cost. Little magazines that work with exceptional ideas also benefit from print-on-demand. 

Mritosh Totrach, editor of the little magazine called 'Nardma,' said, "Print-on-demand doesn't have to be printed under any publication, so I have the freedom to publish any article I want. I have full control over everything – from write-up selection to distribution. When the responsibility of the entire work is on me, there's no censorship from the publisher, or no pressure to sell a certain amount of writing."

Abul Khair, a student of the Arabic Department of Dhaka University, said, "No publication in Bangladesh prints the original copies of our syllabus books. If there are three original copies of a book, they are kept in Dhaka University Central Library, the department office, and the department seminar library. But now, we can easily print the books from soft copy through print-on-demand."

"Print-on-demand has great potential in Bangladesh, but lack of coordination can nip that potential in the bud," said Khan Mahbub, an author, lecturer in the Department of Printing and Publication Studies at Dhaka University, and owner of Palal Prakashani. 

"Considering the demand and requirements, the demand for print-on-demand will also increase in Bangladesh, and publishers will also become interested. I think this is an innovation, and we need it," he added. Khan Mahbub hopes that print-on-demand will be integrated with Bangladesh's publishing industry and gradually thrive.

An eco-friendly, cost-effective, efficient, and professional publishing system can be developed in Bangladesh through print-on-demand. It only requires the sincerity and awareness of all concerned.