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For Budding Authors, a Rapid-Fire Publisher

June 10, 2004
For Budding Authors, a Rapid-Fire Publisher
By ERIC A. TAUB

'HOT off the presses' has taken on a newly literal meaning with the installation of the first instant book-printing machine in an American bookstore.

Take a floppy disk or CD-ROM to Bookends in Ridgewood, N.J., or e-mail the store a file, and pow! - in as little as 17 minutes a perfect-bound paperback version of your novel, family memoir, or favorite Bulgarian desserts can be printed.

Every book comes complete with a customized cover chosen from among several thousand designs. For an additional fee, it can also be trademarked and registered with a machine-readable ISBN number, essential for any author hoping to get the work stocked by a major chain and on its way to becoming a best seller.

Of course, the chances of best-seller status are as likely as sudden world peace. Which is why Victor Celorio, president of InstaBook in Gainesville, Fla., created his print-on-demand machine in the first place. ...