In June, 2014, Folio presented a webinar featuring guest speaker, Rob Clements, senior account manager for Ingram Solutions. Clements has special insight on the topic of monetizing archived content, and understands how it can grow your audience and create a new revenue stream.

This webinar, “Creating New Revenue Streams: Transform Bookazine Content with New Channels and Products,” deals specifically with how Ingram Solutions approaches bookazine content–publications combining features of both books and magazines–and how their approach could be part of the shape of things to come.

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What Ingram Solutions Does

Clements begins by giving some background on the Ingram Solutions company, explaining what they do, and how they plan to expand in the future. Presently, their focus is on the manufacture of books and magazines in a print-on-demand (POD) process. Bookazines are in their roadmap for the future.

POD should be taken literally. When a customer places an order for a book or magazine, Ingram, and presumably companies like them, print the copy and it ships to the consumer.

With POD capabilities, Clements explains that there is virtually no limit to the customization possibilities for customers and publishers.

Benefits of POD Publications

Waste is a big problem in the publishing industry. Overestimating the demand for a product means more copies are produced than necessary to meet the demand. Underestimating demand can also create problems, as insufficient supply means the publisher can’t supply all customers with what they want. It can also mean additional print runs to meet those demands, which can be costly.

With POD, the number of printed copies match the number of orders. It also allows publishers to reach a wider audience. Instead of supplying a narrow margin of the potential market, customers from around the world can place and order, from which a copy of the publication will be printed.

Clements sees a future where printing on demand is available around the world. This could reduce shipping costs, and help customers get their orders more quickly.

How POD and Bookazine Publishing Could Evolve

Claements explains that at the moment, Ingram Solutions offers color copies at the same cost as black and white. Further, they can offer this color print service to the American, UK and European, and Australian markets. And the reach is growing.

What’s more interesting than the reach is that customers could have the ability to customize what they want in the future. For example, if a publication has produced several articles on a certain topic, and those articles were spread out over several years, a customer could create a customized book or magazine “compendium” that contains only those articles that interest the customer.

Bespoke, or made-to-order, printed materials put more control in the hands of customers. And that allows publishers to reach a wider audience. The idea isn’t unlike the iTunes model, where customers can download the songs they want, and leave the ones they don’t.

There is promising potential for new revenue streams through POD bookazines and other printed materials. The sale of each compendium is part of the equation, but so is the monetization and audience signal boost for otherwise archived material.

Rob Clements is on the inside track of the POD publishing industry. He sees a future full of potential that any publisher could benefit from. If you’re searching for new revenue streams (and who isn’t?), giving the customer more control could be the next greatest thing.

You can check out the free webinar at the Folio website to hear more details. There’s also a Q&A session afterward, so stay tuned at the end of the session.