Local bookstore home to rare speed-publishing machine
LAKE FOREST PARK, Wash. -- Blank sheets of paper get sucked into a machine.
The pages get printed, smeared with glue, pressed together. And out comes a new paperback, freshly printed and bound, in just minutes, as you watch.
"On one side, a cover prints out. On the other side, all these pages," said Vladimir Verano. "And both things kind of come together in this elaborate contraption."
The machine is called an espresso printer, and Verano, lead publisher of Third Place Books, runs one of only five of such instruments in the country. People order books that aren't published anymore and can have them printed in minutes.
And patron Neil Richardson says the benefits of such a machine are clear.
"I'd rather have a book in hand," he said. "It hurts your eyes to look at the screen long enough when you're reading. Plus you don't have the capability to take notes on the computer itself."
With a mode of printing within easy reach, Verano has seen publications on a variety of topics run through his shop.
"People are rediscovering how the circus was run back in 1900's and there's (sic) books on juggling and weird travel logs from the 1800s and 1700s," he said.
And Verano's lean, mean and hard-working machine has a name.
"We needed something warm, like 'Ginger.' So Ginger will print that up for you in just a few minutes," said Verano.
With Ginger's help, Verano says he's helping unfold the magic of bookmaking for writers all over.
"Books have always been kind of mysterious, you go to the book store, and there it is," he said.
Ginger may make book publishing easy, but it's no amateur job. The printer can put out an 850-page book and that's touted to look just like any other paperback found in a bookstore, complete with a colorful cover and illustrations inside. And having your own book printed costs not much more than a brand new paperback -- anywhere from $12 to $16.
The pages get printed, smeared with glue, pressed together. And out comes a new paperback, freshly printed and bound, in just minutes, as you watch.
"On one side, a cover prints out. On the other side, all these pages," said Vladimir Verano. "And both things kind of come together in this elaborate contraption."
The machine is called an espresso printer, and Verano, lead publisher of Third Place Books, runs one of only five of such instruments in the country. People order books that aren't published anymore and can have them printed in minutes.
And patron Neil Richardson says the benefits of such a machine are clear.
"I'd rather have a book in hand," he said. "It hurts your eyes to look at the screen long enough when you're reading. Plus you don't have the capability to take notes on the computer itself."
With a mode of printing within easy reach, Verano has seen publications on a variety of topics run through his shop.
"People are rediscovering how the circus was run back in 1900's and there's (sic) books on juggling and weird travel logs from the 1800s and 1700s," he said.
And Verano's lean, mean and hard-working machine has a name.
"We needed something warm, like 'Ginger.' So Ginger will print that up for you in just a few minutes," said Verano.
With Ginger's help, Verano says he's helping unfold the magic of bookmaking for writers all over.
"Books have always been kind of mysterious, you go to the book store, and there it is," he said.
Ginger may make book publishing easy, but it's no amateur job. The printer can put out an 850-page book and that's touted to look just like any other paperback found in a bookstore, complete with a colorful cover and illustrations inside. And having your own book printed costs not much more than a brand new paperback -- anywhere from $12 to $16.