MagCloud is another project to emerge from HP Labs. Earlier this year, HP Labs launched BookPrep, a print-on-demand service for out-of-print books. Now, they're delivering MagCloud, a project devoted to providing small independent publishers the ability to publish digitized magazines as well as economically print on demand. Using HP's Indigo technology, the magazines are printed when ordered in full color on 80 lb paper with saddle-stitched covers.

How To Use MagCloud

To get started with creating a custom magazine, you must first create a PDF of your content using a tool that outputs high-resolution PDFs, like Adobe InDesign. You'll also need to have a PayPal account in order to sell the magazines with the markup you choose. Since the service is in beta at the moment, orders must be sent to a U.S. shipping address. Publishers can request an invitation here.

Browsing the MagCloud Selections

For those just interested in reading the MagCloud produced zines, you can create an account and then browse the selections of magazines available or subscribe to receive email notifications from the publisher as to when new issues are available. You can also choose to subscribe via RSS, but the feed does not contain the magazine's content as posts, only notifications when new issues are released.

There are already tons of magazines to browse through in diverse categories ranging from Art to Food to Literature to Finance and so much more. For example, RWW readers might be interested in the soon-to-launch magazine "The Rubyist" (for Rubyists, by Rubyists), which will focus on technical content and happenings in the world of Ruby, Rails, and Merb. Or for the more business-minded, the magazine "Professionally Speaking" may appeal, which gives tips on public speaking, giving presentations, etc.

Another great thing about a self-published magazine is that you can just purchase the issues you're interested in - the same as buying from the newsstand. You don't have to commit to a full subscription.

Previewing a MagCloud Magazine

A Great Addition To The POD World

As we noted earlier this year, the print-on-demand industry has really been heating up. Amazon launched CreateSpace and another Lulu-esque service called Wordclay began offering paperback publishing. Even casual publishing outfits like CafePress and Blurb have continued to offer options for less serious writers. Now, MagCloud seems to be a perfect addition to join the POD space. If you want to join MagCloud yourself, the signup page is here.

Restored Book (Image Courtesy of VentureBeat)

The books created with the service can also be customized for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

The pilot program for BookPrep is Foodsville, a community-based site for food and cooking enthusiasts. Here, members can read and purchase cookbooks, even rare, older cookbooks, at the site's online bookstore. The books can be found at the site's free library, where members can search for books by keyword, by author, or browse by tags.

Foodsville Library

According to Prakash Reddy, system architect of BookPrep at HP, further down the road, BookPrep could help consumers find hard-to-locate items such as newspapers, blog posts, magazines, books, event schedules and special-interest articles.

BookPrep offers a nice complement to the current lot of print-on-demand services (our coverage), as it provides a way for consumers to access rare, out-of-print books as well as modern ones.

Then in January of this year, Author Solutions, Inc., who own AuthorHouse and iUniversere -- both POD publishers on the full-service end of the spectrum -- launched a new Lulu-esque service called Wordclay. Wordclay offers a menu of do-it-yourself and premium services including, printing, distribution, editing, and design (or, the iUniverse package offered a la carte). Wordclay currently only offers black and white paperback publishing, with hardcover and color publishing coming later this year.

Earlier this month, Lulu made waves by announcing a partnership with Borders -- the second largest bookseller in the US -- to power kiosks in new concept stores where customers can upload and sell POD books. They'll also provide the muscle for an online print on demand service called Borders Personal Publishing. Participants in the program may have the option to take part in in-store activities, such as author readings and book signings.

It is also probably worth mentioning that along with the release of their Kindle eBook reader (our coverage), Amazon has provided a method for authors to self publish books to the Kindle Marketplace, which has prompted some authors to take rather innovative approaches to the publishing process.

Why all the sudden movement in the POD space? Wordclay president Dave McCauley equates it to the evolution of the music industry. "Really, it's like music," he told me. "10 years ago it was all about big labels, now it's all about the independent artists, with MP3s and MySpace." The book publishing industry is just a little behind the times.

"I think what the industry is trying to do is remove all the barriers," he said. According to McCauley, in the traditional pubishing industry publishers put in a lot of time and money to overcome barriers to get to market -- things like editing, layout, design, distribution, and marketing. What POD publishers are doing, is using web 2.0 tools to try and break down those barriers and put publishing tools in the hands of authors.

For less serious writers, who don't want to get their books on store shelves but rather just want to publish a few copies for family and friends, there are casual POD publishers as well. CafePress has offered print on demand books since 2003 without all the bells and whistles of more author-centric services, and Blurb, which launched at DEMO in 2006, specializes in more visual books and books based on blogs and photo sharing sites.

While there is still a certain negative stigma associated with self publishing, the tools to do it cheaply, easily, and effectively are continually getting better. It's also nice to see that even though, as Steve Jobs says, people don't read anymore, at least what people are writing is being given more of an opportunity to be read.