“BoD has expanded the publishing spectrum and democratized the publishing of books,” said Thorsten Simon, BoD spokesman. His workplace is located in an inconspicuous industrial area in Norderstedt and only insiders know that the halls two floors down contain cutting-edge printing presses. Demand is rising constantly and last year, production capacity increased 50 per cent. “Today, every third new book is self-published. More than 100,000 authors in Germany alone are believed to publish their books themselves,” said Simon. Such books are not reliant on a sufficient print run, but are simply printed and delivered whenever the publisher, retailer or a reader orders them.
The company does not consider itself a publishing house, but a self-publishing platform, which gives the author all kinds of liberties. “With us, the author retains full control over the content and design of his work,” Simon explained. As the book is stored in electronic form only, the content can be changed at any time without having to sell an edition first. This is ideal for travel guides, which have to be updated from time to time and or many technical topics that would otherwise be outdated quickly.