Letter: A new chapter for printing

DEMAND printing has been a technological reality for a decade ("Book trade on verge of printing revolution", Business, 24 March). The revolution is merely that book printers have at last caught up with it.

But publishers beware. Disasters make a nonsense of demand lead times and thus profit. Unacceptable margins, distorted or "tone-blind" pictures, originals lost to the ether...

It's not the fault of the technology. But if printers can't get the product right what chance is there for "book stores helping retailers to reduce their own stock costs"?

The only way to save pre-sale print costs and retail discounts is for publishers to set up their own demand printrooms with informed quality and stock controls.

Ann Kritzinger

Book-in-Hand Ltd

London N5