Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Highlighting an Innovation in Print on Demand

There are some Kingdom innovations that are game changers. The advances in print on demand definitely fit that category.

Here is why...

  1. You can now deliver ministry resources without any piles of books in your garage or in that back cubicle of the office.
  2. You can now customize books for events and strategic ministry opportunities.
  3. You can take resources that have been inaccessible for a long time and bring them to your key audiences.
One of the innovation leaders in this effort is a company called Snowfall Press. They partner with a nonprofit group called Virtual Storehouse. This nonprofit helps ministries to upload their Scripture/ministry products and offer them for sale online with a direct connection to the print on demand site.

But it is important for you to see why this is innovative. You can upload a print ready pdf of your book, offer it for sale through an online store, which is then custom printed and sent to the address they provide . . . all automated.

I really believe that print on demand innovations like Virtual Storehouse and Snowfall Press are key to streamlining our distribution of Scripture to the people who need them the most. The 20th Century was about mass production, mass distribution and mass marketing. This new century will see a new model. Now it isn't about printing 20,000 Bibles, it is about printing 1 Bible in just the right language, format and context to do effective ministry. Organizations that make this transition away from mass production to customized production will thrive in a world redefined by customization and the global recession.

Take a minute to check them out and see how you might be able to use this innovative service to leverage your Scripture resources for ministry audiences.

9 comments:

Tim Catchim said...

great resource bro. thanks for sharing.

Jon and Mindy Hirst said...

Glad it was a help. I think it will really help ministries to utilize print materials in more strategic ways.

Unknown said...

We just had Snow Fall Press print our first book from www.obrerofiel.com. They did a great job and were very quick. Here is the final product - http://www.tiendaobrerofiel.com/epages/tiendaobrerofiel.sf/es_ES/?ObjectPath=/Shops/cpcdb/Products/71501

Jon and Mindy Hirst said...

bmasters,

That is great to hear. I went and checked out the books. What a great use of that innovation. I encourage viewers to check out the Obrerofiel (Faithful worker) site and the books that they are offering through print on demand.

Jon

Unknown said...

Jon, Thank you for highlighting Virtual Storehouse and Snowfall Press! We are in the process of receiving a few HUNDRED new languages from all over the world, (available soon, on-demand)so I encourage people to check back often.

The biggest short term impact I see is in making foreign language resources available from denominations and organizations ministering to the growing multi-cultural communities -where they are needed. Through the application of the innovative technologies of Snowfall Press... new possibilities abound!

phil e said...

Very interesting and I looked at the Snowfall website too. It sounds brilliant but who designs the book cover and specifies the material etc? It doesn't appear to be mentioned anywhere.

Jon and Mindy Hirst said...

Phil,

The beauty is that you design whatever you need upload it and then your proof is your first book that you order. So you can get a friend or an artist to design your material, upload the files, order a copy and then see what you need to modify.

andrew (tsk) said...

wow. i have been thinking about print on demand. i will check it out. thanks jon.

Jon and Mindy Hirst said...

Andrew, definitely take some time to look into it. The ability to customize and use printing strategically for ministry is huge!