Personalized Publishing for books revitalized

A revitalization of an interest in personalized book publishing is coming from a publishing segment that has been ignored by most publishers and been stagnant for decades: personalized children’s books. Entrepreneur Asi Sharabi saw an opportunity to apply modern technology to the old industry of personalized book publishing for children. After reviewing a personalized book for his child that was received as a gift, he realized there was an opportunity. He considered the concept to be great, but considered the story and images to be lacking.

He teamed up with a writer, illustrator, and technology professional and came up with a book titled The Little Boy Who Lost His Name along with The Little Girl who lost her name. The book has sold more than 600,000 copies at a price of approximately $30 each. His goal is to get the book to become as popular as some of the seminal children’s book titles, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Sharabi created Lost My Name publishing, and is not selling through stores or online retailers. Rather, the books are purchased directly from their website, where the information for book personalization is entered and the transactions are completed. The books are then produced and shipped anywhere as part of the purchase price.

The name entered on the website is used to determine which parts of a possible 300 different story elements will be used in the book. The lead character of the story goes on a journey in which they encounter a variety of creatures and beings, an each gives the character a letter, which, at the end, comprise the name entered to personalize the book.

The children’s and young-adult book segment is one of the few bright-spots in book publishing in the United States, with a growth in excess of 20 percent last year, with total sales in excess of $4.2 Billion.

American Graphics Institute follows these developments closely, as AGI provides personalized publishing consulting along with InDesign Server Training as well as InDesign training classes for book publishers. All publishers need to keep current with ways in which modern technology can help to meet expectations and purchasing habits of consumers.