The POD Market Gets a Little Smaller

One of the biggest U.S. print-on-demand publishers, Author Solutions Inc., announced this week that they have acquired rival POD Xlibris for an undisclosed price. Author Solutions estimates that 19,000 titles were published in 2008 while Xlibris, founded in 1997, estimates that there are more than 20,000 titles in print. The closest thing to a rival Author Solutions has is POD company Lulu, however the company was forced to lay off nearly 25% of its work force, including the president of the company, last fall.