Espresso Book Machine

Select a published book from the EspressNet® online catalog or print your own original content. Novels, cookbooks, collections of poems, blogs, or short stories, your completed NaNoWriMo novel, or even your own blank journal can be created using the Espresso Book Machine. You also can select a book from the EspressNet® online catalog to print.

• Only paperback books can be printed. The books are bound with a perfect glue binding.
• Your book can be between 4.5"x5" to 8"x10.5" in size and between 40 and 800 pages in length.
• We can not accept pre-printed pages (electronic files are needed to print).
• Book covers and interior photos, images, etc., can be printed in color.

There is a flat fee of 10 dollars plus 5 cents per page charge, and local sales tax. For example, if you wanted to print a 100-page book, it would cost $16.37. You also have the option of printing a book from the EspressNet® On Demand catalog. Each book in the EspressNet® On Demand catalog of over 7 million books comes with its own price that includes royalties.

Payment must be processed before an item can be printed. Only debit/credit card or cash payment will be accepted. MCPL cannot accept checks for Woodneath Press fees.

More information about the Woodneath Press

• Bulk orders of 50 books or more will receive %15 off.
• Discounts are available for educational institutions and partner organizations.

Printing is done on an appointment-only basis.

To start, there are two documents that are needed:

• 1 Book Block PDF (everything that goes between the front and back covers)
• 1 Cover Sheet PDF of the front cover, back cover, and spine.

For more detailed information, visit Espresso Book Machine Guide for Authors.

You can download any of the following templates to format your book to the publishing specifications.

• 5x8 Template
• 6x9 Template
• 8x10.5 Template

The Book Cover can be designed in Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Illustrator, or another desktop publishing software. It contains a back cover, spine, and front cover as one solid sheet.

This document must be saved as a PDF.

The back and front cover must be the size of the book. The spine size changes depending on how many pages you will have in the book. The below cover calculator will let you download a free template.

KDP Cover Calculator

At this time, you are welcome to submit a copy of your book to our ReadLOCAL collection.

The Espresso Book Machine can access and print millions of titles, but not all titles may be available based on publisher policies. To see if the book you need is available, visit EspressNet® SelfServe For U.S. Publishers.

In response to customer questions, The Story Center has provided the following overview of copyright, public domain, and fair use. This document contains a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and additional resources from The Story Center.

Copyright, Public Domain, and Fair Use (PDF, 137KB)

You can review An Introduction to Printing with the Espresso Book Machine. Appointments can be made by contacting scpublicationmanager@mymcpl.org.

When my mother was turning 90 and becoming more and more forgetful, my family and I decided we wanted to make a “Book of Memories” for Christmas for her. Each child, grandchild, and great-grandchild (the ones old enough to write) wrote some of their favorite memories of time spent with the family. Then we added pictures of the smallest great-grandkids and just some other fun pictures.

Originally, our thought was just to print and staple them on our own; then a friend recommended the Espresso Book Machine at The Story Center, so I contacted Dave. He spent an afternoon with me, helping me nitpick my way through the ins and outs of putting this wonderful book together. I wanted it to be perfect, and he was very patient in guiding me through the process. We were able to print 13 copies right there on the spot, and they turned out beautifully. The best part was watching her read and re-read the book the entire day. And now she leaves it on her counter and reads it regularly.

— Cindy Rhodes

The Story Center was a fantastic resource for me to print my coloring book! They explained everything clearly and worked with me throughout the process to get a small, high-quality run printed on my behalf. They look just great!

— Michael Perry

I was so pleased last year when Dave Burns helped me set up and print my novel, The Key Club Murders, that I brought my new book, Who Killed Tom Solo?, for him to set up and print just recently. Again, I am pleased and will bring my next book for him to do when it is done.

— Charlene Prewitt

As first-time publishers, we thought the actual creation of content would be the most difficult part of this adventure. However, we soon realized that even though this was time-consuming, the most difficult part was the actual formatting and printing of the book. Our decision to publish on Amazon with specific page formatting of the content and the creation of the book cover became overwhelming.

During the early stages of writing and editing the content, we attended a book-writing program given by Mid-Continent Public Library in which we learned about the Woodneath Library Center and all that it had to offer. We decided to set up a meeting at the Woodneath Library Center to see if they could help us with our formatting and book cover issues.

During our first meeting with Dave Burns, it became readily apparent we had made the right decision. Dave was hands-on and spent several hours in our first meeting ensuring that we had the correct format and helped create the front and back book cover from pictures we provided. At the end of our first meeting, we walked out of the library with several professional-looking copies of our book printed on the Woodneath Press!

That was an unforgettable experience—not only working with Dave, but also watching our book come to reality! We met with Dave a couple more times to make modifications to the hard copy version of our book, getting it ready to upload to Amazon as well as helping us create a format for our eBook version. Dave’s vast knowledge was invaluable to our success in publishing our book. If anyone wants help publishing a book and actually printing it, without hesitation, they should visit the Woodneath Library Center. Without our meetings at the Center, we would still be trying to finalize our published work.

— Steve and Janie Heggem

I have written and had two books printed on the Espresso Book Machine at the Woodneath Library Center. I am a psychologist, and I first heard about the Espresso Machine from one of my clients. Knowing that I could print a book without finding a publisher motivated me to write and finish my first book on the topic of mindful parenting.

Staff at the library were most helpful, and it was truly thrilling to see my first book in print. I was able to upload the cover page and inside of the book to self-publish on Amazon. Last fall, I completed—and with the assistance of staff—printed my second book, Secrets of Psychological Strength. I was again able upload my data used on the Espresso Book Machine to Amazon. I was pleased with the paperback, but I wasn't satisfied with how the book read on Kindle.

Dave Burns, who runs the Espresso Book Machine, worked with me to make corrections so my book would flow properly on Kindle. I am most grateful for the Espresso Book Machine and all the programs offered at Woodneath for writers.

— Steve Daily

The Espresso Book Machine at the Woodneath Library Center near Liberty, Missouri, is awesome! It's great to see my books look so professionally made. Dave Burns is helpful and a pro with the machine (even with paper jams). I will never go anywhere else to self-publish my books.

— April Barr