Within the last couple of months I've purchased two books through Amazon. The first, Talking to the Dead, is a police procedural / thriller by Harry Bingham and published by Sheep Street Books. The second is Roadhouse Blues, a collection of erotic fiction by Malin James, published by Go Deeper Press.
Each volume contains a day/month/year date on the last page that when compared against the day it arrived at my house makes it almost certain the volume was printed on demand.
I'd argue Bingham and James are mainstream authors, albeit not NYT best-selling authors. James is a big name in the quasi-literary erotica world. (And her stories are hilarious, and hot.) Bingham's thrillers are mainstream.
Bingham has been published by Delacorte Press and HarperCollins and perhaps others in the past; he also runs writing workshops and talks about print-on-demand. Both books appear to be error-free and professionally laid out, which suggests they had expert professional editing.
This is my first time with mainstream authors and print-on-demand. Except for an odd rubbery feel to the covers and the use of bright white paper stock instead of ivory, they are pretty much indistinguishable from traditionally published paper books.
Has anyone else seen obvious print-on-demand volumes from mainstream authors? Print-on-demand apparently is getting more common. I guess almost by definition you won't see the volumes in your local bookstore, independent or chain.
bb