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In the White Room, on the second floor of our Amsterdam store sits a very special machine: Betty the Book Machine. Our Betty is an Espresso Book Machine (EBM), once named "Invention of the Year" by Time Magazine. With Betty, anyone can turn their digital files into a real book: bound, trimmed and in full-color. Self-publish your novel, submit your manuscript to a publisher in book form, or have your dissertation, family cookbook, memoirs, blog or poems printed and bound.
Curious to see Betty in action? Our operators are regularly printing during opening hours. Drop by our Amsterdam store to see the machine. If you would like to see samples of books printed by Betty, you will find a selection near the machine, and in our The Hague store. All of these were self-published by Betty authors and are available for sale.
Ready to turn your digital works into a real book? Refer to the guidelines below to prepare, and reach out to us via email if you have questions!
Please Note: The guidelines are subject to change. They are being updated now (Dec. 2019). Where it differs, please follow the information on this page.
Short: Short Guidelines (ENGLISH) / Verkorte Richtlijnen (DUTCH)
Detailed: Submission Guidelines (ENGLISH) / Richtlijnen voor aanleveren (DUTCH)
In order for us to print and make your book, you have to sign the following affidavit stating that you 'own the rights to' or 'have permission to use' the information in your book.
Please bring this form with you, or post / fax / email it to us.
The EBM only accepts Portable Document Files (.pdf) - this is in order to maintain the fonts, margins and internal formatting of your document.
The PDF is a stable file format that ensures your book will look exactly as it does when you format it on your home computer.
If the files are formatted correctly, the turnaround time from file submission to the finished product can be very fast.
You will have to provide us with 2 PDF files that are finalized and ready to be uploaded and printed - "print ready".
Note: We cannot work with "Password Protected" files.
We prefer submissions via email as there are often problems with files submitted via usb stick. It is possible to have your "self‑published" books printed from Sunday to Friday until 15h00, depending on our specialized operators being available and the files being correct.
We recommend that you send it via email ahead of time so that you aren't disappointed if the files need changing or there isn't anyone available to help you when you arrive.
A quick "upload and print" depends on the files being as described in the guidelines above.
To ensure quick service, please contact us for an appointment via betty@abc.nl
This depends on the quality of the submitted files. Even if the guidelines are followed to the letter, there could be some changes necessary. The specialized operators will check your files, making sure that book block size and cover size are correct. Then they will upload your file to check it on the EBM's interface. If it is able to be uploaded looks correct and looks correct, they will print a first copy.
If everything is perfect, this process could take about half an hour. The actual printing and binding of the book takes an average of 7 minutes - depending on how many pages it has.
You don't need an ISBN if you're not planning to sell it to the public, and you can always add an ISBN later if you change your mind.
If you would like your book to be added to our website it must have an ISBN.
It is possible to register an ISBN via us, for € 35.
If your book was created using Betty (EBM) and has an ISBN, we can add it to our database. It is then a "print on demand" book and can be purchased via this website.
The short answer is: no. The Betty team helps self-publishing authors make their book available on Betty the Book Machine. Authors can choose to sell their Betty book (ISBN required) via abc.nl. The Betty team does not stock or sell self-published books that cannot be printed by Betty the Book Machine.
If you have published your book elsewhere, and it is not available through ABC’s usual suppliers, consider offering your book for sale on a consignment basis. Read up on the details here.
If you have published your book elsewhere, and want to turn it into a Betty book, you can follow the usual process and reach out to us. Before you do so, check very carefully if printing and/or publishing with us, interferes with any other rights on your book. Your book files will likely need to be adjusted to our printing requirements. Also, you might need a new ISBN for the Betty edition of your book. Contact us at betty@abc.nl to discuss the possibilities.
Unfortunately, no. E-books, and their authors, are copyright protected, so we cannot print e-books without express approval of the copyright holder(s). If approved, the book would also need to be in the correct format for printing.
The ABC 10% Off Cards and Large Quantity Discount** of up to 25% apply to Self‑Published books printed on Betty the Book Machine.
** 10% ABC discount isn't added to Large Quantity Discount.
The regular ABC and special EBM (Self‑Publishing) Gift Certificates are valid for printed books.