The new venture, which officially went live last week after a two-year development and trial period, has already seen influencers publish nearly 80,000 customised books.
Printing on-demand from the firm's digital HP stable, the business is designed to allow digital content creators an opportunity to monetise their content, without the risk inherent in investing in a long commercial litho run.
The books are processed end-to-end by Precision Proco, printed on the firm's HP Indigo series 4 and 5 and Pagewide T240 presses.
Nigel Watson, new business incubation director at Found.us, said the arrangement benefitted both author and printer by cutting out publishers’ hefty cut.
He said: “By creating an end-to-end publishing experience, our technology enables these amazing rockstar content owners to enjoy a greater share of the book revenues, compared to traditional publishing where the author receives only a fraction of the proceeds.
“Personalised books with variable content can be produced quickly and delivered directly to their audiences. We are bringing online ideas to life and connecting the digital and physical worlds.”
The business’ initial focus has been on helping food influencers convert their content from Instagram and TikTok to published cookbooks, a business that has already netted Precision Proco $1m (£834,000) in the last six months of its trial.
Precision Proco expects the business to gather momentum organically as fans and influencers share their new books online.
Jon Bailey, Precision Proco’s COO, said: “The idea is to wed the traditional and respected book publishing business with the rapidly growing creator economy that is burgeoning at the seams with content - easy to create and consume - and with eager audiences.
“This is a disruptive business model, which includes interactive qualities with QR codes that can be scanned to redirect fans to social media or expose them to hidden notes.”
Kimmy’s Kreations, a creator with 4.4 million followers between her TikTok and Instragram accounts, sold 1,000 copies of her book on the first day of its release, less than two months after she made contact with Found.us.
She said: “Publishing a cookbook was always a dream of mine, but it seemed too far out of reach. I provided the content and Found.us did the rest.”
