December 4, 2008 – Boca Raton, FL & Trumbull, CT – Nearly 100 proud parents, school officials, teachers, authors and local dignitaries gathered today at the City of Boca Raton's Spanish River Library and Community Center to witness 45 middle and high school students from 15 different School District of Palm Beach County schools realize their dreams to become published authors.  The students participated in the third annual Océ Future Authors Project summer writing workshop, where they compiled poetry, short stories and essays into a book they named, "Confessions of a Teenage Author."  The book was published and digitally printed by the program's sponsor, Boca Raton-based Océ North America Production Printing Systems Division, a leading provider of digital document management and delivery solutions. The Océ Digital Book Solution, a combination of Océ VarioStream? 8000 printers and Océ PRISMA? workflow software, was used to print the book.

Océ created this free program in partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County, and with support this year from the BankAtlantic Foundation and the Lawrence Sanders Foundation.  During the eight-day workshop, the students learned about writing, editing, and digital book publishing. Certified teachers provided instruction, with additional insight provided by Océ executives and published authors, Margaret Ahnert, James O. Born, Jonathon King, Ray Gosa, Sally Ling and Dr. Laurence Miller.

"Public-private partnerships like this one are absolutely essential for enriching educational experiences to our students at a time when our schools are facing cutbacks," said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Constance Tuman-Rugg. "We salute Océ and the other sponsors for such a valuable contribution to education."

Océ executives predict that digital book printing and publishing technology will open up more opportunities for aspiring writers. "Digital printing technology for books is revolutionizing the industry and fueling trends like self-publishing, creating exciting opportunities for new talent-like these young, aspiring authors-to pursue their dreams," said Océ Vice President of Marketing Services Sheryl Pattek. "We are proud to support the Océ Future Authors Project and to help make students' dreams a reality."

Digital printing has changed the business model at every point in the value chain, as book manufacturers, publishers, retailers and even end users benefit from reduced costs and faster turnaround. Top digital book manufacturers rely on Océ digital print solutions as part of their publishing platforms. Océ has achieved significant penetration within the fast-growing digital book manufacturing market, with a presence in leading publishing operations. On demand digital printing also extends the life cycle of books, creating more revenue for publishers and helping readers get the books they want.  From the publisher's viewpoint, there is no difference in quality between digitally produced and conventionally produced books. The advantage comes from the substantially lower level of capital that publishers have to keep tied up in inventory, and the reduced costs for inventory management.