Precision Proco Group (PPG) has announced a new business in publishing, enabling social media influencers to put their content into print under better commercial terms than typically offered by conventional publishers..

The new venture, Found.us, is based on HP’s print-on-demand capabilities, and says it has published getting on for 80,000 customised books so far offering digital content creators an opportunity to monetise their personal content.

The collaboration between HP and PPG was born out of a project started in 2021 to combine the power of social media with digital print. The customised books developed by the Found.us application embody current print trends for high quality with short runs and fast turnaround times.

‘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,’ said Nigel Watson, new business incubation director at Found.us. ‘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 new content-driven business is currently focusing on food influencers converting their content from Instagram or TikTok into published cookbooks but has plans to expand significantly beyond this. The Found.us proof-of-concept has generated US $1 million in six months, and gthe business expects to expand thematically, geographically and so grow substantially. Publicity for the products is further genefrated by fans posting selfies on receiving their books, then writing reviews.

‘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,’ said Jon Bailey, COO at Precision Proco Group. ‘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.’

The venture’s cookbook star to date is Kimmy’s Kreations, a food blogger from Virginia, USA, who sold 7000 books in her first four months.