/lit/ - Literature

Why is publishing such a big deal? You can order thousands of leaflets online, isn't it the exact same technology and materials for printing and binding cheap books? It's the current year and authors should have an easier, cheaper way of publishing their work. How difficult would it be to set up an operation where books would be printed ad hoc from online orders? This way you wouldn't have to commit to thousands of copies at once and just ship what is being bought.