This is a new spin on an old publishing niche .It was called private or "vanity" publishing . In fact , most railroad books we purchase are financed partly or completely this way . I once read an article about Vantage Press ,the biggest private publisher . The publisher pointed out there were a surprising number of successful privately published books . A big surprise was a book they published some years ago ,describing step-by-step the intricate protocol for Islamic weddings . Picked up by American families who worship Islam ,the book sold over a quarter million copies . The process you describe is somewhat different as it is computer-generated text . Like the "giclee" art reproduction process , the first copy covers production costs ,with the subsequent copies at a more affordable wholesale price . i will be looking forward to hearing what you find out about this publishing method .