The first serious bid for a print-on-demand bestseller began publishing on Wednesday, as Rick Smolan launched The Obama Time Capsule, as a customisable book which will be printed only after it is ordered.

The foray of Mr. Smolan, a photo editor whose A Day in the Life of... series has sold millions of copies, into print-on-demand, could validate the genre in the same way that Stephen King’s first electronic-only book brought instant credibility to that then-nascent market.