System having a single, robust, universal workflow for the creation, printing, and binding of hardcopy books, and for the accessibility and delivery of electronic books

A print-on-demand system for creating and reproducing books by heterogeneous reproduction workflows, said system comprising:

• a book file generator adapted to generate a digital representation of a book targeted for reproduction;
• a solution-independent converter adapted to convert said book files to have a solution-independent, intermediate format;
• a book file memory adapted to store solution-independent, intermediate formatted book files along with book identification information as a mastered book;
• a solution-dependent converter adapted to convert solution-independent, intermediate formatted book files to solution-dependent formatted book files to match the needs of a book reproduction workflow utilized;
• and
• book reproducer adapted to reproduce said book from information comprised by said solution-dependent formatted book files.