NPC Options:
Pay NPC scribe to copy one book. He would have to take the original away from you as he is working, and tell you how long it would take to copy, based on length and jobs he is doing already. Scribes can also only copy one book for one person at a time, in order (perhaps even through the quest system). Scribe will put his name on your book as “Scribed by <NPC>“ Relatively cheap.
Pay NPC mage to duplicate your book. This is much faster than the scribe (perhaps instant), but costs much more as well. NPC mage will also put his name on your book as “Conjured by <NPC>“. The glyphs for this spell are very rare, and only government endorsed citizens may use them (in other words, no, players can not buy, find, or use them)
Pay an NPC with a press (magic, mechanical, or whatever) to mass produce your book. Setup cost is very high, and takes a long time, but per copy is cheaper, and faster than scribed or magic in the long run. So if you need more than 50 books, this may be the way to go. “Printed by <NPC and Co>“ Would be added to all printed books.
Character Options:
/copy this is a character skill. You must sit down and have ink, quill, the original, and a blank book. Copy speed is based on character Scribe skill. Getting up stops the copying process, but does not cancel it. You have the option of putting “Scribed by <you>“ on any book that you copy that is not yours.
Magical duplicate glyph. You must have the original book, ink, the glyph, and a blank book. You can only copy books that your own character has written (as it is a mental glyph), and books will be marked as ‘Duplicated’ somehow. As the book is being cloned, you can do other things. As with all magic, the spell has a slider for spell power. Also, as with other spells, there is a high chance of failure for high power ‘fast’ copies. Note that a fast copy might take five minutes (or more) and a slow copy could take hours.
Purchase a printing press. This will likely be a guild endeavor, as presses would have to be housed somewhere, and the cost of them is extreme. Upkeep for the press is very costly, and only trained characters can use/fix it (or pay an NPC). Training would also be very costly. “Printed by <press owner/or your text>“ would be an option for press owners.
Copy/paste… is not an option. This is a completely OOC action that I would not support. A spellchecker in the game window would be a nice addition in the future, though.
Any copied book would automatically have “Original” stamped on the original, with the exception of scribing your own books.
