Marketing for Introverts (aka The Future of Book Marketing).
Some people are born marketers, but what about those of us who aren't born to sell, who hate cold-calling, and are even uncomfortable making phone calls?
Luckily for us, the Internet holds the future of book marketing and is one of the greatest tools small publishers and authors can use to compete with big publishers and their much bigger marketing budgets.
Sheyna Galyan of Yaldah Publishing (and MIPA's newsletter/blog editor) attended PMA (Publishers Marketing Association) University last summer and spent the better part of a week intensely learning about online marketing. Come to our November meeting and she will show you how the Internet has changed publishing forever and is the author's and publisher's best friend.
There will also be a demonstration of what to look for when your book gets to the printing stage. Seal and Corinne Dwyer (North Star Press) will "show and tell" what to look for at the printer.
What: MIPA meeting
When: Wednesday, November 14, 2007; 6:30 pm social time; 7:00 pm meeting.
Where: We meet in the lower level of the St. Anthony Park Library in St. Paul.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
MIPA Welcomes Your Comments
All of the MIPA blog posts to date now have comments enabled on them, and future posts will also allow you to leave your questions, comments, thoughts, experiences, etc.
We encourage you to take this opportunity to dialog with us on the book publishing industry and ask only that comments are professional and respectful.
If you'd prefer to contact us privately without leaving a comment, you can also email us at mipa.blog@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing from you!
We encourage you to take this opportunity to dialog with us on the book publishing industry and ask only that comments are professional and respectful.
If you'd prefer to contact us privately without leaving a comment, you can also email us at mipa.blog@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Printing Solutions: What's Right for Your Book?
by Sheyna Galyan, Yaldah Publishing
Publishers will tell you that the most expensive part of publishing a book is printing it. Reducing costs, maximizing profits and royalties, even determining retail price and how much (or how little) a wholesale discount to offer all depends on the cost of printing.
There are, however, a mind-numbing plethora of printing options available, and at the October MIPA meeting, we attempted to clear up the confusion just a bit.
At its most basic level, there are two types of printing: offset and digital (sometimes referred to as on-demand printing). Offset printing involves creating plates and using the plates to press ink to paper. Digital printing involves something like a high-end laser printer. For black and white book interiors and to the average reader, there is no discernible difference between the two.
For publishers there is a big difference. Offset printing requires that you print a large(ish) number of copies for your first print run, which can run several thousand dollars up front. Digital printing can print much smaller quantities, requiring less cost up front but a higher unit cost, which can undermine your profits if the book sells well.
According to Davis Scott of McNaughton & Gunn, a Michigan-based book printer, the break even point between digital and offset is around 500 copies or so. In other words, if you're not sure you'll sell more than 500 copies, digital will eliminate a lot of the risk. If you know you'll sell more, especially if you know you'll sell much more (based on more than just a gut feeling or new-author optimism), it's worth looking into offset printing.
Within the offset world, you can print domestically or offshore. Domestic printing is almost always more cost-effective for black and white interiors, but full-color interiors can cost 30-40% less overseas.
Leonard Flachman of Kirkhouse Publishing has been satisfied with Regal Printing in Hong Kong, stating that the process was relatively easy and painless. He added that before you submit your book, they will ship a sample to your specs so you can see how it will look and feel. Economically, however, he recommends printing no fewer than 1500 copies.
All good book printers, offset or digital, are happy to send you a sample of their work upon request. It's a good idea to request a sample of the size and binding for your book so you can compare like products. Similarly, you can request quotes for several different quantities so that you can see what sort of investment and savings are involved at different levels.
Many very small publishers (also sometimes referred to as micropresses), new publishers and self-publishers aren't prepared to invest several thousand dollars into a print run for a single title, knowing that it could be months to years - if ever - before the investment turns into profit. For these folks, as well as for market testing, unproven authors and similar low-risk needs, digital printing may be the answer. Even here, the choices are staggering.
Several samples of digitally printed books were distributed and examined during the meeting, including books from Lightning Source Inc. (LSI), G&H Soho Inc., BookMasters, Lulu, and the printed-while-we-watched books produced by the Konica Minolta printer (shown below).
There were some key points to note when comparing book construction and quality, and author/publisher Sheyna Galyan had Lulu print one copy of her book to compare to a copy of the same book from LSI. Of note were the following:
Publishers will tell you that the most expensive part of publishing a book is printing it. Reducing costs, maximizing profits and royalties, even determining retail price and how much (or how little) a wholesale discount to offer all depends on the cost of printing.
There are, however, a mind-numbing plethora of printing options available, and at the October MIPA meeting, we attempted to clear up the confusion just a bit.
At its most basic level, there are two types of printing: offset and digital (sometimes referred to as on-demand printing). Offset printing involves creating plates and using the plates to press ink to paper. Digital printing involves something like a high-end laser printer. For black and white book interiors and to the average reader, there is no discernible difference between the two.
For publishers there is a big difference. Offset printing requires that you print a large(ish) number of copies for your first print run, which can run several thousand dollars up front. Digital printing can print much smaller quantities, requiring less cost up front but a higher unit cost, which can undermine your profits if the book sells well.
According to Davis Scott of McNaughton & Gunn, a Michigan-based book printer, the break even point between digital and offset is around 500 copies or so. In other words, if you're not sure you'll sell more than 500 copies, digital will eliminate a lot of the risk. If you know you'll sell more, especially if you know you'll sell much more (based on more than just a gut feeling or new-author optimism), it's worth looking into offset printing.
Within the offset world, you can print domestically or offshore. Domestic printing is almost always more cost-effective for black and white interiors, but full-color interiors can cost 30-40% less overseas.
Leonard Flachman of Kirkhouse Publishing has been satisfied with Regal Printing in Hong Kong, stating that the process was relatively easy and painless. He added that before you submit your book, they will ship a sample to your specs so you can see how it will look and feel. Economically, however, he recommends printing no fewer than 1500 copies.
All good book printers, offset or digital, are happy to send you a sample of their work upon request. It's a good idea to request a sample of the size and binding for your book so you can compare like products. Similarly, you can request quotes for several different quantities so that you can see what sort of investment and savings are involved at different levels.
Many very small publishers (also sometimes referred to as micropresses), new publishers and self-publishers aren't prepared to invest several thousand dollars into a print run for a single title, knowing that it could be months to years - if ever - before the investment turns into profit. For these folks, as well as for market testing, unproven authors and similar low-risk needs, digital printing may be the answer. Even here, the choices are staggering.
Several samples of digitally printed books were distributed and examined during the meeting, including books from Lightning Source Inc. (LSI), G&H Soho Inc., BookMasters, Lulu, and the printed-while-we-watched books produced by the Konica Minolta printer (shown below).
There were some key points to note when comparing book construction and quality, and author/publisher Sheyna Galyan had Lulu print one copy of her book to compare to a copy of the same book from LSI. Of note were the following:
- The LSI copy cost about $5.50 to print and ship; the Lulu copy cost over $15. For a book that retails at $15.95, Lulu would make any sort of profit unrealistic and wholesale discounts impossible.
- The Lulu cover was significantly more washed-out and dull compared to the LSI cover.
- The Lulu cover was not cut exactly to the book block, creating a small margin where the pages were visible under the closed cover.
- There was extra glue that seeped past the spine on the Lulu copy, creating a ridge.
- Part of the spine edge was gouged during the cover folding process on the Lulu copy.
- The book text was off-center on the Lulu copy, despite the Lulu and LSI copies being produced from the exact same PDF.
Other things we talked about regarding book construction included whether or not you could open a book completely without breaking the spine, if the cover sits flat when the book is laying face-up, too much/not enough glue, paper quality, pixelation of text (though this can be due to a problem with the uploaded file - more on that in a future article), and how much emphasis the printer places on customer service should you not be satisfied with your book.
Several local book printers were in attendance at the meeting, including Sentinel Printing and Sunray Printing, both of St. Cloud, MN.
If you have a favorite book printer for offset (domestic or overseas) or digital printing, please send the company name and website URL, along with a sentence or two about your experience with them, to us at mipa.blog@gmail.com. We are working on a recommended printer list for our members.
Not a member yet? Visit http://www.mipa.org/ to find out more!
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