Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:18:08 -0600 From: sara m steele <smsteele@wisc.edu> Subject: Re: Question re Book Printing Message-id: <4EBBEB30.7010504@wisc.edu>
Thanks, Don.
Great material. I'm archiving it. So far I've avoided doing a book,
but will find your message very helpful when I get around to the "farmer
governor" who lived here from 1850 until after 1900.
You make a great point about how to fund a book. Books have a big
upfront investment than the reports we do, which usually cost between $1
and $2 per copy. Societies usually have people with diverse talents.
Some write, some market, some take care of other aspects of a project.
*Terminology
*One up-date in terminology. Your use the term "camera ready" copy is
the same way I use "PDF file". Both terms mean the society has the
material all ready to print. In the old days a printer photographed it
and made plates. Now, everything is digital. To those who may not be
familiar with how to prepare a PDF file, Microsoft Word does it for you
when you go to "save as". PDF files are also very useful when sending
many pages as an mail attachment. Contact me if you want to see a
couple of pages from one of our reports in PDF form.
The thing I am not sure of is whether a printer keeps plates. Now that
everything is digital, it is more likely the customer submits the PDF
file again and it is a new print job. So be sure to ask about process
and cost of repeat orders.
*Simpler projects
A Historical Society shouldn't think that a book is the only, or the
ideal way to go. Most societies can handle simpler projects more
easily. The goal should be to get local information caught in an
organized, usable, interesting, permanent form.
*Don, I know you were writing quickly and the focus on the message was
on a book. I agree that a copy shop, spiral bound, 8 1/2 by 11 format
is not a good choice for a book. However, it may be an OK choice for a
simpler, much shorter print project. The specific topic reports we do
are that size. They are a cross between a business report and a
magazine, and, because one of our main targets is school children, being
like the school workbook you mentioned has some advantages. The larger
format is more welcoming of photos, has enough space that a 12 font
works fine, and is much, much, easier to format. Such publications can
be kept in file drawers or file boxes on a library shelf in permanent
collections. In homes they function more like magazines. They are not
as sturdy as a book, but after the first reading, they usually are not
used frequently.
Some historical societies find such reports a good way to begin getting
some of their local history information and photos brought together in
print. Such publications can be prepared by one person or a small
team, or every member can contribute. Our Society was very proud of a
project where each person prepared a page on a topic of their own
choice. A neighboring society produced one, with photos, about the
farms their members lived on or had lived on. Such projects are good
ways for a society to begin capturing what they have accumulated on
paper (or jumping into the future, on DVDs). We found the coil binding,
copy shop route fine for our first project. However, now that we have
found a printer, who center staples and can use a sturdier cover, we
like the product much better.
Sara smsteele@wisc.edu
Cottage Grove Area Historical Society
On 11/8/2011 5:16 PM, Don Jensen wrote:
> I am not clear why you are considering 8-1/2 by 11, A standard size
> is 5-1/2 by 8-1/2. The latter is a handier size and binding is easier
> and, in my view, sturdier.
> And you have an attractive book, easier to sell, than one of those
> 8-1/2 by 11 coil/comb bound things that look like a school workbook!
> And you get 4 pages per sheet, rather than two, at the 8-1/2 by 11
> size sheet. As suggested, you should have it laid out in final form
> as 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 pages with
> your own software. Surely, in your group, you have someone who is
> savvy enough with computers to do so, lay it out, insert photos,
> whatever, with page numbering, etc.
> In short... having the book camera-ready for the printer. Type size
> should be about 9 pt on 10 pt. spacing, or maybe, for us old timers,
> an easier to read 10 pt on 11 pt. spacing.
> That means you are handling this first part of the “publishing job”
> with your own volunteers at no out-of-pocket expense.. No need to
> spend money on a publisher.
> Take your camera ready text to a printer, and pay only for the
> printing and binding. Have the layout of the pages done by your
> volunteer,
> I’d guess that laid out in camera-ready 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 in pages, you
> probably are talking 200 to 220 pages. I would go soft cover (heavier
> stock for the cover, of course)
> and “Perfect” (glued) binding (too many pages for the previously
> mentioned saddle-stapled, which as noted is easy and cheap for say a
> 50 page pamphlet)
> Your chosen printer should be able to take your camera-ready pages and
> print and bind the books.
> Financing the books is an important part of success. After you have
> your camera-ready pages, take them to the printer and get cost
> estimates for the cost of producing a finished bound book
> With that knowledge, estimate how many books you will sell initially,.
> These are the PRE-PUBLICATION paid orders. Then promote the
> forthcoming book like crazy. . . local newspaper
> promotion, local radio station promotion (both should be free), have a
> sign up promotion at your institution, have board members promote
> PRE-PUB orders from friends,
> acquaintances. . If your printer’s price is, say $5 per issue, and
> you believe you can sell 100 copies, PRE PUBLICATION by offering these
> early buyers a special deal, say $9.95 vs a later $12.95 price, that
> is an incentive for early pre-pub. sales.
> Then you have cash up front, in my example,, $995 to pay the
> printer. At, for example, a $5 per copy price,he prints/binds 199
> copies. You
> distribute the 100 pre-pub copies, and you have 99 more copies to sell
> at full price of $12.95 at your institution’s gift shop over the next
> year, two years, whatever.
> That gives you merchandise to sell that can bring a profit of $280, in
> my example, with no up front outlay.
> Now my numbers are simply examples. The Point is to price your
> PRE-PUB sales to bring in money in advance of the printing/binding.
> The pre-pub sales
> should produce enough money pay for maybe a third to a half more
> finished copies of the book than your PRE-PUB sales. That is a
> remaining surplus of “free”
> books you can sell at full price for your profit. No risking your
> own Society’s money here. If your printer keeps the original plates,
> he can easily, and more cheaply,
> produce more copies when you’ve sold out your original gift shop
> stock. This book can be self sustaining for years, this way.
> The PRE-PUB sales effort should be intense and not last more than
> about 6 to 8 weeks before you can deliver the copies to PRE-PUB
> buyers. It is all doable, I assure you.
> Don Jensen
> Kenosha History Center
> *From:* sara m steele <mailto:smsteele@wisc.edu>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 08, 2011 2:41 PM
> *To:* localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
> <mailto:localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: Question re Book Printing
> Hi
>
> I second what Nancy said about looking at your market carefully as you
> make your decisions about hard or soft cover and number of copies..
>
> *Number of copies *
> Also, look at your storage space. Do you have space to store a large
> quantity of books which will slowly sell over the next twenty years?
> Or are you going to aim for a shorter market time and smaller number
> of copies? Guess at how many will sell now and at what price people
> will be interested in paying. Then consider the cost of that number
> vs the cost of ordering and storing more. Also check on the costs and
> procedures of doing reruns before you make a decision.
>
> Think, too, of the number of courtesy copies you will need to budget
> for--school IMC's, your library, WHS, other library archives, people
> who worked on the book, or supplied much of the material. In strict
> accounting those courtesy copies lower the amount from sales and raise
> the cost per book sold. That raises a question of your society's
> purpose in printing the book. Is it to raise money or is it to make
> information available in a print form now and for later generations
> and you will be happy if you break even?
>
> You may want to look for sponsors who will pick up part or all of the
> printing costs.
>
> *Consider your market potential*
> Be prepared that the market may be very small. There are a few true
> history buffs in most communities who will purchase a local history
> book. And a few people who are willing and able to buy to support
> your society regardless of whether or not they ever get around to
> reading it . The number and type of photos and the amount of
> interesting items about people, places,and events currently living in
> your community or the relatives of those who have lived in your
> community will attract some people just because of their memories,.
> Proud as we may be of a local history book, there often is not a huge
> market. Often the more comprehensive and remote the content is the
> fewer people will buy it.
>
> I think some Societies have asked for advance orders to help gauge the
> market.
>
> *Publisher or printer?*
> Also consider the difference between a publisher and a printer. We
> send our specific topic reports to an excellent _printer_ who simply
> prints the copy ready PDF file. They do a proof if we want it, print,
> and then will deliver the finished product. They take no
> responsibility for the content other than they did ask me to change a
> table in the Civil War report when a table was so large it got into
> the margins.
>
> However, we have never tried to run 150 pages. We do specific topic
> reports of about 50 pages which can be center stapled. I don't know
> whether printers do the professional bind and book size you will want
> for 150 pages.. However, contact me (smsteele@wisv.edu) if you like
> and I will give you the email address of the man I work with at Coakly
> Tech.
>
> Our first report was done at a routine print shop (Fed Ex, Office
> Depot, Kinkos, etc.) with the spiral binding, but the slick cover,
> center staple from a printing company is more professional looking and
> surprisingly inexpensive.
>
> Depending on the publisher, the _publisher_ may provide some
> additional services at cost. Before the days of desk top
> printing and the ease of inserting photos, one almost had to go
> through a book publisher.
>
> By the way, if you decide to check out printers, be sure to to include
> who ever does the printing of your local newspaper. They may not be
> able to take on the job, but by contacting the editor and inquiring
> you might be paving the way for publicity later.
>
> *Making the book available for sale*
> The getting the book into the hands of readers sometimes requires as
> much thought as the actual writing of a book. Hopefully your Society
> have a member who will do the marketing and handle sales. Will you
> only have it available at your museum or heritage house? Will you
> have a booth at a festival, pan cake breakfast or other places the
> community gathers? will you have sales outlets? Will you have
> someone monitoring to be sure that no books other than the courtesy
> copies go out without dollars coming in?
>
> Sorry, as you have noticed, when I get thinking about a topic, my
> fingers fly.
>
> Sara Steele
> Cottage Grove Area Historical Society
>
> On 11/7/2011 8:02 PM, Arlene Leppin wrote:
>> Any tips or suggestions on printing a book for our Historical
>> Society? It will be about 150 pages, and was wondering what
>> publishers other societies used. Any tips, and things to beware of,
>> please let me know. Also, what format would you recommend? A soft
>> cover 8x11 or a hard covered book? How many copies should we order
>> with the first printing? Any ideas would help.
>> Arlene Leppin
>> Fairwater Historical Society
>> haleppin@centurytel.net <mailto:haleppin@centurytel.net>
>