Help for small publishers & independent authors
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:22 pm
Help for small publishers & independent authors
Palladium has always been friends with small publishers and independent/self-published authors, so I wanted to post something that I hope is great news and helpful information.
Did you know that a “book printer” can do print runs of 1,500 copies for the same amount of money as 500 P.O.D. books?
I have found the answer to that question is usually an excited, no.
I recently talked with an author who was looking to print 1500-2000 copies of a new book. The author was confident he could sell that many in six months to a year, but lamented to me that his Print On Demand quote was $7.78 per book – $3,890 for 500 copies. Making the large press run an unaffordable $11,670.00.
The person sounded crestfallen, until I said, “Um, you know a book printer – or at least, Palladium’s printer – could print that book for you for around $2.25 a piece.”
I was wrong about that. It turns out Palladium's printer, McNaughton & Gunn could print 1,500 copies for under two dollars each!
In fact, the actual quote for a . . .
- 192 page book
- 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches trimmed book
- Perfect bound
- Softcover book; four color front and back laminated cover
- Black & white interior pages
- 60# white paper stock
- Plus proofs of the cover and interior pages for approval
. . . turned out to be $1.77 per copy!
The total amount was less than it cost to print 500 P.O.D. books even when $700 was added to ship the books to his out of state location. It was a gigantic savings. This person freaked out with joy.
Depending on the P.O.D. company, that savings might only be half of what they charge, but that savings is still incredibly HUGE and you get 3x the number of books.
Cheap printing – modest press runs
What surprised me is that most small press and self-published authors I have been talking with do NOT seem to know about Book Printers who use web presses. P.O.D. printing over the last 10 years has become so omnipresent that many people today, don’t even know there are alternative and cheaper printing that provide large press runs and superior quality.
I had similar discussions with a couple other people who had been printing through Print on Demand (P.O.D.) companies. They also freaked out to learn they could do a modest press run of 1,500 copies for the same price (or close to it) as a measly 500 P.O.D. copies.
In each and every case, these were very smart people who knew nothing about web-printers, and assumed (incorrectly) that the big book printers required massive print runs of 6,000 copies or more. It ain’t so.
Here’s the skinny on Palladium’s
Book Printer – McNaughton & Gunn – Saline, Michigan
Cheryl Corey, Sales, at (734) 429-8757 or fax her at 734-429-8744, or email to "Cheryl Corey" <cherylc@mcnaughton-gunn.com> to get a quote.
- McNaughton and Gunn can do press runs as small as 1,500 copies inexpensively. Btw, they also do Print on Demand (P.O.D.).
- They specialize in “perfect bound” books with color covers and black and white interior printing.
- They can do a number of different sized books (obviously, Palladium does 8 1/2 x 11 inches).
- It is most cost effective to do books with page counts in increments of “32 pages” – which is what a massive web press runs at a time – so that means books that are 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256 pages and so on.
- McNaughton & Gunn is not competitive if you want glossy color throughout (but other printers can be).
– 4 weeks to print at an incredible savings. Factor in 3-5 additional days to get the books shipped to you.
- If this sounds like something you want or need, CALL or EMAIL TO GET A QUOTE! It should arrive in 2-4 days. (734) 429-8757 or fax her at 734-429-8744, or email at "Cheryl Corey" <cherylc@mcnaughton-gunn.com> to get a quote.
- Please tell her you heard about McNaughton & Gunn from Palladium Books.
- What is their quality like? You have probably seen our books, the quality is superb. Heck, we’ve used McNaughton and Gunn almost exclusively for 26 years! I recommend them highly.
Note: I do not represent McNaughton and Gunn, so I don’t know all the requirements or ins and outs, so don’t hold me to all of the above, but it should be pretty darn close. They’ll be happy to discuss your needs and give you details.
I hope this information helps many of you.
Disclaimer: I am not trying to slam or discredit P.O.D.s. Palladium uses Print on Demand (typically printing 100-150 copies at a time) to keep slower selling titles in print, and as a stop gap between large press runs. They are also great for special printings, advanced printings, and truly small printings for online or convention sales. HOWEVER, if you are starting to, or expecting to, print and sell more than 300 P.O.D. copies, you should be looking at Book Printers to minimize your costs and maximize your print run. 1,500 books for the price of 400 or 500 P.O.D.s, you can’t beat it.
To all my fellow publishers, large and small, try to stay positive, think smart, stay calm, be creative and good luck to you in all your ventures.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Your Friendly Neighborhood Publisher, Writer, & Game Designer
Palladium Books®, Inc. – 28 years of RPG Publishing
© Copyright June 24, 2009 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural, Dead Reign, Warpath, Shemarrian Nation, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.
Palladium has always been friends with small publishers and independent/self-published authors, so I wanted to post something that I hope is great news and helpful information.
Did you know that a “book printer” can do print runs of 1,500 copies for the same amount of money as 500 P.O.D. books?
I have found the answer to that question is usually an excited, no.
I recently talked with an author who was looking to print 1500-2000 copies of a new book. The author was confident he could sell that many in six months to a year, but lamented to me that his Print On Demand quote was $7.78 per book – $3,890 for 500 copies. Making the large press run an unaffordable $11,670.00.
The person sounded crestfallen, until I said, “Um, you know a book printer – or at least, Palladium’s printer – could print that book for you for around $2.25 a piece.”
I was wrong about that. It turns out Palladium's printer, McNaughton & Gunn could print 1,500 copies for under two dollars each!
In fact, the actual quote for a . . .
- 192 page book
- 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches trimmed book
- Perfect bound
- Softcover book; four color front and back laminated cover
- Black & white interior pages
- 60# white paper stock
- Plus proofs of the cover and interior pages for approval
. . . turned out to be $1.77 per copy!
The total amount was less than it cost to print 500 P.O.D. books even when $700 was added to ship the books to his out of state location. It was a gigantic savings. This person freaked out with joy.
Depending on the P.O.D. company, that savings might only be half of what they charge, but that savings is still incredibly HUGE and you get 3x the number of books.
Cheap printing – modest press runs
What surprised me is that most small press and self-published authors I have been talking with do NOT seem to know about Book Printers who use web presses. P.O.D. printing over the last 10 years has become so omnipresent that many people today, don’t even know there are alternative and cheaper printing that provide large press runs and superior quality.
I had similar discussions with a couple other people who had been printing through Print on Demand (P.O.D.) companies. They also freaked out to learn they could do a modest press run of 1,500 copies for the same price (or close to it) as a measly 500 P.O.D. copies.
In each and every case, these were very smart people who knew nothing about web-printers, and assumed (incorrectly) that the big book printers required massive print runs of 6,000 copies or more. It ain’t so.
Here’s the skinny on Palladium’s
Book Printer – McNaughton & Gunn – Saline, Michigan
Cheryl Corey, Sales, at (734) 429-8757 or fax her at 734-429-8744, or email to "Cheryl Corey" <cherylc@mcnaughton-gunn.com> to get a quote.
- McNaughton and Gunn can do press runs as small as 1,500 copies inexpensively. Btw, they also do Print on Demand (P.O.D.).
- They specialize in “perfect bound” books with color covers and black and white interior printing.
- They can do a number of different sized books (obviously, Palladium does 8 1/2 x 11 inches).
- It is most cost effective to do books with page counts in increments of “32 pages” – which is what a massive web press runs at a time – so that means books that are 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256 pages and so on.
- McNaughton & Gunn is not competitive if you want glossy color throughout (but other printers can be).
– 4 weeks to print at an incredible savings. Factor in 3-5 additional days to get the books shipped to you.
- If this sounds like something you want or need, CALL or EMAIL TO GET A QUOTE! It should arrive in 2-4 days. (734) 429-8757 or fax her at 734-429-8744, or email at "Cheryl Corey" <cherylc@mcnaughton-gunn.com> to get a quote.
- Please tell her you heard about McNaughton & Gunn from Palladium Books.
- What is their quality like? You have probably seen our books, the quality is superb. Heck, we’ve used McNaughton and Gunn almost exclusively for 26 years! I recommend them highly.
Note: I do not represent McNaughton and Gunn, so I don’t know all the requirements or ins and outs, so don’t hold me to all of the above, but it should be pretty darn close. They’ll be happy to discuss your needs and give you details.
I hope this information helps many of you.
Disclaimer: I am not trying to slam or discredit P.O.D.s. Palladium uses Print on Demand (typically printing 100-150 copies at a time) to keep slower selling titles in print, and as a stop gap between large press runs. They are also great for special printings, advanced printings, and truly small printings for online or convention sales. HOWEVER, if you are starting to, or expecting to, print and sell more than 300 P.O.D. copies, you should be looking at Book Printers to minimize your costs and maximize your print run. 1,500 books for the price of 400 or 500 P.O.D.s, you can’t beat it.
To all my fellow publishers, large and small, try to stay positive, think smart, stay calm, be creative and good luck to you in all your ventures.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Your Friendly Neighborhood Publisher, Writer, & Game Designer
Palladium Books®, Inc. – 28 years of RPG Publishing
© Copyright June 24, 2009 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural, Dead Reign, Warpath, Shemarrian Nation, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.