Short Run Books
April 1, 1996
Questions come up quite often about how to put together short-run books
economically. Ed Fogde of Tehama Trader Plus in Red Bluff, California was
looking for between 300 and 500 cookbooks and wanted me to quote him on the
job and make any suggestions I might have to make the production more
economical.
Keep in mind that this will not work on all similar type books, but many jobs
could be produced very profitably in this manner.
My response to Ed was as follows:
Ed:
Thanks for the opportunity to quote on your cookbook. Unfortunately it
doesn't fall in the area where I could be competitive as a trade shop because
of the index tabs. I would have to outsource those. Also, if you are talking
about wire spiral, I do not have that capability.
This would be a very easy job to do in house if you have a good high speed or
mid range copier (providing there are no photos and all copy is black on the
insides).
Set your pages up on 8.5x11 - 2up. That is 2 of page 1 on one sheet, 2 of
page 2 on the next, etc. You will have 200 originals. Since you need prices
on 300 and 500 books, you would price it as 150 or 250 sets (you are getting
2 out of one 8.5x11.)
I used a Xerox 5365, but someone like Richard Dana at Copies Tomorrow in
Houston could do it for much less on his Kodak high speed copiers. Richard
owns his copiers and as an ex-Kodak service man, does all of his own service
on them. Thus his rate of under $.02 per click (netting you less than $.01
per click because you are getting 2 out of each 8.5x11.)
Richard can be reached at: 800-733-5247 or (713) 999-1006.
Print your covers offset and have a local bindery produce your tabs.
Your 200 page cookbook will come out sorted correctly, so all you have to do
is cut the sorted books in half, insert the tabs, and send it back to the
bindery to do the spiral binding. Send the covers separate - not collated.
What you would be getting prices on would be the following:
*300 and 500 8.5x6 (8.5x5.5 plus a 1/2 tab extension) covers
*15,000 2-sided copies for your 300 run or
*25,000 2-sided copies for your 500 run
*300 or 500 sets of 6 tabs printed 2-sides
*Inserting the cover, punch and spiral bind
You could take a 30-40% markup easily on this job even in a competitive area.
If you are in the boonies, I would go for 50%. Even better, try and find out
what the customer's budget is and come close to that price.
Don't forget to include any shipping charges and take your markup on those
charges also.
Turn around time should be two to three days outside at the copy shop, no
more than a week at the bindery, plus your shipping time.
I have done scores of cookbooks like this and to an individual my customers
love the quality and the price.
Things to watch out for...
*If you aren't doing the high speed copying in-house, make certain you are
dealing with someone who knows what he is doing. I like dealing with Richard
Dana because more often than not he has saved my butt when I had left out a
blank page or ended up sending a page that had a mark of some kind or another
that we had overlooked.
*Don't try to use this process on halftones unless your customer is willing
to settle for the lower quality. I did a $5,000 family history book for a
customer who not only loved the price, but also the way the photos turned
out. Her previous book was printed offset by a very sloppy printer. She still
refers people to my shop (which I don't own any longer). Make certain they
approve the quality of the copier output - not your original.
*Don't brag about the fact you are running the job on a copier. Many lay
people have the wrong perception of the quality that can be achieved on
today's machines and feel they are getting a lower quality product. Also,
your competition can brag about how they are quoting on a printed book
while you are quoting on a photocopy.
*I would always run one copy of the book on the paper the customer desired
and have them check it and sign off on it - letting them know that this was
not a proof, but an actual copy of the finished product.
Good luck... Cy
C.D. Cy Stapleton
Helene's Hotline
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Tuesday, April 09, 1996 2:59:48