Publishing A to Z

by Paul Rhetts, disseminated at the NM Book Co-op meeting on June 27, 2008.

Pricing:
There are two extremes:
X3 $5 cost x 3 = $15.00 [55% = $6.75, therefore $1.75 profit]
X6 $5 cost x 6 = $30.00 [55% = $13.50, therefore $8.50 profit]
To keep retail price reasonable most of us should tend to go for x3 or x4

PTP versus POD
There are two basic ways of getting published:
1) PTP (pay to be published): pay someone to handle everything (or almost everything) - You are hiring a publisher
a. iUniverse - $600 to $1300; Infinity - $499 set up/Ingram is extra; xLibris - $500-1600 set up package; Booklocker - $217 set up/Ingram $60 extra/$18 yearly fee; Ist Books - $698 set up/ yearly fee $20; Lulu – no set up/extra packages $350-$500/$99.95 for ISBN
b. Some offer design & layout services; some provide ISBN
c. Some of these take several weeks to set up and several weeks to fulfill orders
d. Some claim to get your book in sales channels and market your book for extra fees
e. In some cases, your profits range from nothing (stores) to $4.80 (individuals)

2) POD (this is what most publishers do) – you are not paying for the privilege to be published
a. you estimate what you can sell in a set period of time, print offset, and warehouse until sold
$6.84 @ - 200 copies
$6.12@ - 500 copies
$3.38@ - 1000 (750 copies is usual break point)
$2.22@ - 2000
$1.42@ - 5000
$1.12@ - 10000
b. you use a printer that has digital technology and can print smaller qualities at a time and still remain economical; some extra services available if wanted

Lightning Source (owned by Ingram)
You set up an account – no fee
Access to all bookstores & libraries through Ingram and Baker & Taylor; Amazon access; Ingram catalog $12 per year
You pay a small set up fee $75 per title (they have specials that waive this)
You handle editing, design, layout, etc.; you provide ISBN
About 7 days to set up/proof; 7 days to fulfill orders
You print as you need (sell) them
$4.50 – 1 copy
$4.05 – 50+
$3.82 – 100+
Places like LithExcel (they act just like any printer)
No fee to set up; Economical copy costs similar to LSI
You handle editing, design, layout, etc.; they may be able to provide ISBN
Relatively fast turn-around on set up and fulfillment
No connection with Ingram or selling channels

What You Should Know About Distribution
1) Store discounts range from 40-50%
2) Discounts can range from 50%-82% off
3) Some distributors require a minimum annual sales to keep contract (Ingram=$22,000)




-- Paul Rhetts is the co-founder of the NM Book Co-op. He is also an author and a publisher with LPD Press.