A friend on mine, Angelo Solera, is in the process of publishing his first book under his own imprint. We have talked quite a bit about the steps he’s following as he is publishing, and I have been really impressed. I think he has a great book, and he seems to be doing everything right. He’s taking his time, doing his research, making the financial and time investments wisely and as necessary.
Most of what he is doing is by the book, and I encourage him to continue in this way. But he did something that surprised me a little… and when he explained why, I had to admit it was a great idea.
Angelo went with a local printer. Now, I know a half a dozen printers around the world, and could easily come up with more with a little looking. I know that some are better at one thing, and others may be cheaper at other things. I have always accepted that working with remote printers offers the flexibility to compare price, quality and satisfaction. By casting a really wide net, you are more likely to find something that works for you.
So, at first, I thought Angelo may have made a mistake. He would be paying more. What kind of service would he be getting? Obviously, I mean, obviously, he could get a much better deal by looking outside of the Baltimore area.
But then I started to think about it. Angelo isn’t going to have to pay freight. The printer offered to put a copy of the book in Angelo’s hand before going to full press. Angelo got to visit the printer, meet the people who would be printing his book, and tour the shop before committing to anything.
He had shopped around, and found lower prices online. But the savings in freighting the books, as well as the personal connection he was able to make with the printer far outweigh any saving he might have realized printing elsewhere.
And of course, this is not even to mention the benefit to the local economy.
Thanks Angelo… great strategy. I just had to pass it along.
The next time you are considering printing options for a publishing project, please consider going local. It may very well be the right way to go.
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September 20th, 2008 at 3:18 PM
As a book printer, I couldn’t agree more with you. Authors in the Salt Lake City, Utah area where we are located love coming into our shop and meeting with us personally. However, we have also printed books for authors as far away as Amsterdam. I still scratch my head as to why. I can only assume these far-away authors are getting a better deal with us, even with the shipping, than they can at home. Oh, and authors should insist on seeing a hard-copy proof. We send a proof out at our cost because the last thing we want is to have an author return his or her books. It’s much cheaper to put a proof in the mail. And don’t let your printer charge you for the first proof because the proof is really protecting the printer. http://www.authorsonthenet.com
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:19 AM
Thanks for the great comments guys!Phil – glad to know your out there doing great printing work for indies. I think your advice re proof copies is excellent. I’m glad to have heard that articulated by a printer.Thanks again!