Re: Color Printing/AMCRC Decoder Books/AMC Book

["C D Patterson" <cdp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Subject: RE: Color Printing/AMCRC Decoder Books/AMC Book
> Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 13:17:58 -0600
> Message-ID: <092D8CF6635129428E9B66DC582C3B3D9E07E2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> From: <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> I just ordered a couple of the AMCRC books myself. They look great, and
> the color helps. I'm curious to see just what info is included. I don't
> believe in repeating a lot of effort in this small community.=20
> 
> As for the color, small quantity printing costs around $0.05 a page for
> B&W, and $0.65 a page for color, 100 copies (a little more if under 100,
> no less until 200). I suspect these are printed in small groups from
> someone's ink-jet printer. that costs $0.35-$0.50 a page for color for
> full page color, depending on brand and type of color cartridge. Small
> quantity printing costs the same for a color page whether it's a full or
> partial page, ink-jet varies by coverage. These are 34 pages with about
> 25% page coverage in color, so around $0.09-$0.15 per page (per 8.5"x11"
> page, with a page being one side) to produce x 18 pages (the books are
> 8.5"x11" folded -- one sheet of paper yields four pages, but only 9
> sheets of paper -- the cover is not included in the page count and is
> only printed on one side). So raw material cost is going to be around
> $1.62-$2.70. That's including NOTHING for time to print, mail, postage,
> go to the store for materials, wear and tear on the printer and
> computer, nor the time it took to compile the information or go to the
> post office/mailbox to mail them. The books are very fairly priced, and
> from the few pages shown on the web site
> (http://www.amcrc.com/guide/guide.html), well worth the price. I'll
> write a nice review in AIM after I get mine. Note that I didn't ask that
> they send me one in exchange for a plug in AIM though I'm sure the club
> would have. I'm an AMCRC member and just ordered two to support the club
> as much as for my own info. I didn't print this SPECULATIVE break-down
> to discredit AMCRC -- I don't think it does. I just did so to illustrate
> small publication cost in raw materials, esepcially for color output,
> and to illustrate the costs that ARE NOT considered. The clubs actual
> materials cost could be more.=20
> 
> It's worth printing a small booklet like this "on demand" (straight from
> your printer), but when you get to a larger publication (~200 pages) you
> have four problems: quantity, quality, cost, and positioning. If 10% of
> the pages have color, that's 20 pages x $0.65 x 100 (minimum copies of
> the book) =3D $1300 for color; 180 pages x $0.05 x 100 =3D $900; 100 =
> copies
> x $3.00 for binding =3D $300; $2500 for 100 books, and that doesn't
> include shipping/handling/compilation/overhead. That should be a $50
> retail book, plus shipping/handling. Inkjet print is fine for a small
> pub, but a "real" book needs a glossy, professional looking finish to
> get any respect. Binding would be a printed tape binding at that cost --
> and paper back. Hardback would add another $10-$15 to the cost. Most
> books have color pages inserted in one or two sections, not scattered
> througout the book. The color and b&w pages are printed separately then
> have to be assembled -- that's why they are positioned that way. It's
> not the best way, just the most cost effective.=20
> 
> 20 pages wouldn't be enough for a real AMC book. I'd want at least one
> full color page for each model and year, 1954-1988 (only one page each
> for Jeep and Renault, since they are really just "honorable mentions" in
> my proposal). That would cover 4-5 photos each, showing interior
> patterns for the most common upholstery, an underhood shot if available,
> and at least one exterior shot. Let's see... 1958-83 Series 01 - 25
> years; 1954-78 Series 10 - 24 years; 1958-60 Series 20 - 3 years;
> 1968-70 Series 30 - 3 years; 1980-88 Series 30 - 8 years; 1970-83 Series
> 40 - 13 years; 1965-67 Series 50 - 3 years; 1980-83 Series 50 - 3 years;
> 1975-1980 Series 60 - 5 years; 1968-74 Series 70 - 7 years; 1958-74
> Series 80, 16 years; a total of 114 pages (including the 4 Renault/Jeep
> pages). That's what it would take to make a REAL all inclusive AMC
> volume, but a 200 page book probably wouldn't cover it -- think more
> alongthe lines of 300+ pages. The $2500 just to produce 100 books jumped
> to $3800 (binding cost will go up, but not likely double). Now we're
> looking at a $75 retail book, plus $10 S&H for an $85 total.=20
> 
> Is anyone seriously interested in paying $85 for an all inclusive single
> volume on AMCs? No big publisher will touch it, so it's small press,
> which drives up the cost per issue. The fact that it would be around 300
> pages for a serious effort. My old book was a bit on the concise side,
> and was 180-200 pages -- I'll have to check for exact count. I had 3-6
> pages of B&W photos for each series, with no interior or under hood
> shots, and no color except the cover. I'm not sure anyone is interested
> in paying this much for a professionally printed all inclusive AMC book.
> 
> 
> 
> Frank Swygert

Might want to look into this method, Frank..

http://www.trafford.com/

 Created by self-publishing authors for self-publishing authors, Trafford's remarkable invention has changed the publishing world to authors' great advantage. Since mid-1995, we've been refining our services and helping authors from over105 countries (over 8,000 titles), with book sales into over 110 countries and more authors are joining each week. Our books, manuals and reports are all manufactured one-at-a-time to fill individual orders. 


-- 
____________________________Slainte!_______________________________
C D Patterson      Langford, BC. Canada
AMCyclopedia: http://www.amcyclopedia.org
"Red Baron" http://tinyurl.com/77hmd
Registry: http://AMC-Pacer-Registry.com
_________________________________
Don't bother me. I'm living happily ever after.