Hey folks... not much discussion lately on the subject of the comic book... except for Marty and I. I had an awesome visit with Marty on the 4th and we talked quite a bit about the TAG comic book. The general take away was that I need to do some research to see just how much it will cost. That will inform the discussion we need to have- namely, how much does each contributor pay? Do we do it by the page? Will we have color in this thing, or will it be all B & W? We will want to have a few pages in the book for an introduction and bios, as well as a page or two for signing/drawing on.
Emerald City comic con has started selling tables in Artist Alley. Here are the details: http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/artist-alley/ They have sold out before, and there's a lot of folks already listed for next year, so if you want to come up and sell books and other stuff, I would suggest getting on this now. There aren't any rules about sharing tables, so 2 people can share a table.
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Thanks for doing the research.
Okay, here's the skinny:
Lulu:
If we produce an 80 page, B & W paperback book with a cardstock cover it's $7.00 per book. Assuming Assuming we have 15 contributors and each person contributes 5 pages, the cost to print per person is $175.
Ka-blam:
If we produce an 80 page, B & W paperback book with a cardstock cover it's $4.55 per book. Assuming we have 15 contributors and each person contributes 5 pages, the cost to print per person is $113.75.
As you can see, some of these numbers are arbitrary... I don't relish trying to figure out costs per page and include costs for some extra pages for bios, intro, signing/drawing page and the like. However, if we find that some folks want to only do a couple of pages and others want to do a 10 page story, then figuring out a per page cost may make some sense.
Lulu is bigger operation and seems to be pretty reliable, but quite a bit more expensive. Ka-Blam is a smaller operation and are difficult to contact if there are issues with your order. I'm not saying they won't work it out, but the don't really do correspondence very well. They are a small operation and I don't think they make a lot of money at it.
We can work with a regular printer, I suppose, but I think that would take up a lot more (of my) time, so I'm not so keen on that route.
I didn't even get into getting a bar code for retail sales... I think that's overkill for what we are up to, but I'm open to it if someone has a good argument for getting one. All I know is that it's an additional cost ($75?)
Thoughts?
6 by 9 with Lulu? That's my typical format. Perfect bound. They do BW well. Shaky on color. The deal is, this press run is totally flexible since it is print on demand. Unless there is a big discount for the press run you have in mind.400(?)
Research that might be called for is how many issues of a comic does a typical table jockey sell? Might be better off with a 100 vs the 400(?) run.
Thanks for the info, fellas! You are not the helpless apes we were led to believe you were.
Yes, comic book size (6 something by 10 something) for both estimates. Scott might be able to tell us how many we ought to consider getting for conventions and such. It's print on demand, so we can always get more if we need them.
BTW, I've ordered a table at ECCC for Marty and myself. I don't have confirmation yet that it's secured.
300 bucks for the table. What do you think your cover price will be. 10? 12?
Rick, I see that ECCC comes earlier next year, March 1-3. Definitely will plan a repeat trip up there for 2013. You, me, Marty, Ronnie, and who else is in?!
I'm a great business man.
If you printed 100 and charged 10 you'd just about break even. Comic Book for cost. The deal is, if you do the traditional thinking on mark up, double cost, ( I think that's the tradition) you have a 20 buck comic book. Then you sell half as much.
Again, almost breaking even. But then you have some nice, paid for, over runs.
Rick, remember that I have a barcode and isbn ready to use for this book ... so no extra cost for those. Ellis, do you know if Lulu allows using your own?
How much more is color?
4x more for color approximately. If I remember right.
I believe it is possible to have portions of the book color and other portions B & W, so we can accommodate color if people are willing to pay for it. That still will affect the price for the non-color folks, so I'm not sure how to handle this.
I actually ran across an article that said color inserts are too much trouble for lulu.
So it's either or.
One article. I saw another stating the same thing
Hmmm. Assuming that these folks have it right, I'm going to make an executive decision and go with black and white. Color will make the book too expensive to print and for potential customers to buy.
Color is only if you get under some big umbrella. Dark Horse, Image, Boom,etc. Also, you really don't want their version of color with this type of "printing." Because it's actually more like xerography. The paper is not the crisp stock you're able to run through an offset press. It's the mushy paper that takes well to inkjets. Prone to curliness and that slightly damp texture. And the details also get soft, color isn't wswg. Much better off with the BW with Lulu. Kick ass with a color cover front and back and be happy.
I realized, reading an old paperback of Bradbury stories, The Machineries of Joy, that he wrote the story I'm sub consciously ripping off with my strip WAIT. In fact it was done as an EC story that I read and forgot about until now. I think the art was by Wally Wood. WAIT
TOMORROW MIDNIGHT where I read it
Print Ob Demand -Color gets cheaper.rtf
The money quote, "with a short run of 500 books pricing out at below $3/copy for a 6”x9” trade paperback."
Times have changed to make Tom Moon happy.
Seems about time. When it comes to printing photographs, I don't think color is more expensive than black and white these days, but I suppose that might be a different kind of process.
Seems about time. When it comes to printing photographs, I don't think color is more expensive than black and white these days, but I suppose that might be a different kind of process.
My guess would be that you get a better quality result with flat color style. Gradations would be the thing most likely to break down and give averaging and artifact ugliness. Maybe not. We need some sample art to go back and forth from the printer of choice.
THIS IS VERY EXCITING!
Sorry I've been missing lately. But it was great seeing Rick. And this comic will be great!
Marty and I are now featured on the ECCC Artist Alley list with links to our websites! http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/artist-alley/
OK, I've got a question:
How many contributors do we have??
Should everyone limit themselves to ONE entry, or can we submit multiple stories? (I'm sure the posing of this question will come back to haunt me when I fail to finish even ONE story...yikes!)
I guess we need a page count...
Are people still working on their entries??
Anyone?
I work on it very occasionally; just when the mood strikes me. I have no schedule and no sense of obligation to it.
@ Tom Moon:
Re: that sense of obligation part--we need to ratchet that up.
I can no longer do this. No spare $$$. Sorry.
What did we decide was the communal toll?
I'm with you Tom C.
Money is tight.
I'm just lucky they did away with debtor's prison. I'd be headed there in a couple of months
Never mind. It's right at the top. You're thinking ballpark 110.00 to 125.00.
Could end up just being the "Rick and Marty" comic.
Tom C., much commiserations. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed for some good tidings to come your way. Don't sweat the book.
Tom Moon: don't say that! You know you've got great stuff to contribute--don't hold out on us!
There are folks up here who go to the TAG North meetings who are interested in doing this book as well. However, I haven't been as on top of this as I could have been... I will light some fires over the next couple of weeks.
A tally of for sure interested parties would be helpful.
I also need to upgrade my computer soon... I don't think I'm going to be able to do this job on my current laptop.
Something I discussed in phone conversation with Marty. Some thing I might do quick
Skewered Fairy Tales. Something I could do in quick turn around, tracing , improving.
I want to re-open discussion on this group (ahem) comic book...
...just as soon as I finish moving back to California.
(I have been working on my entry!)
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