T206 Book?

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I have been working on a boxing card book for over a year. It is basically done and I have been exploring how to get it published.

There are a number of ways to cut costs and get a product out there (forgive me if I step on printers' toes here--my goal is simply to get the information out there in a usable format and not create a coffee table masterpiece that will cost $40 to buy and that requires a hefty financial commitment to produce).

Going at it as inexpensively as possible, it is unrealistic to expect to pay less than $20 for a solid 150 page illustrated book. The absolute cheapest way to do it is as follows:

Forget color; it is cost-prohibitive. In this day and age, it is also not necessary. You can easily produce a CD-ROM of the images in color for a buck. I plan to offer all of the book images on CD for a couple of bucks.

Forget fancy layouts and photography: I created my opus on Microsoft Publisher, embedding the best scans I could find for the illustrations. Since I have some graphic arts background from my days of part time jobs, conceptualizing and laying out the book was no big deal. I did it as I went along. After a few pages I settled on a format and the rest was easy.

Forget about high quality glossy papers and fancy covers: I am going to issue the book on regular paper either printed out with a laser printer or copied by a high-grade photocopier. That costs $0.07 per side. 150 pages = $10.50. Binding and cover stock will run another $5 or so per copy to generate a completed product with tape binding, a heavy stock cover and regular (20#) paper insides. Roughly this format seems to work for many hobby publications. In terms of materials, the Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards reprint that VCBC offered was pretty much like this, except for a nice full color cover. Another idea I had was to issue the book in looseleaf format so that I could issue updated pages as new cards were added to checklists, pricing changed, etc. My legal publications all do things this way--you get a basic book which goes into a looseleaf and then every year or so you receive updates on a subscription basis.

Forget printing runs of thousands of books then trying to retail them: By going the route I have chosen, you eliminate the need to set up printing and run thousands of copies. I plan to print 10 copies, put them out there for sale, and print more as I need them. I also plan to offer the book in alternative formats at cheaper rates. The book has three sections: 19th century, 20th century and exhibit cards. If a collector wants only one section, I will produce it and sell it for a lesser amount than the cost of all three sections.

I don't plan on making a living on the book--I wrote it to add knowledge to the hobby, make a little money, and have fun. My point is that if you want to publish for the "love of the sport" you can figure out how to do it without breaking the bank in this high tech age.