What is the best company to get a RPG book printed from?

[AlexGrim]

I have read a couple names already, but I was looking for a nice list with some pricing if  possible. I am sure there might be a thread with a info goldmine in it already, but if you don't mind a quick response I would really appreciate it. If this thread gets good responses it should probably be stickied. I think this info is priority for all new game authors. I am thinking about a small book 50-100 pages at first I just want to get one little system out for the moment. Extra costs for glossy picture pages would be nice to know about if you know them. Thanx.

[AlexGrim]

Below is the couple names I found, is this it? Are these the best choices?



A list of good printing presses
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2005, 05:10:33 AM »   
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Greetings,
Take a look at Booksurge.  They have various options for selling your book, and do "book at a time".  
One of the options (the one I think you would like) is to use a script they have that has your e commerce program communicate directly with their website.  This means if I were to go your site to order your game, your site takes my order and sends the information to Booksurge who prints the book and 'drop ships' it to me.  You get the money (minus the printing and shipping).
Another option is to link to them and then you get 40% of retail (the other 60% pays for printing, fulfillment and handling the financial transaction).  
You could quickly set up the link to get the 40%, while you get your company website up to do the other option (which I think they call something like "Livewire").
Another option is to use someone like RapidPOD.  You would need to order a minimum of 24 copies, and then when orders come in you ship them off.  If you choose to do this, remember USPS is your friend if cost is an important issue.
I hope this helps...:)
Good luck!
William Andersen
ComStar
http://www.comstar-media.com
http://www.comstar-games.com

[Polaris]

Greetings,

We are getting our books for GenCon Indy printed by RapidPOD.  I ordered a few extra copies of each title to be sent to me, and I am looking forward to seeing the quality of them.  I have heard a lot of good things about them, and Ken Whitman has a strong reputation from his work with Larry Elmore.  His pricing is 1 dollar for the cover and 2 cents per page. 

Booksurge did Kevin and Kell, and I was very pleased with the quality.  Their prices are 1.30 for the cover, and 2 cents per page.  They are very good for international orders and have solid customer service.  They charge a 'set up' charge, which is 99 dollars if there is a singel book.  This is a one time fee, and there are no annual fees to keep your title active.  If you order 50 copies, you can usually get them to waive this fee (which is what we did with K&K).

LSI:  This is Ingram's POD service.  They are the lowest cost I have found and allow for single copy orders.  LSI also gets you into more ebook sales channels (like ebooks.com, some e-book retailers require that you go through an aggregator to get your title in... some POD publishers actually use Booksurge for much of their hard copy printing, and use LSI for their ebook distribution help).  Other POD publishers speak very highly of their quality in print, and do not understand the reason for using them for only ebooks.  Gold Rush Games use LSI, so if you see any of their books, that can give you an idea of their quality.  I do not know who else uses them (other than Eureka! clients), but I am quite confident that many do.  LSI is, I believe, the largest POD printer.  I believe their charges are 1 dollar for the cover, and about 1.3 cents per page.  They have a set up fee, but it is dependent upon the size of the book.  Other than a large novel, it is quite a bit cheaper than Booksurge's set up fee.

Avalon:  I do not know much about them, but they work with Key 20 Direct (a very good consolidator).  I have heard rumors that they are working on offering the printing of cards too (in addition to books).  I have no information about their prices.

I hope this helps... :)

William Andersen
ComStar
http://www.comstar-media.com
http://www.comstar-games.com

[AlexGrim]

Thanx, you are very informative. I will remember your help.