Book Size?

[Michael Hopcroft]

My manuscript has finally gotten to its near-finished state of about 50,000 words. My typesetter just suggested printing at 6x9 instead of 8.5x11 like most RPG books becaue of the size of the manuscript. The on;y publisher I know who regularly uses 6x9 as a book format is Guardians of Order for its BESM line.

A 6x9 book would be thicker, to be sure, but would it be more expensive to produce? And would it be any more commerically viable?

[Clay]

Michael,

A 6x9 is pretty standard sized for hardcover books, although a quick glance through bookshelves will tell you that there's no such thing as a standard size. I can tell you that a 6x9 fits more readily to the hand than the 8.5x11 format.

Sorcerer published in a non-8.5x11 format, and that doesn't seem to have hurt it.  You'll have to ask Ron Edwards about his reasons and benefits/drawbacks though.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Officially speaking, most game store retailers hate anything besides 8.5x11 with a passion. I mean, they hate it. Distributors hate it even worse. There are two issues at work: storage/shelving (which is what is usually cited) and profit margin (which is the real issue, I think).

Small books are allegedly harder to store and shelve, as they can't be interchangeably switched around with any other book. This issue doesn't impress me; "real" bookstores deal with it regularly and don't seem to care.

Small books mean lower profit margins. This is a big, big deal. You can bet: a retailer is not going to be interested in your $11.95 game, on which he makes about $4 per unit, as much as he will be in the big-ass $34.95 game, on which he makes about $18 per unit.

I took a big risk releasing Sorcerer at a non-standard size. The only way I got away with it was (1) to provide evidence of its already-existing popularity and (2) to use the clothbound, dust-jacket format, which is too ginchy to ignore. If the book had been paperback, I don't care if customers stormed the stores, chanting "Sorcerer!", the three-tier system would have ignored it entirely.

I like digest size (6x9), or any of the smaller formats. I suspect that many customers do. However, recognize that the customers will not see it, or have it validated to them, unless the book proves big/expensive enough to make for a decent profit margin for the middleman.

Michael, if you have a smallish game text, which it sounds like you do, you have several options to consider, not necessarily incompatible.

1) Ramp up its production value substantially, with a hard cover at the very least. Especially do this if the book is to be smaller than standard size.

2) Write a whole bunch more text, doubling the book's size. (This is almost always padding, in most games. I hate that, but there's a reason for it, and it's at least an option, albeit a debased one.)

3) Get the most outstanding cover art you can. Even a slim book in 8.5x11 with paperback covers can be saved by a truly kickass cover presentation.

4) Have at least two supplements already written and laid out. Include previews of them with all promotion.

Anyone else have stuff to add to this list?

Best,
Ron

[Michael Hopcroft]

With a 50,000 word manuscript, you don;t want to pad too much. I'm not looking to market a $35 book in this genre. My cover price is currently set at $17.95, which trims the marign so small thatb I may end up avoiding the retail chain entirely unless there is considerable demand and stores are willing to give me sweetheart deals.

I"m trying to determine how many copies to print at this stage. Since I'm working with a printer who can print more copies with no changes on short notice whenever needed, I don't need a huge inventory in theory. The only exception is if my colleagues believe I can borrow against my new inventory to support a larger print run.

Aside from which, I hope a good percentage of my sales comes from the PDF market where my margins are much higher.