POD and Pricing for Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Hi, guys. Long time, no see.

I'm preparing to produce CAH:S2 as a full-color hardback book and I looked at the lulu pricing estimate for it and, while I certainly wasn't shocked, I was a bit dismayed. It is to be a 150-page book and, for a single book, it's going to cost $27.03. I've always known that color printing increases the production cost exponentially, but it makes me wonder what kind of a price tag I should put on it. On one hand, I need to make a profit. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much would-be customers will pay for a 150-page book. The layout looks professional (I'm biased, though, as I have done it myself this time) and the art is genre-appropriate/good. I feel the presentation and substance of the material is very strong. But is that enough? Could I justify a $39.99 price tag or will people give it a pass automatically?

I have also considered offering it as a b&w book as well, which gives the customer a choice in the matter. Do you guys feel that this is a good idea?

BTW, you can check out our promotional material for CAH:S2 here, so you can judge pricing issues:

Sample Chapter: http://www.scribd.com/full/6075905?access_key=key-12rzcba8j0crxt03m0z8
Playset (Demo): http://www.scribd.com/full/6075830?access_key=key-7ijzthamq4fxgvqkxp4

Anyway, I'm just looking for some opinions on the matter.

Thanks in advance.

[Valamir]

Why Lulu?

I doubt Lulu is a cost effective choice for full color hardcover that you actually expect to sell for profit.

[iago]

Print on Demand is not well-equipped to do color, nor is it well-equipped to do hardcover, when it comes down to it.  Combine both and you have a witches' brew of factors that will drive your costs up, steeply.

My usual other point of comparison to Lulu is Lightning Source.  With LS, there are setup fees (usually about $75 in total) to get your job ready to go.  Near as I can tell, Lightning Source either does hardcover with black and white interior, or paperback with color interior -- no color interior, hardcover options that I can find in the pricing schedules I've downloaded.

A 150-page 8.5x11 color interior PAPERBACK through Lightning Source would cost about $16.50 per unit after setup expenses.  (They have bulk discounts that start kicking in at around 50 copies.)

But color hardcover? No dice, at least not that I can find. But I wouldn't be startled if the result landed withing sighting distance of Lulu's.  Lulu's going to be the most expensive option out there, but few will get drastically less expensive than that without going to a non-POD, high-quantity print method.

Personally, my recommendation would be to back off of color interior and hardcover if POD's your only option.

[guildofblades]

Well, we don't do hard covers, but for soft covers we can do mixed B&W and color page books (with the right file setup). So if you are going full color for the artwork, but have pages within the book that are B&W as well, that could save you a goodly amount. Our per page rates run $.10 color and $.022 for B&W (not counting cover and binding).

Could be that maybe you want a deluxe collectors hard cover for those willing to pay for it, then a soft cover for the rest of the market.

Ryan S. Johnson
Guild of Blades Retail Group - http://www.guildofblades.com/retailgroup.php
Guild of Blades Publishing Group - http://www.guildofblades.com
1483 Online - http://www.1483online.com

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Why Lulu?

I doubt Lulu is a cost effective choice for full color hardcover that you actually expect to sell for profit.

I'm not necessarily married to the idea of using Lulu; it was just that I've seen their products and was impressed by the quality. I'll also be looking around. If I can find a less expensive alternative that also boasts quality print/binding quality, then I'll definitely jump on it.

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Print on Demand is not well-equipped to do color, nor is it well-equipped to do hardcover, when it comes down to it.  Combine both and you have a witches' brew of factors that will drive your costs up, steeply.

My usual other point of comparison to Lulu is Lightning Source.  With LS, there are setup fees (usually about $75 in total) to get your job ready to go.  Near as I can tell, Lightning Source either does hardcover with black and white interior, or paperback with color interior -- no color interior, hardcover options that I can find in the pricing schedules I've downloaded.

A 150-page 8.5x11 color interior PAPERBACK through Lightning Source would cost about $16.50 per unit after setup expenses.  (They have bulk discounts that start kicking in at around 50 copies.)

But color hardcover? No dice, at least not that I can find. But I wouldn't be startled if the result landed withing sighting distance of Lulu's.  Lulu's going to be the most expensive option out there, but few will get drastically less expensive than that without going to a non-POD, high-quantity print method.

Personally, my recommendation would be to back off of color interior and hardcover if POD's your only option.

Thanks for the heads up on Lightning Source. I appreciate it.

As for the issue of backing off of color/hardback, I very much at least want it to be available in that form, even if I have to also do a b&w softback version too. The reason is that the retro-toons that CAH:S2 is based on were extremely colorful and vibrant, and it just feels wrong not to follow suit with the game book. I think it makes the product feel kind of flat in this case. Granted, I love b&w books, but for this genre, it's a real detriment to the overall feel, in my opinion.

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

Well, we don't do hard covers, but for soft covers we can do mixed B&W and color page books (with the right file setup). So if you are going full color for the artwork, but have pages within the book that are B&W as well, that could save you a goodly amount. Our per page rates run $.10 color and $.022 for B&W (not counting cover and binding).

Could be that maybe you want a deluxe collectors hard cover for those willing to pay for it, then a soft cover for the rest of the market.

Ryan S. Johnson
Guild of Blades Retail Group - http://www.guildofblades.com/retailgroup.php
Guild of Blades Publishing Group - http://www.guildofblades.com
1483 Online - http://www.1483online.com

Your prices are definitely good. I will definitely consider your services, as we have other products in the works as well.

I like your idea about offering the deluxe, limited edition version as well as the less expensive alternative.