logic of low POD sales?

[Dana_Jorgensen]

I'm going to have to look into this.
I've got several thousand square feet of building out behind my house that wouldn't take much to patch up and wire. If I could get the equipment for $5000, that's very nearly viable (depending on costs for set-up and supplies). That could pay for itself so fast...
I'm going to have to seriously look into this.

Don't forget, you'd have to spend several years learning how to run a printing press. There's other expenses you'd have to absorb as well like the cost of a film printer and processing equipment, plate burning and pricessing equipment, etc. Or find a print bureau you can outsource those tasks to.

If you're looking at bottom end POD equipment (basically doing POD on a DIY system, rather than an integrated system), you're looking at equipment costs of about $7500, plus you'll probably spend about a month learning the process and fine tuning production quality.

 

[marketingman]

Speaking as someone who has done the patch and wire, sheck first with your zoning board on the zoning. what you see has a patch and wire could turn into a 60k rehab to get it up to snuff for business. If you are out of the city limits you are zoned agric. and allows no manufacturing.
Stop by Silven crossroads drop me a e-mail to get the full details

 

[madelf]

Don't forget, you'd have to spend several years learning how to run a printing press. There's other expenses you'd have to absorb as well like the cost of a film printer and processing equipment, plate burning and pricessing equipment, etc. Or find a print bureau you can outsource those tasks to.

If you're looking at bottom end POD equipment (basically doing POD on a DIY system, rather than an integrated system), you're looking at equipment costs of about $7500, plus you'll probably spend about a month learning the process and fine tuning production quality.

I knew it was too good to be true.


For the bottom end POD...
what would that consist of? Is that the one you were describing above with the laser printers and binder? With the 100 book a day capacity?

 

[madelf]

Speaking as someone who has done the patch and wire, sheck first with your zoning board on the zoning. what you see has a patch and wire could turn into a 60k rehab to get it up to snuff for business. If you are out of the city limits you are zoned agric. and allows no manufacturing.
Stop by Silven crossroads drop me a e-mail to get the full details

I live in the village (though in a residential zone) and most businesses are permissible here. No used car lots & such, but I'm sure a print shop in an existing building would get by easily, even if it took a variance (they're pretty easy to get here). Strangely enough, according to old village records, my house actually was a book bindery in the nineteenth century.
I'm also an architectural draftsman/designer by trade (basically the guy just under the architect). I make my living producing construction drawings outlining what needs to be done to construct and renovate buildings for both commercial and residential use. So I know a "patch & wire" when I see one.

Thanks for the thought though, it is a very good point that far too few people consider.


As far as the space goes, I could do this. The big question is whether I'd be wasting money if I did.

 

[Dana_Jorgensen]

I knew it was too good to be true.


For the bottom end POD...
what would that consist of? Is that the one you were describing above with the laser printers and binder? With the 100 book a day capacity?

Yes, that would be the bottom end of reliable POD production. You can go lower than that, but the stuff you produce with even cheaper equipment would stand up to a week's worth of average gaming use.

 

[marketingman]

Glad to herar it madelf.
A former lawyer got me into a patch& wire building deal it cost me 17k in lost revenue and was looking to cost 130K more just to get the required underground electrical hook up.
Something to look into would be matching funds from the goverment concerning re-establishing business, since it was a book bindery in the past possible histrical society involvement with free labor project.
I have learned that the simple can be the most complex. And Always concider the plumbing. Because plumbing is expensive.

 

[Fast Learner]

Don't forget, you'd have to spend several years learning how to run a printing press.

No, that's simply not true. You can -- with someone knowledgeable showing you how -- learn to operate a one-color press plenty well enough in a week, and in a couple of months you'd be plenty good at it. Are experienced operators better than inexperienced ones? Sure, but not to the extent that you're indicating.

There's other expenses you'd have to absorb as well like the cost of a film printer and processing equipment, plate burning and pricessing equipment, etc. Or find a print bureau you can outsource those tasks to.

Direct-to-paper-plate is a much better way to go for this kind of printing. Such plates can be printed on a regular laser printer and work just fine.

 

[mroberon1972]

No, that's simply not true. You can -- with someone knowledgeable showing you how -- learn to operate a one-color press plenty well enough in a week, and in a couple of months you'd be plenty good at it. Are experienced operators better than inexperienced ones? Sure, but not to the extent that you're indicating.


Direct-to-paper-plate is a much better way to go for this kind of printing. Such plates can be printed on a regular laser printer and work just fine.

Please educate this ignorant savage: A link to printing and press technology information please?

 

[RangerWickett]

I recall at GenCon last year seeing my fellow E.N.Publishing folks selling gorgeous copies of Deadly Games, for less than $20. I think it might have been $16, for a ~100 page book. It was originally released as a pdf at RPGNow, and apparently someone did a print run. I wish I'd gotten one, actually.

You guys seem to be discussing trying to distribute POD books to stores. I always thought the benefit of POD is that you have a digital storefront, people see the book they want, browse a sample chapter, and buy a POD copy. You send them a pdf immediately, then print a copy and bind it (what, maybe 3 cents a page?), then ship it.

Now sure, at GenCon we were able to cut out the 'shipping' part of it, which probably would knock off $3 or more of the price, but still, I don't think using retailers and distributors is what PODs work best with. Please note, of course, that I've never dealt with the logistics of such an operation, so this might just be a pipe dream.

 

[Fast Learner]

We've certainly strayed from POD when we start talking about offset presses, imo, but if you're going to offset print small quanitities (< 5000) of single-color or loosely-registered multi-color then direct-to-plate is the definite way to go.

Here's one direct-to-plate technology:
http://www.mediastreet.com/cgi-bin/tame/mediastreet/pronto_plates.tam

In this case the product is a plastic film that you laser-print directly onto. The toner activates another chemical and makes a plate that you can put directly on your press: no film negatives and therefore no film processing equipment, no need to burn plates, etc. Very quick and easy and quite inexpensive.