Print On Demand solving the issue of errata

[Umbran]

Do you really think any new technology will somehow overwhelm the economy of scale of printing thousands and thousands of copies of a product?

It doesn't have to.

To be successful, PoD has to beat the total cost of getting you a hardcopy the traditional way, through the whole distribution chain - that means printing, storage, and shipping, and the required work for tracking the hardcopy through its passage, combined.

It is still a tall order, but perhaps a touch more realistic.

 

[the Jester]

It doesn't have to.

To be successful, PoD has to beat the total cost of getting you a hardcopy the traditional way, through the whole distribution chain - that means printing, storage, and shipping, and the required work for tracking the hardcopy through its passage, combined.

It is still a tall order, but perhaps a touch more realistic.

Good point- but, as I said, I will be shocked if POD can ever compete with mass market printing.

Now, a "print your own at home" system might be priced competitively if you have an efficient printer, because there is no markup anywhere in your print or supply costs. But then you have to buy said expensive printer to start with.... I dunno, I guess it isn't impossible, it's just very unlikely.

 

[Umbran]

Good point- but, as I said, I will be shocked if POD can ever compete with mass market printing.

Unless mass market printing comes up with something fundamentally new that works on large scale but not small, I am not sure, as small-batch print technologies are improving constantly. Eventually, the cost difference will sit not in the printing, but merely in the materials cost.

And then you're talking about the difference in cost to have your paper and ink in slightly smaller batches in a bookstore, as opposed to having them in huge batches at a mass-market printer. That difference might be smaller than the differences in shipping, storing, and tracking stock of physical books.

I think the one big place you'll find a difference would be in the binding - mass market should be able to produce far better bindings and covers than would be available in PoD for a long time yet. My 1e rulebooks are still holding together nicely after decades. I doubt we'll ever see binding that good from PoD.

 

[Elric]

Does anyone know about how much it costs WotC to print a copy of a mass-produced hardcover (think PHB)? I'm sure it's not much.

For example, I was told that a large biology textbook (with plenty of color pictures) only costs about $8 to produce.

I know that the cost difference between hardcover and paperback is minimal.

 

[Umbran]

Does anyone know about how much it costs WotC to print a copy of a mass-produced hardcover (think PHB)? I'm sure it's not much.

I don't know what it costs for WotC's printing. I dug around and found an article in the New York Times from a few months ago. It claimed the printing, shipping, and storage costs for a "typical" hardcover book (so, I expect a novel, "typical print run numbers, no color except on the cover - not exactly a textbook or a gaming book) is $3.25.

I presume a gaming book has to be a bit higher than that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/business/media/01ebooks.html?_r=1

 

[the Jester]

I know that the cost difference between hardcover and paperback is minimal.

Not in my experience it's not- the difference is all in the binding, and usually it costs about twice as much to bind. (Working in a FedEx Office for years, I got a lot of exposure to these things.)

 

[Elric]

Not in my experience it's not- the difference is all in the binding, and usually it costs about twice as much to bind. (Working in a FedEx Office for years, I got a lot of exposure to these things.)

What's the absolute amount of the difference for cost for a 200-page book in hardcover versus paperback, though? Doubling a small amount isn't much.

 

[DaveMage]

I don't know what it costs for WotC's printing. I dug around and found an article in the New York Times from a few months ago. It claimed the printing, shipping, and storage costs for a "typical" hardcover book (so, I expect a novel, "typical print run numbers, no color except on the cover - not exactly a textbook or a gaming book) is $3.25.

I presume a gaming book has to be a bit higher than that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/business/media/01ebooks.html?_r=1

Of course, those costs are printing only and do not include the costs of the writers, artists, editors, layout people, etc.

 

[Umbran]

Of course, those costs are printing only and do not include the costs of the writers, artists, editors, layout people, etc.

Yes. The article addresses some of the other costs in more detail

But writers, artists, editors, and layout need to be done - there should be no difference between PoD and normal distribution for those.

 

[DaveMage]

Yes. The article addresses some of the other costs in more detail

But writers, artists, editors, and layout need to be done - there should be no difference between PoD and normal distribution for those.

Yeah, if all other things are equal.

But then we get back to economies of scale, so if you include those other costs, printing 1 POD might be $5,003.25/book, while printing 5,000 would be $4.25/book.

I think I'm much happier being a consumer than a publisher.