[Publishers] Full Color Products?

[DaveMage]

Green Ronin's new Book of Fiends is due out in November. One of the things that caught my eye is the full-color cover artwork, but the interior is (I believe) slated to be black and white.

I have a general question to all publishers.

As I have read here before, for the most part, it's not economically prudent for publishers to do full-color on most products.

However, would it be possible for a publisher to produce a limited run of a book in full-color, even if it's mass-produced in B/W?

Could this be done, if, say, the publisher:

1) Sold it only from one location (such as the publisher's own website, or through a contracted sole-source, such as Warehouse 23)
2) Sold it at a premium price (say, $59, or even $99 a copy).

Has anyone done a market study along these lines?

I certainly don't think such a treatment would be appropriate for all titles, but for monster books, where a full-color depiction would be an appreciated luxury feature, is this feasible?

 

[Pramas]

No, it's not really economically feasible because part of the expense is getting full color artwork in the first place. That is quite a bit more expensive than b+w, so paying extra for art and then only using in a limited realease doesn't work so well. Also, the way printing works, it's the set up charges that are a big part of the cost. That's why big print runs are less expensive, because at a certain point you're just paying for paper. To do a small run of full color books would require an entirely seperate set up from the main book and cost way too much to justify.

 

[DaveMage]

Pity.

Oh well, maybe one day when I win the lottery I'll start "Deluxe Games Press" which will do nothing more than license material from other game companies and pay for full-color artwork, and give products a deluxe, full-color treatment.

I'd probably lose money on every product, but at least it would look pretty as it happened.

Thanks for the response, Chris!

 

[Darrin Drader]

Oh well, maybe one day when I win the lottery I'll start "Deluxe Games Press" which will do nothing more than license material from other game companies and pay for full-color artwork, and give products a deluxe, full-color treatment.

Wow, I hope you win the lottery, man. That's a lot of money to dump into something just for the love of it.

 

[trancejeremy]

You could always buy some crayons or colored pencils, and color in the art in your books...(I've bought some used books like that)

 

[Nikchick]

I'd probably lose money on every product, but at least it would look pretty as it happened.

Right on, brother. I'd support you in that effort right up to the point you ran out of money.

Seriously, we've been incredibly fortunate to be able to do the Mutants & Masterminds line in color and make it work out. Printing color books *is* a whole other level of fun. I certainly don't blame people who'd like to see more...just wish it were possible!

Nicole

 

[Mystic Eye]

Actually, as I understand it BESM d20 by GOO has both a full color limited edition and a standard B&W edition and have done exactly what is being suggested here though I do not know if that has been worth while for GOO or not.

 

[JoeGKushner]

GOO has done this before with Silver Age Sentinels and are going to do it again with their upcoming Fire & Ice (Throne of Swords series).

 

[DaveMage]

GOO has done this before with Silver Age Sentinels and are going to do it again with their upcoming Fire & Ice (Throne of Swords series).

Do you know what the price differences were? And is the art cartoonish?

 

[DaveMage]

Actually, as I understand it BESM d20 by GOO has both a full color limited edition and a standard B&W edition and have done exactly what is being suggested here though I do not know if that has been worth while for GOO or not.

It looks like the deluxe version of BESM d20 is $59.95 and the "standard" version is $29.95.

I know that in addition to the regular release, White Wolf originally had a "deluxe, limited edition" Ravenloft release, but it was black and white for $59.95. The only differences between versions were a faux leather cover and a page-marking ribbon.

I don't suppose either publisher would share if doing so is/was profitable?