So last week, I asked what you wanted to know. Maria mentioned print runs, which is a great topic. So, in the interests of transparency, here we go!
When Bleak House decides on a print run, we consider many factors. Here they are, list-form!
1. Author reputation/past sales figures.
We've been exceptionally fortunate, here at Bleak House, to work with authors who are coming to us from fellow indie presses (Libby Fisher Hellman and Anthony Neil Smith, for instance), as well as authors who are coming to us from larger houses (Victoria Houston and Reed Farrel Coleman spring to mind). The authors already have readers, and very devoted fans. If Bleak House is publishing the next installment in an established series, we have data upon which to look back and base print runs. If we're publishing a new venture for an established author, we can look at their past sales and attempt to divine at least a ballpark number for their print runs.
In the case of our debut authors, it's a bit trickier. We, of course, hope that each of our debut authors catches fire. (Um, figuratively.) However, we've found it more prudent to print smaller first runs for debut authors -- it gives us positive incentive to sell so we can reprint, rather than punitive drive to sell lest the unsold books be pulped.
2. Preorders.
Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and several independent booksellers place preorders for Bleak House titles, once they've seen a catalog. We try to get the catalogs in the buyers' hands well in advance of each season's books going to print. That way, we can adjust print runs up if there's a large demand.
3. Critical reception/coverage.
We send review copies to the "big four" -- Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, and Library Journal -- five months before a book's On Sale Date. In the case of a good review, preorders may be boosted. Or maybe not preorders, but certainly buzz. We can anticipate high library sales based upon a starred review in LJ. If we earn one, we adjust the print run accordingly.
4. Warehousing/Printing costs.
As with the production of many items, the unit cost of a book goes down as the quantity of books printed goes up. So it would seem to follow, then, that if you want to save money AND sell books, you should print a lot of books up front and then just chug them out the dorr as demand rises.
But, the warehousing costs money, too. If we print (outlandishly!) a million copies of Title A, the unit cost per book might be one dollar. Well, great! That means that if we sell the book for $20, we'll be making $10 after retail discount, less the single dollar for production costs, less the author royalty ... Still more than five bucks per book, not bad!
Though the Bleak House model is more one of cautious optimism and thrift. To me, large print runs in order to save on unit cost are kinda like using a coupon to buy hand lotion. Yeah, I saved 50 cents on lotion, but I wouldn't have bought that lotion without the coupon, and so really, I'm down $3.50, not up 50 cents. We don't want to have to warehouse unsold copies of a book just because getting that many copies saved us in printing, in the short term. That costs us in the long term.
5. The ease of reprinting.
Plus, reprinting is so easy! The printer already has the files at hand, and all that needs to change is a tiny number on the copyright page. Printer turnaround time can be really, really swift for reprints (less than a month! Sometimes swifter!), and so it's not like we'll be sitting on backorders for a long time before fulfilling them. And, with the right combination of prescience and luck, we can begin reprinting just before we run out of stock, and so there won't even be a hiccup in supply.
6. The rainforests! The whales! The cheetahs in the Serengeti!
Need I delve into this one? I love the environment. I don't want to overuse resources.
Fact: Bleak House's largest first printing was 10,000 copies.
Fact: We learned a hell of a lot, printing that many books. Lots of them are still sitting in a warehouse. Not because it's not a good book, but because at the time of it's publication Ben and I were still learning about marketing, promotion, and sell-through.
Bleak House books are published as hardcover and trade paper, simultaneously. We also produce a limited number (100) hardcover special collector's edition (the Evidence Collection).
It's safe to assume that, for now, a first printing of a Bleak House book will be no less than 1,000 hardcover, 1,000 paperback, and no more than 3,000 hardcover, 7,500 paperback.
Granted, if any of the above listed factors changes significantly (like, say, if we get 10,000 preorders for Delta Blues), our general, assumptive print runs might vary.
But for now, we're running a tight ship. We'd rather have a small first printing and need to go back to press, than a warehouse full of dead trees.
Make sense?
Makes sense! How do you handle things like e-book rights and audio? Are those something you actively seek, leave to the agents/authors, don't have the means to deal with?
What about foreign rights?
I wonder if Lynne might chime in on ebook rights as well. I know that it is a small arena at the moment, but does seem to be growing.
Is this something you'd like to have available direct from your pub site at a very low cost to readers (okay, this reader might be pushing her own wish there) or just sell to amazon to distribute via kindle? Thoughts on the subject?
Thanks, great post!
Posted by: Maria | May 03, 2009 at 02:53 PM
Thanks, Alison - lots of useful information here.
The ebooks question will run and run, at least until the people who invent the technology get their act together sufficiently to make one format work for everyone. Until that happens, I'm keeping a watching brief and not getting involved.
Posted by: Lynne Patrick | May 04, 2009 at 08:10 AM
THis is a really interesting post - I like the low to the ground, tight ship mentality myself. We use it at our store - carrying, with exceptions, only one title of a book, because it's so easy & quick to reorder. Books we handsell are of course the exception. I'm sure your publishing house has a version of "handselling".
Posted by: Robin Agnew | May 04, 2009 at 09:59 AM