Re: new grammar book subscriptions

[Logical Language Group <lojbab@GREBYN.COM>]

Advance subscriptions will be relevant when we are closer to actual production.
The dictionary/reference will of course come first, and sales of that first
book may have significant impact on our plans for other books.  But I don't
know exactly what the finances will be, and since I will probably have to
do the bulk of the financing of publication, I don't know what my personal
finances will be.

WE have been told that the standard for book publishing if you intend to
make money at it is to charge 8 times the raw printing cost for a book to
be primarily sold by mail order.  This allows money for advertising,
distributuion and losses associated with libraries and bookstroes that
normally expect to get 20-55% discount on list price, and lots of review
copies.  But in the small print runs we are talking now (500-1000), the per
book print cost for the dictionary may run $5-6 or more  (much cheaper
than our regukar printing by the way, since the dictionary will run over
500 pages), and this would make for a $50 book.

Thus we must cut back on review copies, advertising, etc. to keep the price
down, and/or get donations.

Since we are talking $5-6000 for a book, we obviously need to get as many
sales as possible, and if possible some advance sales.  But the number of
people who will even pay $25 in advance will probably not make that much of a
dent on the total, unless they can expect delivery on a certain schedule.
We haven't met a schedule yet, so I thus am reluctant to ask people to put
an uncertain amount of money up front for a product of uncertain price to
be delievered at an uncertain date.

When the book is ready to go to the printers, and I have a definite price
quote and a delivery date from the printer, it is more resasonable to ask
for advance orders.  But even so, I will still have to make wild guess
predictions of sales. (The one quote I remember for example, was
something like $1500 +$1500/500 copies, which means that if we really could
count on selling 2000 copies instead of 1000, the printing and other costs
would be reduced significantly on a per book basis.  But the JL mailing
list is all I can count on for definite sales, and an unknown percentage
of the 1000 or so people on our waiting lists.  Many will tend to wait till
all the books are done before getting any of them, and that further crimps
our cash flow, since we are talking 4 books at $5000 apiece perhaps.)

lojbab