Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
Editorial work is a "fixed cost" because it happens once, before the book is sold. Once the book is ready for market, the editorial costs are all complete (barring the occasional revision-for-a-few-typos, which should be negligible). Printing costs, OTOH, are variable: they change according to how many copies of the book you sell.
Once the book is in the market, you can say, "the editing for this book cost $1500." Or $200. Or $8750. Or whatever. It's done; fixed. The appeal for that book, how well it does in the marketplace, doesn't affect the editing costs; those were committed before the market got access to the book.
The decision to commit a certain amount for editing is based on the publisher's beliefs about the marketplace; that's a different issue entirely.
Print costs are not fixed. You can't say, "the printing for this book cost $10,000." Or $2500. Or $30,000. Until you are all done selling that book, you don't know what the printing costs are.
The printing costs *are* affected by the market, both in the matter of "how many books get printed" and "how many get printed at the same time." Printing costs are in constant flux until the book is declared off the market entirely.
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I was thinking "set cost", rather than the traditional and accurate definition of "fixed cost" in business. My apologies!