Quote:
Originally Posted by zerospinboson
Please define most of the same costs.. What does this mean? $50k per book by a new author? 100k? I would think that if they could avoid 40% of the possible losses on any given new author, this will result in a 66% larger new-author market. But then, I'm a cynic.
Secondly, I'm not suggesting they try it for "recognized" golden geese, I'm wondering whether it decrease the risk (that is, projected losses) per individual new author that they give a chance. (Who won't cause the "bestseller feeling/selffulfillingprophecy" (whatever that is in actuality apart from a herd phenomenon) anyway.)
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I'll be glad to define those costs:
1) All acquisition costs and editorial costs:
The author's advance (including agent's commission), the cost of both editing and proofing the manuscript.
2) Art costs:
Cover art needs to be commissioned and paid for.
3) Advertising and marketing costs:
One of the biggest advantages of going with a recognized publisher is that they do handle advertising and marketing.
4) *Layout and typesetting costs*:
I'm starring this one because a case can be made that it's not strictly necessary for reflowable formats, but even they often look better when hand laid out. (Look at Zelda's wonderful "Three men in a Boat" for an example.) However, many companies still release in PDF, and that does require the same layout and typesetting as paper.
5) General overhead costs:
Everything from rent to lights to secretaries. All those costs that every business has to cover.
None of those costs go away from a move to e-only initial publication.
All these costs are incurred before they sell a single copy in any format.