Limited Edition Books - Pre-Publication Considerations

CONSIDERATIONS & OPTIONS

Clearly, there are a number of practical decisions to be made regarding the publication of your work. Many of the more important ones that will influence the success of your project are discussed below. You might want to print this page as a reference guide.

SETTING UP YOUR BOOK FOR PRINT

BASE FEE: We have a base establishment fee of $300 which covers such matters as consultations, phone and internet costs, loading and checking the computer file for integrity, the availability of fonts used and some preliminary proofing. It also includes the allocation of an International Serial Book Number (ISBN) where appropriate, and production of a proof copy of your book including the cost of freight to your door. We reserve the right to ammend the base fee if alterations initiated by you require subsequent proof printing. We will bear the cost of subsequent proofs required because of human error or a technical glitch here at Limited Edition Books.
TYPESETTING: We charge about $2.00 per page for typesetting so you will save an appreciable amount if you are able to submit your manuscript as a computer file, ready to print. If you are doing your own typesetting, we can accept manuscripts in several electronic formats but our first choice for accuracy of output is Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). If you have used any unusual fonts please be sure to include those font files separately when writing your manuscript to CD or emailing. If you are not sure how to do this, we can guide you.
COVER ARTWORK: Our charge of $180 for cover artwork is based on two hours of design time plus colour proof printing. For authors with whom we are working at a distance, a screen shot of our design will be emailed to you for approval. Should you wish to do your own design, it can be supplied either as hard copy (a drawing or painting, for example) which we can scan, or in one of the industry standard graphics formats, namely tiff, eps or jpeg. We can provide guidelines to achieve the best output result.
HAVING YOUR MANUSCRIPT READ AND EDITED: If requested, our editors will read your manuscript and correct errors of grammar and spelling. They will also make recommendations for style changes where appropriate, without detracting from the general 'feel' of your writing. Control of your book's content, however, remains entirely with you, the author, and we will print it 'as is' if you wish, but for reasons of quality control we do reserve the right not to list any books for sale on our web site or with Amazon that we deem to be below our established standards. The cost of reading and editing is $1.00 per page - a modest investment if your book is for general release.
BOOKS IN COLOUR: If the content of your book is substantially colour, we suggest you contact us with details so we can prepare a special quote - the rates for colour factored into the COSTS calculation page are for publications in which colour plays a minor role.

PRINTING YOUR BOOK

CHOICE OF PAPER WEIGHT: We offer three weights for you to choose from - 80, 90 and 100 grams per square metre (gsm). 90gsm is the most popular choice but if cost is a major factor, then 80gsm is quite satisfactory. 100gsm is well suited to a document containing a number of illustrations, where picture quality is of prime importance. Bear in mind, too, that the heavier papers make a heavier finished book which will impact upon the overseas shipping cost. If your requirement is for a more specialised paper, please contact us with details that we might provide a special quote.
BINDING OPTIONS: As you might expect, a hard cover will add appreciably to the production cost of your book an average cost for hard binding is around $16 as opposed to about $5 for 'paperback' binding. If yours is a simple publication without too many pages you might opt for a saddle stitched finish. This is where the pages are laid out two per sheet and the finished booklet is folded in half and secured with two staples, magazine style. The maximum number of pages that can be bound in house is 700. Please note that if your book is A3 we can only bind on the short edge thus restricting the orientation to landscape.

MARKETING AND PROMOTING SALES OF YOUR BOOK

PAGE ON OUR WEBSITE: The Internet is, and will continue to be, a major player in the marketing arena and through this medium it is possible to reach a global audience. It is both highly effective and highly cost-effective - our web listings cost less than a modest press advertisement. Authors listing with us are allocated a whole page which would include the cover illustration, table of contents, a synopsis and a short sample tract of text. Visitors can purchase from the site at the retail price plus shipping. In order to minimise the cost of your web page Limited Edition Books takes a 30% commission from the retail price of books sold through the site. The balance is credited to your account.
LISTING ON AMAZON.COM: Amazon is the great Internet success story, and the place where bibliophiles go searching for books. If you are serious about getting your book out into the global marketplace then you should certainly select this option.
BUSINESS CARDS: In the same way that a salesperson needs a business card, authors, too, will benefit from having a card with contact information and, most importantly, the address of your book's web page. If you select this option on the COSTS page, we have calculated on supplying 200 cards in the first instance for which we charge $95. These may be re-ordered at any time.
PROMOTIONAL DLE CARDS: These are intended for promotional mail outs. If you plan to market in this way, you will find this product helpful. They are full colour on both sides and we would supply an initial quantity of 100 and could, if you wish, design them for use as invitations to your book launch. Our charge for this promotional aid is $95. You can always order more later if you need them.
FULL COLOUR A3 POSTERS: Definitely a plus if you intend to invite retailers to stock your book. Our base charge is $95 for ten posters which includes the artwork. Should you require a larger quantity, please contact us for a separate quotation. Remember that, just as with your book, we can print posters in any quantity at a later stage so we suggest you order them as they become needed.