Small market pricing

It’s a frustrating fact of the print publishing business that we sometimes have to decline a good book topic because the market for it is just too small. To cover the costs of editing and production for a low-sales book, we would have to charge much more per book than the market would bear.* This happened recently, and while I tried to direct the authors to other avenues within the association that might be able to publish the material, I doubt that it will see a life in print. I’m hoping that there will be a home for it online.

But even an online offering is not without editorial and production costs. Advising authors on how to present their content, editing it for clarity and style, and designing and executing a pleasing and useful layout is part and parcel of what we do here at Editions, regardless of the final format. And while an online offering saves the time and costs of printing and binding, it also results in reduced sales. Customers are not yet ready to make the switch from print to electronic in sufficient numbers to allow us to “pass that savings on to you,” as they say.**

I’m waiting for that day, though, and it may finally be coming around the corner with the introduction of the .epub file format standard and free tools like BookGlutton’s Unbound Reader (now in beta).

*For an extreme example of “small market = big unit cost” take a look at The 2007-2012 Outlook for Polyethylene Household Food Storage, Sandwich, and Freezer Bags and Pouches in Greater China. 144 pages in paperback, available from Amazon for the low, low price of $495.

**There are other things to consider such as DRM, distribution, and preservation, but (I think) these are issues that we can find our way through, not solid obstacles to success.