The George Macy Imagery Presents: The First Series of the Limited Editions Club - A new book enterprise!
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1WildcatJF
With the last post on the First Series completed at the George Macy Imagery blog, I'm going to take June off from blogging. There's a few different reasons for this, but the most relevant for this community is that I will begin the production on my first George Macy Imagery Presents book on the First Series! I will be adapting the 12 blog posts on the stunning debut of the Limited Editions Club, expand upon it with additional photographs of the books, reproduce the monthly letters and Quarto comments on these books (as well as the four letters leading up to the launch of the LEC), bring in some extra details on the author/illustrator/designers if needed, and provide Heritage Press comparisons if they exist.
I will share a production video on my progress sometime in June, along with a hopeful release date! I appreciate your patience as I launch an entirely new branch of the Imagery into a very appropriate medium to share information about them: a physical book! Comment here if you have any questions or thoughts about this project!
I do have two asks of the community here, which I will provide credit to in the Special Thanks section: a scan of the 1st series prospectus, and a scan of the Rip Van Winkle monthly letter. Please reach out to me via Direct Message if you are able to assist me in these.
I will share a production video on my progress sometime in June, along with a hopeful release date! I appreciate your patience as I launch an entirely new branch of the Imagery into a very appropriate medium to share information about them: a physical book! Comment here if you have any questions or thoughts about this project!
I do have two asks of the community here, which I will provide credit to in the Special Thanks section: a scan of the 1st series prospectus, and a scan of the Rip Van Winkle monthly letter. Please reach out to me via Direct Message if you are able to assist me in these.
2blue.eyes2
This is very exciting news. Congratulations and looking forward to the book.
3WildcatJF
>2 blue.eyes2: Thanks! I'm very excited too!
I have gotten the Prospectus courtesy of PBB, so a huge thank you for your help!
I have gotten the Prospectus courtesy of PBB, so a huge thank you for your help!
5WildcatJF
>4 GusLogan: No, unfortunately. I will self-publishing the book via Amazon. They surprisingly don't have rag paper, letterpress, or leather binding options! Haha.
That being said, my plan for this release will include a Kindle version, cheaper paperback and deluxe hardcover options. The deluxe will be doing its best within the limited parameters I am given to replicate a LEC binding aesthetic, will feature higher quality colors and printing quality, and will be very slightly larger overall. The paperback will still be in color, but will be a little smaller, the ink will not be as high quality inside, and the binding design will be more tailored to a general audience. I don't know what the pricing will be until I get them all done, but I'll share that as soon as I can!
That being said, my plan for this release will include a Kindle version, cheaper paperback and deluxe hardcover options. The deluxe will be doing its best within the limited parameters I am given to replicate a LEC binding aesthetic, will feature higher quality colors and printing quality, and will be very slightly larger overall. The paperback will still be in color, but will be a little smaller, the ink will not be as high quality inside, and the binding design will be more tailored to a general audience. I don't know what the pricing will be until I get them all done, but I'll share that as soon as I can!
6Glacierman
>5 WildcatJF: For that hardcover, my experience with self-publishing via Amazon has been that you don't have very many options...and color is VERY expensive.
7PBB
Maybe set up some sort of poll or survey to determine demand for each version at various price points
8wcarter
>5 WildcatJF:
Surely there is a better option than Amazon as a publisher.
Surely there is a better option than Amazon as a publisher.
9Glacierman
>8 wcarter: The thing with Amazon and other POD publishers, like Lulu.com, is that your creativity is extremely limited. You can do a bang-up job with interior design, but you get little choice in paper, binding design is essentially non-existent and if you want your book design to have two colors, you get stuck with shiny filled paper. You can do a decent trade paperback with them (I've done several) and they cost you nothing to create a book and make it available to purchasers. Hardcovers are just plain ugly with pretty much zilch control over materials and design, although Lulu gives you the option of a plain cloth cover with a full-color d/j to your design. Amazon gives you a laminated case with the lamination over your printed cover design wrapped around the boards. Eww.
The alternative to PODs is to pay a publisher to print your book to your design. That ain't cheap!
If there is something else out there, I am unaware of it.
The alternative to PODs is to pay a publisher to print your book to your design. That ain't cheap!
If there is something else out there, I am unaware of it.
11rocklands
>1 WildcatJF: Sounds like an exciting project. Just keep in mind copyright issues. Carol Grossmann and myself have been working on an updated LEC checklist for quite some time, in which we hoping to include all of the monthly letters etc. Our biggest stumbling block so far has been copyright permission which we have been working on for around 18 months already. For some books the art also has copyright issues, but this is mostly for the Schiff Era
12WildcatJF
Hi everyone,
Now that I'm back from my friend's wedding, I see there's been a lot of talk about this!
I'm going to use Amazon for this project as A) I've published nine books through them already so I'm familiar with the process, and B) it will have a wider audience than if I went with another option. Amazon is fairly flexible with book designs so long as it runs into their guidelines of margins, bleed, etc., so I don't foresee any compromises to the design I have in mind for it. It won't be as nicely printed or bound as Carol's book, but I will make it as nice as conceivably possible. In terms of pricing, there will be options. The Kindle version will be cheapest, with the paperback (if printed in color) would likely go for $30 if I want to make a tiny profit off of it. The hardcover would be the most expensive, but I will be doing some additional design work to make it worth going for (including a unique binding design).
I do not have the time or money to run a Kickstarter, so that is unfortunately not an option.
>11 rocklands: I have already published a few books utilizing copyrighted work under fair use and have so far not had many issues. Since I will be reproducing the letters for the First Series not by duplication of the originals but by providing the text in an alternative format (as I will do with the Quarto notes), and will only include some (but not all) of the illustrations under the purview of educating and providing information, along with ample "unofficial" usage and a lengthy copyright statement at the front of the book, I feel I should be okay. Hopefully so!
Now that I'm back from my friend's wedding, I see there's been a lot of talk about this!
I'm going to use Amazon for this project as A) I've published nine books through them already so I'm familiar with the process, and B) it will have a wider audience than if I went with another option. Amazon is fairly flexible with book designs so long as it runs into their guidelines of margins, bleed, etc., so I don't foresee any compromises to the design I have in mind for it. It won't be as nicely printed or bound as Carol's book, but I will make it as nice as conceivably possible. In terms of pricing, there will be options. The Kindle version will be cheapest, with the paperback (if printed in color) would likely go for $30 if I want to make a tiny profit off of it. The hardcover would be the most expensive, but I will be doing some additional design work to make it worth going for (including a unique binding design).
I do not have the time or money to run a Kickstarter, so that is unfortunately not an option.
>11 rocklands: I have already published a few books utilizing copyrighted work under fair use and have so far not had many issues. Since I will be reproducing the letters for the First Series not by duplication of the originals but by providing the text in an alternative format (as I will do with the Quarto notes), and will only include some (but not all) of the illustrations under the purview of educating and providing information, along with ample "unofficial" usage and a lengthy copyright statement at the front of the book, I feel I should be okay. Hopefully so!
13WildcatJF
https://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2023/07/02/the-george-macy-imagery-prese...
I've put up a preview of the book's design and direction!
I've put up a preview of the book's design and direction!
14Glacierman
>13 WildcatJF: Looks good...I messaged you.
15GusLogan
>13 WildcatJF:
Your voice makes me (a foreigner) think of Tom Lehrer, which in my book is high praise!
Your voice makes me (a foreigner) think of Tom Lehrer, which in my book is high praise!
16WildcatJF
https://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2023/08/01/the-george-macy-imagery-prese...
The book is on the verge of publication! Here’s one last preview before it becomes available in a few weeks!
The book is on the verge of publication! Here’s one last preview before it becomes available in a few weeks!
17blue.eyes2
>16 WildcatJF: A good effort. Will there be books on the second series (and other series)?
18WildcatJF
>17 blue.eyes2: At some point I would like to consider doing more, but as I only have the complete first series at this time, I can't definitively state what the next book will be on. I have considered the second series as a logical next step, but it is generally more expensive to acquire than the first was, and I only have five of the 12 at present. So if I decide to go that route, it'll be a little while before I can begin that process. I'll be sure to announce whatever my plan is once I come to a conclusion. I'm actually working on two other (non-related) books alongside this one, so I want to get those finished before I begin plotting the second from the George Macy Imagery, haha.
19blue.eyes2
>18 WildcatJF: one other interesting project to consider would be to do a book on select Heritage titles.
20PBB
>18 WildcatJF: What do you think of doing the Shakespeare set next? I know you're piecing it together one by one so it might be far in the future, but still might be cheaper than the 2nd series, even with the high prices for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Plenty of sellers seem to have lost their minds with their asking prices for that one.
Here's a ridiculous listing for just Midsummer for more than most complete sets: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=3804604585&searchurl=sortb...
Every commentary is in the Drive and some other ephemera as well, so you probably have all the sources you'd need. I think I have a few things relating to the Shakespeare that aren't in the Drive yet but I'll have to sort that out later.
Here's a ridiculous listing for just Midsummer for more than most complete sets: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=3804604585&searchurl=sortb...
Every commentary is in the Drive and some other ephemera as well, so you probably have all the sources you'd need. I think I have a few things relating to the Shakespeare that aren't in the Drive yet but I'll have to sort that out later.
21WildcatJF
>19 blue.eyes2: >20 PBB: Both are great suggestions! Both would require money! Haha. But I'll definitely put those into my "future projects" list as both would be worthwhile once I got those collections further along. Thank you!
22WildcatJF
Hello everyone!
I am prepping the book for publication today, and wanted to share some updates.
First of all, the hardcover feature is currently in beta, so I think it is preferable to not tackle that at this time. So that means I will be publishing a paperback and Kindle version of the book. The book is 402 pages, so it's a hefty volume.
Pricing is the next big question. To order the book on Amazon, the book will cost $50 USD in paperback and I anticipate pricing it $15-20 on Kindle. I offer the Kindle option as a means of getting the information relatively inexpensively. Why $50, you might ask? Well, for complete transparency, in order to make an adequate amount of royalties on the book (i.e. $12.12 in the US). Printing costs about $18 and Amazon takes a cut of any sale I make on their platform. The premium color option would add about $18-20 to the printing costs, and I feel that would be a little prohibitive for a paperback (it would like be $65-70 for me to make about $10-15 on it after printing costs and royalties).
However, if there is interest, I would be willing to offer up a special offer to Devotees interested in the book. I can get "author copies" that basically ignore Amazon's royalties, and the cost to me would be printing costs and shipping. In order to make a little profit on this enterprise, I am happy to offer a discounted price of $32 (a 36% discount from Amazon's price) plus shipping to anyone here that would like to have a signed and numbered copy of the book. This will save you money and I will actually earn more this way, so it's win win!
There are a few caveats, though.
Amazon ships author copies at a slower pace than if one were to order it directly, and then I would have to ship it to you, so it will delay the timeframe by a couple weeks to a month, depending on the mail.
I prefer to ship USPS Priority Mail, which may be expensive or nonexistent for international orders. The book will be available on most international versions of Amazon, so that may be a better option for you if you are not in the US, but I would be willing to work with someone if they pay the extra shipping.
Lastly, I need to have Amazon approve the manuscript for any printing issues before it goes on sale, so the book is not available yet (I am still putting the final adjustments into it that Amazon caught on the test run). It usually takes some back and forth as I work through their various requests, but with any luck it will be on the website this weekend.
I would take Paypal or Venmo for payment, and I would need to ask for payment up front to be able to know how many books I should order. I don't have a lot of excess cash or a lot of storage to sit on a large stock of books at this stage in my life! What I will likely do is take any orders until the end of the month, then order them all, sign and number the copies once received, and then ship them out ASAP.
If you are interested in this offer, please DM me on Librarything.
As a sidenote, at some point, I would like to attempt to build my own storefront and create some storage at my home to sell all of my books that way, but that'll be a little ways off.
I am prepping the book for publication today, and wanted to share some updates.
First of all, the hardcover feature is currently in beta, so I think it is preferable to not tackle that at this time. So that means I will be publishing a paperback and Kindle version of the book. The book is 402 pages, so it's a hefty volume.
Pricing is the next big question. To order the book on Amazon, the book will cost $50 USD in paperback and I anticipate pricing it $15-20 on Kindle. I offer the Kindle option as a means of getting the information relatively inexpensively. Why $50, you might ask? Well, for complete transparency, in order to make an adequate amount of royalties on the book (i.e. $12.12 in the US). Printing costs about $18 and Amazon takes a cut of any sale I make on their platform. The premium color option would add about $18-20 to the printing costs, and I feel that would be a little prohibitive for a paperback (it would like be $65-70 for me to make about $10-15 on it after printing costs and royalties).
However, if there is interest, I would be willing to offer up a special offer to Devotees interested in the book. I can get "author copies" that basically ignore Amazon's royalties, and the cost to me would be printing costs and shipping. In order to make a little profit on this enterprise, I am happy to offer a discounted price of $32 (a 36% discount from Amazon's price) plus shipping to anyone here that would like to have a signed and numbered copy of the book. This will save you money and I will actually earn more this way, so it's win win!
There are a few caveats, though.
Amazon ships author copies at a slower pace than if one were to order it directly, and then I would have to ship it to you, so it will delay the timeframe by a couple weeks to a month, depending on the mail.
I prefer to ship USPS Priority Mail, which may be expensive or nonexistent for international orders. The book will be available on most international versions of Amazon, so that may be a better option for you if you are not in the US, but I would be willing to work with someone if they pay the extra shipping.
Lastly, I need to have Amazon approve the manuscript for any printing issues before it goes on sale, so the book is not available yet (I am still putting the final adjustments into it that Amazon caught on the test run). It usually takes some back and forth as I work through their various requests, but with any luck it will be on the website this weekend.
I would take Paypal or Venmo for payment, and I would need to ask for payment up front to be able to know how many books I should order. I don't have a lot of excess cash or a lot of storage to sit on a large stock of books at this stage in my life! What I will likely do is take any orders until the end of the month, then order them all, sign and number the copies once received, and then ship them out ASAP.
If you are interested in this offer, please DM me on Librarything.
As a sidenote, at some point, I would like to attempt to build my own storefront and create some storage at my home to sell all of my books that way, but that'll be a little ways off.
23blue.eyes2
>22 WildcatJF: Besides Amazon kindle you may also wish to look into whether you can make the e-book available on Apple Books.
24WildcatJF
If you are interested in a Kindle eBook version, it is now available for $15: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4LKX58
The paperback has been approved, but is not up for sale yet.
If you would like to save on the paperback, please DM me per my post >22 WildcatJF:. I plan to order copies September 1 based on any "pre-orders" I receive at the discounted price, so let me know if you're interested!
>23 blue.eyes2: Thanks for the suggestion. By putting it up on Amazon I believe I am limited on distributing eBooks via other channels, but I'll look into it.
The paperback has been approved, but is not up for sale yet.
If you would like to save on the paperback, please DM me per my post >22 WildcatJF:. I plan to order copies September 1 based on any "pre-orders" I receive at the discounted price, so let me know if you're interested!
>23 blue.eyes2: Thanks for the suggestion. By putting it up on Amazon I believe I am limited on distributing eBooks via other channels, but I'll look into it.
25WildcatJF
The paperback is now live on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF4LKX58
It is currently 22% off there for $38.91 in the US store. I have no control over that, but it doesn't affect my royalties, so if you'd just prefer to go through Amazon, that is a viable option!
It is currently 22% off there for $38.91 in the US store. I have no control over that, but it doesn't affect my royalties, so if you'd just prefer to go through Amazon, that is a viable option!
26Glacierman
>25 WildcatJF: Conga rats, Jerry!
27WildcatJF
As a friendly reminder, if you're interested in a signed copy of the book at a discount from Amazon's pricing, please DM me before September 1st! Perimeters here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/350640#8204766
28WildcatJF
Hi friends, one last reminder that I'll be doing my signed copy order tomorrow morning around 6am, so if you'd like to be added to the list, please let me know before then!
29WildcatJF
Good morning!
I've just ordered the author copies of my book, so I will be ending pre-orders on signed copies for now. I am considering a potential store front at some point once I clear some space in my house for inventory, and will let you know if I do move forward with that.
Thanks to everyone who has ordered the book via me or through Amazon! It's at 14 copies sold so far, easily my most successful book project!
I've just ordered the author copies of my book, so I will be ending pre-orders on signed copies for now. I am considering a potential store front at some point once I clear some space in my house for inventory, and will let you know if I do move forward with that.
Thanks to everyone who has ordered the book via me or through Amazon! It's at 14 copies sold so far, easily my most successful book project!
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