Comic book format

LloydBrown said:

Lulu's costs on this format are outrageous. I just priced a 64-page b&W and came up with $7.38 each for 1,000 copies. Is there anyplace I can do some research on this issue (heh)?

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Ask and ye shall receive.

I would research on message boards that deal with comics, particularly folks who self publish. But I found my best information comes from talking to other creators at Conventions and get-togethers. Usually a visit to Artist Alley or the Small Press at a con area are good places to start.

Below I have listed what I have and have not used.

I printed issue #1 of Beyond the Great Chimney (24 page color cover, b/w interiors) at Quebacore in Canada. Printing in Canada saves a lot of money. The price included the shiping and they where very helpfull. The company prints Marvel, DC, and TV guide to name a few of the publications they bring about. This was 5 years ago so prices have changed I am sure. I got 1000 issues for about aprox. $1000.00 US. About $1 each. Cover price is $2.95.

I originally was thinking of using Morgan, but the difference was the price. The price I got from Quebacore included the shipping, where most American printing companies did not include shipping in the cost they quoted. 6 heavy boxes of books can cost a lot.

I also considered Brenner, but I heard quite a few folks who did not have good experiences with them in both quality and customer service.

My second issue, due to the fact I have hundreds of issues #1 to sell still, I printed at Dreamweaver Press with a smaller run. I got 250 issues (35 pages color cover, black and white interiors) at aprox $2.00 and issue and I sell them at $3.95. The cover has a book style binding on them that gives them a nice quality. Dreamweaver Press is a home based business and then print the book by was of Laser Printing.

Most independent comic book authors are now going twords the graphic novel format. I was part of the Ambition Studios Anthology which was printed at Transcontinental in Canada. The quality was excellent, I am not sure what the cost were per issue. The author/publisher has since re-printed his graphic novel, Kid Beowulf with them as well and the quality was fantastic. Lex also has a self published book with his experiences in self-publishing that is well written. (www.kidbeowulf.com)

I have heard that you can get some good color printing in china now as well. But I am sticking with the black and white for now.

When in doubt find a title at the store you like the looks of and write and ask the publisher or author where it was done. A lot of the time they will be happy to direct you to service they liked.

Feel free to email me with more questions if you like. I will also be at Wondercon in San Francisco on Feb 10-12, Ape in SF as well on April 8-9, and Comic-con in San Diego (table in small press is pending) in July.

Good luck!

LloydBrown said:

I guess the volume discounts come in at higher print runs. Production costs shouldn't exceed 20% of the price, which puts a good price at .80 on a $3.99 magazine.

Thanks for the information.

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Where did you get the 20% figure? I know some pretty big magazines that would be well over that. Comics have a higher cost of production than many publications and a corresponsinfly smaller profit margin.

LloydBrown said:

I guess the volume discounts come in at higher print runs. Production costs shouldn't exceed 20% of the price, which puts a good price at .80 on a $3.99 magazine.

Thanks for the information.

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Ya, the more you buy the cheeper it gets. A graphic novel with a run of 250 copies might be $4.00 ea for 100+ pages, while a run of 250 pamphlets with 36 pages could cost $2.00 each. In the end you just need to shop around and ask folks in the same situation what they do. Conventions like APE are great for info like that. But most small publishers are usually very nice about sharing a great find.

The nice thing about Quebacore is that the price included shipping from Quebec Canada to the San Francisco Bay Area (CA). You might find a cheaper place to print, but the shipping could bring up the price higher then you think, altering how much each issue cost. Of course, you really need to add in all costs (pencils, trips to Kinkos, coffee, conventions, trips on the bus, classes), but I am usually bad about figuring it all out.