How Many Books???

Writer-2-Author

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I'm trying to find out how many books a publisher generally prints for a first time book??? Any ideas???

Thanks,
Robin
 

MartinD

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Robin, I know this doesn't help much, but it depends on the publisher. Is it one of the Big Six? Or a smaller outfit?

The subject matter is a factor, too. A specialty book usually has a small run and a nonfiction book may have a different press run than fiction or a coffee table book or ... well, you get the drift.
 

Writer-2-Author

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Hi MartinD,

I am writing a memoir which is still in the process. I do understand it would depend on the publisher, but what would each start with: 500, 1,000, 5,000??? I have no idea and haven't been able to find out on Google!!! LOL!!! Just trying to get a rough idea on how the publishing world works.

Thanks,
Robin
 

Becca C.

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It's impossible to pin it down, but I'd say usually in the thousands. It's not super important for a writer to know, though, in the grand scheme of things.
 

JSSchley

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Robin,

Point one, be careful not to put your cart ahead of the horse. :) You've still got to sell that bad boy first, THEN you can worry about how many the house is going to print. (And it still won't be something you'll have ANY say in whatsoever, FYI.)

It costs a lot of money to start an offset print job--you pay the printer for their time and their staff, plus the cost of creating the "plates" (even though this is increasingly done digitally) for printing the pages and the dustjacket and any embossing that is done to the cover. So I would say it's pretty rare to see a run smaller than 1,000 books, because it's just not cost-effective if the book is only going to end up being $24.95 or less.

And it varies wildly from house to house, line to line, and title to title. The first print run of Harry Potter 1 was 1,500 copies. The first print run of Harry Potter 7 was in the millions and took the combined efforts of presses all across the United States. It's all about how much the publisher can predict selling, how much they'll sell it for, etc. etc.
 
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Writer-2-Author

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Thank you everyone! The reason I'm asking is because I am putting together a "contract" of sorts with another person who has contributed to my book. It'll say something like "after x many books are sold, this person will receive y percentage of all future copies of this book." Something like that. So that's why I've been searching for an idea on what a first print run would be.

Yes, the book must be finished first, then agent-ed, then editor-ed, then published-ed, then printed!!! LOL!!!

Thanks,
Robin
 

colealpaugh

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These stats are somewhere else on AW, but here's link to Para Publishing that's now five or so years old:


http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/statistics.cfm



Book Printing
Most initial print runs are 5,000 copies.
--Publishing for Profit by Tom Woll. Page 113. [email protected]
4,986 was the average first press run; second printings averaged 4,776. ---PMA survey of members, 1998. http://www.PMAonline.org
The first print run for a mid-list book by a larger publisher is 10-15,000 books.
--Brian DeFiore, Maui Writers Conference.
http://www.defioreandco.com/
A larger publisher must sell 10,000 books to break even.
--Brian DeFiore, Maui Writers Conference.
http://www.defioreandco.com/
Larger publishers have shifted their philosophy from a humongous first print run to a market reality run.
--Jean Srnecz, VP, Baker & Taylor. 1998. http://www.BTOL.com
Also see
http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=resource/produce.html
“And the book, apparently has real promise: the house has announced a first printing of 350,000, which means that if they’re really printing even a third of that, they’re pretty optimistic.”
--Sara Nelson, Publishers Weekly, July 25, 2005
 

JSSchley

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Thank you everyone! The reason I'm asking is because I am putting together a "contract" of sorts with another person who has contributed to my book. It'll say something like "after x many books are sold, this person will receive y percentage of all future copies of this book." Something like that. So that's why I've been searching for an idea on what a first print run would be.

Yes, the book must be finished first, then agent-ed, then editor-ed, then published-ed, then printed!!! LOL!!!

Thanks,
Robin

Robin, most publishing contracts are tiered that way, so that when you sell a certain number of copies, your royalty rate goes up. (there are usually three rates, and the number of copies sold depends on the house/number printed, etc.) You could agree to give your friend a certain percentage of the royalty no matter what, and then as the royalty goes up, so will the amount your friend makes.

That said. It's probably better, if there are two contributors, for your friend to be included on the contract itself, instead of you having a subcontract. Your friends rights will be much better protected that way. For instance, super worse-case scenario, but say you die and your book is still in print. With a subcontract, the publisher pays to your estate, and your estate maybe doesn't know what to do with the money. If your friend is on the real contract, they pay your friend her share, no matter what.
 

Writer-2-Author

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Hi JSSchley,
That said. It's probably better, if there are two contributors, for your friend to be included on the contract itself, instead of you having a subcontract. Your friends rights will be much better protected that way. For instance, super worse-case scenario, but say you die and your book is still in print. With a subcontract, the publisher pays to your estate, and your estate maybe doesn't know what to do with the money. If your friend is on the real contract, they pay your friend her share, no matter what.

That's a great idea! I had no idea how they work that. Thank you!

Thanks,
Robin