[Hell for Leather RPG] Things You Gotta Do Before Printing
Sebastian K. Hickey:
[This post should have been made on the 21st June]
Dear Diary,
I just got a quote for shipping from Fidlar Doubleday. The cost (excluding VAT and other taxe) is $80.77 just for postage. It looks like I've got two options. Either I get the proof sent via email as a PDF or I send it to someone in the U.S. who I can trust to give me accurate feedback.
Would anyone like to help me out?
Sebastian.
Sebastian K. Hickey:
[This post should have been made on the 26th June]
Dear Diary,
My contact at Fidlar Doubleday relocated to San Fransisco. I didn't think much of it at first. But today, as I was trying to calculate how wide my spine would need to be in the cover artwork, I realised it could have been a serious problem.
My contact had been replaced by a fellow I'd heard nothing about. All of the communication I've had with this new guy so far has been neat and clean. He's given me no problems at all. The only thing is that when I email him, I have to wait a day for a reply (before I was getting replies within the hour). That's a little upsetting, but I can live with it.
I asked him to adjust my old quote (because of the increased page count). It all seemed fine. Today, while I was trying to calculate the width of the book's spine, I went back into the new quote to make double sure that the stock type was right. Holy balls! The guy had quoted me for the wrong paper! He had put down a quote for the rough, thin paper instead of the Hi-Bright stock I'd agreed on.
Look, this is not going to be big news to anyone with half a brain, but still, I almost got messed up by it. If you're getting a print done and your contact at the printer changes, make sure to double check everything before you proceed. You never know what the handover is like on their end, and what information will get mishandled along the way.
Sebastian.
Sebastian K. Hickey:
[This post should have been made on the 27th of June]
Dear Diary,
I converted my ISBN into a barcode today using this handy website.
I changed the "Symbology" to "ISBN," and the "Options" to "includetext." I found that a scale of 3.5 x 3.5 created an image about the right size for a normal sized book. I exported it as a PNG and dropped it onto my cover in Photoshop.
Printers will convert your ISBN into a barcode for you, but they'll charge you €30. Save yourself the cash and do it yourself!
Sebastian.
Sebastian K. Hickey:
Dear Diary,
Having spoken with Jason Morningstar and Joshua Newman, and having thought about the situation at length over the weekend, I decided to cancel the hard proofs (the cropped but unbound version of the text stock and the un-cropped, uncoated colour proof that is sent out for publisher review).
I was going to pay $60 for the proofs (not including shipping) to be sent to Joshua Newman. The idea was that he would be able to spot any problem areas in the print run.
I still think it's a sound plan.
Except, with the looming GenCon deadline, I'm concerned that it will be a waste of time. By that, I mean that if the soft proofs are okay, I don't think that anyone unfamiliar with the project will be able to easily find problems with the printed layout. Okay, sure they'll be able to tell me if my layout sucks, but they probably won't be able to notice inconsistencies between the soft and hard proofs. So, essentially, I'd be asking Joshua to critique my layout, which is a consuming task and, since I won't have time to make changes, would be completely unnecessary.
It wasn't an easy decision. It's a huge gamble. Like, if Fidlar Doubleday are incompetent, I could end up with fifty copies of illegible print and I won't have any comeback. A dangerous gamble?
If I was more worried about the colour accuracy on the front cover, or if the layout held more importance to me, I think I would have gone for the remote proofing option (or I would have paid the $120 for the proofs to be sent to Ireland). As it stands, I'm concerned with getting copies to GenCon. I don't think I'm going to sell 50 copies in the next year, so it's important to me to keep the costs down and to get the game to the biggest markets. I hope it pays off.
Sebastian.
Sebastian K. Hickey:
Dear Diary,
Today I uploaded the proof PDFs to CPI (aka Anthony Rowe). The modified cost of each book (not including the setup fee) will be £1.84. CPI include a bound sample for proofing! That means I'll get to see the book in all its readiness before I commit to the 50 prints. Things are so much easier when you print things in your own continent.
Sebastian.
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