Reviewing the proofs...
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Our costs would be significantly higher.
And, just to be more blunt, our interest in four-color covers is so small that it's worth neither the time nor the cost.
Perhaps this is just my personal quirk. (I do tend to lean toward the "It's all about the words" end of the argument.) However, based on the majority of the comments here, this particular cover is a definite (and, admittedly, surprising) hit.
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I have no idea on price. I had no experience as a sales or customer person.
Just my perspective from a bindery point-of-view. Printing a dust jacket and printing a glossy magazine cover are separate processes, done on different machines. In the bindery I worked at, they were done on different factory floors, and required drastically different time and effort. Of course, each print shop and bindery is different, and will have a different mix of machines and personnel, so prices are going to be individual.
May I suggest we each take a pill of a chill variety? Eh, Do what thou wilt. I'm taking one. Gulp
On a side note: most bindery guys I know are appalled at the general shoddy binding of most books these days. 99% of the books out their are really crappy in that sense. Quality binding is key to the life span of a book, and I'm glad to see that Jim's books reach a much higher standard than the rest. I'm sure that these could all be published with vibrant 4 color covers, with a glued spine for cheaper. And I'm very glad they aren't.
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Binding-I'd pay more for that! My MTP and my 5" thick Golden Dawn deluxe edition are not holding up and I'm still a muggle. I'm one bad conjuration away from a piles of papers.
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Using acid-free components, and having the best binding available are essential, in our view. Excluding intentional destruction or serious accident, these books should last a hundred years.
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@Alrah said
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@Jim Eshelman said
"Using all acid-free components, and having the best finding available are essential, in our view. Excluding intentional destruction or serious accident, these books should last a hundred years."Cool... unless of course, you think books might become an anachronism in their present form in the next 10 years?"
I know from watching Star Trek that, about 300 years in the future, they will be highly valued antiques.
In the next 10 years? NFW. While the industry is changing, and delivery options are expanding, books will be with us for a long time. (And, in any case, that wouldn't be a reason to go for a shoddy product. Bad binding can ruin a book in a very short time.)
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Chiseled stone text and traditional calligraphy are still alive and well, in spite of having been "replaced" over 500 years ago.
New, more efficient media, like electronic media, allows the total volume of published text to go way up. It's just one more tool to choose from when publishing. People who want permanence still pay more for the less efficient, but more durable, forms of publishing.
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@Alrah said
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Chiseled stone text and traditional calligraphy are still alive and well, in spite of having been "replaced" over 500 years ago."Oh, aye! I've been meaning to call round on Obelix to see to the new menhir.
"I'm not even exaggerating. It used to be that only kings ever commissioned stone texts.
Nowadays, every Tom Dick and Harry gets a tombstone. Even middle class people have exquisitely bound books in their libraries, and, often, pieces of calligraphy. Sometimes even full manuscripts. Unheard of before the invention of printing.
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Let me know when the actual birth date is, so I can remember to lay low 9 months later..."
Based on present information, the birthdate (book received and in hand) will be... get ready for this... 1/11/11.
FWIW, this will be within a day of the 57th anniversary of my conception. So 9 months later is the day after my birthday (and the day before Crowley's birthday).
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My parents were married January 10, 1954.
I was born October 10, 1954.
You do the math.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"Let me know when the actual birth date is, so I can remember to lay low 9 months later..."Based on present information, the birthdate (book received and in hand) will be... get ready for this... 1/11/11."
Thanks for the update Jim. I'll make plans to stay out of the big cities on 10/11
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LOL, it hadn't occurred to me until I read your post... that 10/11 is like "next in a series" after... well, you know.
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The cover looks great, Jim. I love nice covers, but I'd buy this if it was covered in old newspaper.