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| The author/publisher, Dane F. Baylis |
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG!
OR
THE OLD DOG'S STILL GOT A FEW NEW TRICKS.
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As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I have decided to open my own imprint. This is all part of developing my platform as an author/publisher. (As it now says in the caption under my smiling mug in the upper left corner.) It is also something I'm interested in as a cost-saving measure.
In that vein, I contacted a local printing job shop and inquired after the cost of having a chapbook printed up. As I'm doing the lay out and design, I'm saving a good deal of money on what I was quoted by another, established press in the area. I received an estimate just under $200.00 for fifty copies of a twenty-four page, saddle-stitched, pamphlet-style presentation. I have a feeling I'm going to exceed the twenty-four pages I randomly chose when calling for a quote, but I don't foresee going much beyond that.
The other reason for going it alone at this point is because I am under a time constraint. I am slated to read at a local venue as the featured poet in the first week of November. It is almost derigueur these days to have some form of printed matter for sale after the reading. So, here I am in the spotlight and completely empty handed. I was bowled over when the production manager for the printer told me she only needed 4 - 5 business days lead time to get this booklet out. Well, that's a small bit of the burden lifted. Now all I have to do is pull it together, lol!
There are a couple of other things to pull together. I'll need to file for a DBA or "Doing Business As" filing with the local County Clerk somewhere along the line, and I think the same needs to be done with the State Board of Equalization. (The tax man likes to know you're there). Of course, there's the design and layout work for the chapbook that needs to be accomplished over the next two weeks. I'm also thinking of purchasing an ISBN number for this piece, in case I want to offer it at more than just readings later. I'm also preparing to migrate to my own domain. And a partridge in a pear tree, la-dee-da!
Whatever happened to, "I'll handle the writing, I'll find someone else to handle the rest of it"? Well, truth be told, it all breaks down to the cost. There's just no way I can afford all the people it normally involves to handle everything, so I hired the cheapest labor I could find. (Again, see the picture in the upper left corner!) In the end, I'll have my chapbook, digitized in an on-demand agreement with my printer, and we're off to the races.
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Meanwhile...live, love, write. Oh yeah, try patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, while reciting the alphabet backwards.
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