Damn POD.

whatchoo mean?

lulu, cafepress, etc.

I damn them all to hell. They call it self-publishing, but that ain't self-publishing. It's just a vendor raping you on per unit cost.

Go the indie film route. Sink some money into the project and hope you'll get it back. Print a press run of 1,000 copies. Get them on some shelves. If it doesn't work, at least you'll have 800 some odd copies of the book sitting around to remind you of the time you self-published.

Starve for your art.

Call me if you need an estimate.

oh that's right. You can do that.
The real self publishing route is a viable option for something that has a hope of (or is aimed at) making money. Literary magazines aren't in that category. They don't make money; they bleed it. Groups like lulu allow a (very)small mag like this to at least survive.

If my partners and I had to lay out for a real print run we'd all three be bankrupt in about a week. This way we can get the magazine into the hands of the few people interested.

Of course, if we suddenly sold a few thousand copies, the plan would be to use that money to do a real print run and get distribution.

But that is likely just a pipe dream.

out of curiosity, though, would it be possible to do a run of say 100 copies? Would the price be prohibitive?

It's all about building anticipation. I have jobs sitting on my shelf right now that are advertising free and of *very* niche interest. They keep coming back, and the people comissioning them aren't wealthy recluse individuals.

"If my partners and I had to lay out for a real print run we'd all three be bankrupt in about a week."

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that you think that "real" printing costs more than it does. Just for shits and giggles, I did a very rough estimate on how much it would cost to produce the 1,000 copies I referenced above (using the information on the book from lulu). If anything, this number is high...

$2,700. $2.70/piece. I'm not sure what your per unit price is through lulu, but judging from the pricing of several other books on there, it's higher, and you are selling yours with little to no profit.

I don't know how many partners you are referring to, but I assume that there are at least 3 of you. That's $900 a piece. Not a small sum to an individual, but it's not really bankrupt territory either.

Granted, you'd still have to worry about converting sales, one way or another. I must admit, I don't know much about that side of the business.

Don't take this to mean that I'm knocking your effort. You are correct that getting your book in print by whatever means possible is more important. I'm just expressing my dislike for the online POD vendor system. It's unfair to the content creator.

To answer your 100 copy question: I think this would be below most printer's minimum order, and would be cost prohibitive. The only real savings would be on paper and ink, and they are the cheapest items in the equation.

I see your points.

Those prices are, unfortunately, out of our range right now. Cheaper than I thought, though. But, if we could sell 2000 copies, then we'd have the scratch to go a more professional route.

Maybe...