Guild Practice

I stand corrected ... I've never had anything to do with publishing short of design and helping with mag publishing. And I thought all THAT was complicated! :-)

Sooo ... what happens if the publisher pays MORE in advance than the book actually sells? Does the average contract stipulate the author having to repay the publisher or make up the difference?? I'd have to assume that publishing contracts, like other contracts, tend to favor the larger outfit. Especially since I'll bet that the house uses their own boilerplate contract.

I've always been curious ...

I figured as much. I really didn't see the publisher printing the books and then giving them away, per se. I'd have to assume that the author pays for it in some fashion ...

Oh yeah ... printer ink (if you print at home on your own printer) is more expensive in bulk (not to mention the hassles of assembling the book itself!!)than it is to have a printer professionally print them ... and if you want a printer to print them, you have to buy in larger runs (10,000 copies +, though I'm sure that many presses will do fewer runs, though you DO pay more for fewer copies). And I've heard many, many horror stories about "print-on-demand" houses ...

Patterns, I would think, would be much easier - certainly far fewer expenses. Since patterns wouldn't really require binding, the complicated trimming, higher shipping charges due to weight, etc.

I more than whole-heartedly agree!! :-)

Thank you VERY much for the education on publishing piccadillos and pitfalls. And you made absolutely excellent points on both sides of the no fee vs fee issue! :-)

Your title of "Debate Champ" is more than well deserved!! :-)

No but they do require plenty....the graphics - some designers do their own others pay to have it done, then the expense of printing, and those plastic bags (you have to by them 1,000 minimum) and the photography for the front and then the patterns have to be folded and stuffed into the bags and then they have to be stored. It's plenty of money sitting there for something that in the end only generates $1-2 per pattern for the designer.

You also have to consider that when a speaker flys to a guild to speak/sell/teach all those items cost money to get there. The two pieces of luggage comes with the cost of the airline ticket. Beyond that the cost of shipping boxes of product or paying for extra luggage generally falls upon the speaker to pay. I know some big names are starting to add that cost in to their fee or give the guild the option of fewer actual quilts (and more slides instead).

marcella

Okay, let me see if I can answer the questions

1. If a book doesn't "make its advance" usually that is accepted by the publisher, the author doesn't have to reimburse the money advanced to them. Advances are frequently paid in installments, a part at the signing of the contract, part when the book is accepted and part when the book is actually published. "Normal" advances are very modest, Rick's averaged about ,000 or less per book, paid in the 3 installments. sigh.

1. Self publishing a book is a real pain. It can be done, but usually is sent out for printing. Print on demand is something that will probably be more and more available, but has its own problems to be worked out. It is actually less expensive for everyone, but the quality may not be the best. So you have pros and cons in both directions.

2. Self publishing/printing patterns can also be fairly expensive. That is why mine are not yet out on the market. sigh. Remember that you have to have the software/skills to do all the diagrams, graphics and such.(Or hire someone to do it... which can also be expensive) The time to learn to do what you want to do. The equipment to print the end product, or pay to have that done. (Printing yourself means you print "on demand" and don't have to have thousands of copies of patterns to store. But you do have to have equipment/supplies to do a professional job. And the time to do the printing.) You also have to have cover art done, or the skills, and location, to set up the display, photograph it, edit it and finally print it. And dozens of other things that need to be done to get one pattern on the market. That is all in addition to designing the quilt, or other project, making a sample, writing the instructions, having the instructions/diagrams tested by at least one other person, and so on. Once the patterns are printed, they have to be packaged and bagged. Trying to go with a method of packaging/display other than the "usual" (in the case of quilt patterns that is the 6"x9" clear zipper top bag with hang hole) is very difficult to do. Shops are set up to display/merchandise that format and anything else can cause problems. sigh.

1. Magazine publishing is a whole 'nother can of worms. There are many differences there depending on genre and size of the publication. Rick writes for a number of different publications, and has over the last 20+ years. Some pay well, some not so well. Now the trend is more and more to on line "magazines" in some of the more limited fields. This helps them to be able to be more current and "on top of the latest" information. Regular print magazines work several months out. For example writers' agreements may be going out now for due dates of December for the June/July issues of magazines. Payment is often "on publication", which means that even if all is done according to the agreement, if it doesn't get published, the author doesn't get paid. Regardless of expense involved in constructing samples and so on. sigh.

2. Debate "champ"... My senior year of high school I was half the debate team. The other half changed several times over the course of the year. At the state championships we had the bad luck to be matched with the state champs in the quarter finals. This was a team that had been together for at least 3 years, and had been champs the previous year. For my partner and I, both first year debaters, it was a real downer. IF we had had one of the other 2 teams, we probably would have made it to the semi-finals. But we were still really pleased with how well we did. and so was our coach. (The winning team had a lot more support for debate from the outset. My school had always had wonderful support for the other types of speech competition, but lagged in the debate support.)

Thanks,

Pati, in Phx

SewVeryCreative wrote:

complicated

Well, I know all that, but I was speaking more to the fact that doing the patterns "in-house" would be cheaper (though not in the long run) than self-pubbing a book.

But it's funny that I didn't think of the average pattern designer investing in graphic design - considering that I AM a graphic designer! LOL!!

I've always done my own illustrating and photography work for my clients and projects, so I didn't think about that, either! :-)

That is almost exactly the argument members used for passage of the clause. And I agree with it! That must be why I voted for it.

I am such a wuss. The last person who talks to me essentially gets my vote.

Cindy

Oh, I like that. I'm going to bring that up. You won't mind if I pretend it was my idea, would you?

Cindy

Not according to wikipedia, though that information isn't always 100% reliable. Other refernces:

Julia > Kay: I am pretty sure you are correct. I THINK the non profits are the

You are hereby nominated to run for president in 2008.

Instead of getting campaign donations, you'll get FQs and chocolate!! :-) And your stump could be "A Bernina in every sewin' room!"

Can you IMAGINE how awesome it would be if a quilter won office??!! And think about it ... how many quilters are there in the US? Quilting is a billion dollar a year biz ... that'd be an awful lot of voters ... you could go to LQSs for your speeches!

Seriously, I'd vote for you! :-)

How late do you stay up? I have a few things to ask you .... ;-)

JEANNE!!!!!! I HAVE COMPETITION RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!

What kind of a campaign Manager are you that you let this get by you? Have you QUIT campaigning for me? Where are the REST of MY CREW??????

OOOYYYYIIIIIIIIII

Butterfly (Butterfly For President)

Well, it was the part about lowering the price if we got more than enough that had me that excited. I wasn't going to mention the other end.

Sorry, Bert.

Cindy

Well, it certainly didn't originate with me! Belonged to lots of various clubs over the years, and most of them operate more or less this way. Of course, some events need a minimum number of warm bodies or they get canceled regardless. Another point is no-shows. If people sign up for something, get their money in advance. Give a deadline beyond which there are No Refunds, no matter what their excuse is. If they can't come, it is then up to them to find a replacement and sort out their own refund. The rest of the people on the list aren't affected. Roberta in D

"teleflora" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:ZbYFi.29734$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe13.lga...

We get the best candidate possible with other runners! I'm just waitin' to see who starts bribin' us with FQs and chocolate first.

Butterfly? I'm lookin' in your direction ... :-)

Butterfly (ya gotta talk at my Campaign Manager--that's HER dept)

There is an IRS code to cover just about