Prints and Re-Prints

[Almagesto]

Can anyone tell me if there's been more than one printing of the OotS comic books - by book?

Thanks :smallsmile:

[Zerg Cookie]

DCF - At least 2 print runs
NcftPB - At least 2

no idea about the rest

[Ted The Bug]

DCF - 3
SoD - 2
Paladin Blues - 3
Origins - 5

Everything else has been printed just once, I think.

[Fitzclowningham]

Wow. I would have figured that SOD would have the most. Thanks!

[The Giant]

Wow. I would have figured that SOD would have the most. Thanks!

Reprinting more is generally a bad thing, because it means that I failed to estimate demand properly. In a perfectly efficient system, I would guess the number needed and print exactly that many, whether it's 1000 or 30,000 copies. While it is nice when a book sells a lot more than the initial estimate, there's more wasted money involved on my part, because the cost to print drops as I print more at a time.

So, SOD has less reprints than OTOPCs because I have gotten better at estimating over time, not because it is less popular.

Also, for the record, the number of printings for each book is:

DCF - 4
OtOoPCs - 5
NCftPB - 3
SoD - 3
WaXP - 1
DStP - 1
SSaDT - 0.8

[Zerg Cookie]

SSaDT - 0.8

That meas that 80% of the print-run has been printed, right?

[The Giant]

That meas that 80% of the print-run has been printed, right?

More like that the entire print run is 80% done. As in, it's mostly printed, but then needs to go to the binder and ship.

[137beth]

Reprinting more is generally a bad thing, because it means that I failed to estimate demand properly. In a perfectly efficient system, I would guess the number needed and print exactly that many, whether it's 1000 or 30,000 copies. While it is nice when a book sells a lot more than the initial estimate, there's more wasted money involved on my part, because the cost to print drops as I print more at a time.


What about people who start reading OOTS after all the copies are sold? I suppose this has not become as much of an issue, simply because all of the OOTS books are relatively recent. 20 years from now there might be more demand for reprints...assuming the series is still popular despite having been completed.

[Zerg Cookie]

What about people who start reading OOTS after all the copies are sold? I suppose this has not become as much of an issue, simply because all of the OOTS books are relatively recent. 20 years from now there might be more demand for reprints...assuming the series is still popular despite having been completed.

I came somewhat "late" and still managed to get all the books although some were out of print. My local gaming store had everything except DCF, which eventually got a reprint.
Check your local gaming stores. They might still have some.

[137beth]

I came somewhat "late" and still managed to get all the books although some were out of print. My local gaming store had everything except DCF, which eventually got a reprint.
Check your local gaming stores. They might still have some.

No, I'm not saying I am having any trouble now, I am saying that I would expect to have more trouble 20 years from now, when all the books have been out of print for a large period of time.
Right now they have all had relatively recent printings, so they should all be easy to get.

[Almagesto]

Reprinting more is generally a bad thing, because it means that I failed to estimate demand properly. In a perfectly efficient system, I would guess the number needed and print exactly that many, whether it's 1000 or 30,000 copies. While it is nice when a book sells a lot more than the initial estimate, there's more wasted money involved on my part, because the cost to print drops as I print more at a time.

So, SOD has less reprints than OTOPCs because I have gotten better at estimating over time, not because it is less popular.

Also, for the record, the number of printings for each book is:

DCF - 4
OtOoPCs - 5
NCftPB - 3
SoD - 3
WaXP - 1
DStP - 1
SSaDT - 0.8

Thank you :smallsmile:

[WampaX]

No, I'm not saying I am having any trouble now, I am saying that I would expect to have more trouble 20 years from now, when all the books have been out of print for a large period of time.
Right now they have all had relatively recent printings, so they should all be easy to get.

Which is sadly currently not the case.
War and Xps has sold through its print run for awhile now and is amazingly expensive, so much so that I could not easily buy some sets for Christmas gifts.

Giant,
Despite all the hubub surrounding the pre-order for Snips, I'd be curious to know if you've thought about holding pre-orders for the currently OOP books. Say, for example, you know that 1000 books will be an out of pocket cost equal to 1/3 of that at cover price. So if you hold the print order until you have 333 orders in the pipe, you should be guaranteed to recoup the cost of the print-run. Any orders above and beyond 333 are gravy.

Logistically, you would run into problems if the pre-orders were held too long, especially if a bulk order from a distributor is canceled. But I think that the idea might have some merit in the short term (until you've successfully flooded the market :smallbiggrin:).

Or, if you were a profiteer, you could run off a printing of the books that are ridiculously high in the secondary market right now and possibly make a killing selling them a few at a time.

[dtilque]

I'm somewhat of a latecomer to this strip. I started reading some time last year. About a month ago I decided to order some of the books. I wanted to get Origin and SoD. Unfortunately Ookoodook is out of the former, so I ordered Snips instead. I'd still like to get Origin, though. I'll probably eventually buy all the books, but my budget won't let me order all at once.

[Zorgophlats]

I got all my copies from my FLGS. He only ordered two copies of each to see how long it would tak to sell. He got -1 thru 3. I picked up what he had left (one of each which sat there for a while). I missed out on 0. I'd like to get 0 & 4 but they're out of print. So I was a late comer as well. The demand wasn't there so he never restocked. :(

[The Giant]

I do have a potential plan that would allow reprints to go forward later this year, possibly, but I'm not going to really address it until Snips is in everyone's hands. Maybe by September.


No, I'm not saying I am having any trouble now, I am saying that I would expect to have more trouble 20 years from now, when all the books have been out of print for a large period of time.

Frankly, I don't expect anyone to care in 20 years about a stick figure webcomic about a D&D edition that will have been long out of print by then. I really don't worry about it. Hell, I'm not even certain that paper books of any kind will be around in 20 years, much less mine. If it's hard to find, then it's hard to find.

[Velaryon]

Which is sadly currently not the case.
War and Xps has sold through its print run for awhile now and is amazingly expensive, so much so that I could not easily buy some sets for Christmas gifts.

Giant,
Despite all the hubub surrounding the pre-order for Snips, I'd be curious to know if you've thought about holding pre-orders for the currently OOP books. Say, for example, you know that 1000 books will be an out of pocket cost equal to 1/3 of that at cover price. So if you hold the print order until you have 333 orders in the pipe, you should be guaranteed to recoup the cost of the print-run. Any orders above and beyond 333 are gravy.

Logistically, you would run into problems if the pre-orders were held too long, especially if a bulk order from a distributor is canceled. But I think that the idea might have some merit in the short term (until you've successfully flooded the market :smallbiggrin:).

Or, if you were a profiteer, you could run off a printing of the books that are ridiculously high in the secondary market right now and possibly make a killing selling them a few at a time.

As much as I would love an opportunity to pick up a copy of War and XP's since that's the only one I'll be missing once my copies of NCftPB and SS&DT arrive, I don't this business model could work.

Even with this hypothetical cutoff point of 33% sales to recoup the costs of a new print run, it could take awhile for that quota to be met. If, say, you needed 500 pre-orders to justify a 1,500-copy printing, you could end up with 400 people ordering right away, and nobody else for quite awhile. Those 400 people would then be stuck, having already paid their money, waiting an indefinite amount of time for another hundred people to order before they could have their order completed. If it's not outright illegal, at the very least it seems like a good way to open oneself to lawsuits, if someone hasn't got their order filled six months after placing it.

[JoseB]

As much as I would love an opportunity to pick up a copy of War and XP's since that's the only one I'll be missing once my copies of NCftPB and SS&DT arrive, I don't this business model could work.

Even with this hypothetical cutoff point of 33% sales to recoup the costs of a new print run, it could take awhile for that quota to be met. If, say, you needed 500 pre-orders to justify a 1,500-copy printing, you could end up with 400 people ordering right away, and nobody else for quite awhile. Those 400 people would then be stuck, having already paid their money, waiting an indefinite amount of time for another hundred people to order before they could have their order completed. If it's not outright illegal, at the very least it seems like a good way to open oneself to lawsuits, if someone hasn't got their order filled six months after placing it.

Perhaps a possibility would be to have, not a pre-ordering system, but a pre-registering system. You register your intention of buying book "<insert title here>". When enough people have expressed their interest, then you inform them of the fact and ask for payment within "X" days to make their order firm. After that, you can start the process of re-printing the book (which, given that you already have the proofs and everything, should be faster than doing a book from scratch).

If you calculate the amount Y of people who express interest so that you take into account people who may not go through with their payment (let's say, if you need 333 people to make a re-print profitable, wait until 500 have expressed interest), you can be reasonably sure that you won't lose money, and the people won't feel like there is too much time passing between their payment and the moment they get their mitts on their books :smallsmile:

Just an idle musing, here.

[The Giant]

I said, "I have a plan." I'm not looking for advice.

Keep an eye on the News page, probably in September, for details.

Thread locked.