Ouch. As a book designer, yes, in NY, yes, more or less in trade publishing, though generally nonfiction trade publishing, I'm shocked, yes, shocked at $4500 for art.
The typesetting and design fees seem on the low end, basically assuming only a bit of keyboarding, minimal corrections, house cover/text design, etc.
But the art, oh, my, why not spend that kind of money on an honest to god designer and let them provide the art, etc.? You can buy a serious photo shoot or art from real artists for significantly less and, of course, if you hire a real designer the book will look better than your average TOR book. You can hire freaking _Pentagram_ for a $5000 a book fee.
No, it doesn't solve all problems or assure sales but you are going to get a much better looking book if you move your money around a bit differently and/or let the designer deal with the art.
And, given the percentage of the total production you are spending on art it's probably actually worth rethinking your P&Ls once in a while. What if we toss the art altogether and then spend an extra $1000 on developmental/copy editing, an extra $1000 on promotional swag, and an extra $2000 on design? You might move a few more books and, for god's sake, your books will look better and have a better chance in bookstores.
Not that I have anything against the very fine TOR cover artists, of course.
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Re: breaking down some line items
Date: 2006-04-25 07:39 am (UTC)The typesetting and design fees seem on the low end, basically assuming only a bit of keyboarding, minimal corrections, house cover/text design, etc.
But the art, oh, my, why not spend that kind of money on an honest to god designer and let them provide the art, etc.? You can buy a serious photo shoot or art from real artists for significantly less and, of course, if you hire a real designer the book will look better than your average TOR book. You can hire freaking _Pentagram_ for a $5000 a book fee.
No, it doesn't solve all problems or assure sales but you are going to get a much better looking book if you move your money around a bit differently and/or let the designer deal with the art.
And, given the percentage of the total production you are spending on art it's probably actually worth rethinking your P&Ls once in a while. What if we toss the art altogether and then spend an extra $1000 on developmental/copy editing, an extra $1000 on promotional swag, and an extra $2000 on design? You might move a few more books and, for god's sake, your books will look better and have a better chance in bookstores.
Not that I have anything against the very fine TOR cover artists, of course.