Rare Book Monthly
Articles - February - 2004 Issue
Profit & Pleasure: The Bookseller as Publisher
Another major accomplishment has been the reprinting of John Tebbel’s monumental four-volume history of book publishing in the United States.
One of the biggest challenges was deciding how to physically publish the books, i.e. whether we were going to do it on our own, either in whole or in part, or whether to job it out. We’ve tried all iterations and have not yet settled on a particular methodology, letting that decision be driven by the marketplace, rather than by some preconception we happen to have at the time.
We have the capacity in-house to print and bind small numbers of reasonably sized, quality trade paperbacks. This is ideal for books that we wish to test-market without committing to a larger print run, or books that are simply not going to sell very often. When we are willing to commit to large numbers, we produce quality cloth-bound books with pictorial dust jackets on acid-free paper, either as limited numbered editions, or first trade editions, as well as trade paperbacks. We recently reprinted George Witton’s Scapegoats of the Empire (1907) in all three formats.
Just understanding how a book is constructed has been a huge effort for me. I’ve discovered that my abstract skills are definitely more in the two-dimensional realm than in three dimensions. Deciding how large a book to make, what the font should look like, and how to make the jacket has been left up to others in our small group with me happy to provide aesthetic feedback once the book has been mocked up.
One of our early decisions, in part a political one, was our determination to edit, design and produce our books entirely in the United States. We know many authors and publishers who use Canadian printers and, for four-color printing, Asian sources. We find that although these sources are less expensive, they do present transportation issues, and frankly, we do not have the communications and the service (not to mention the ability to have face-to-face discussions at will) that we get with local printers and binders. We also like knowing that we are supporting skilled workers and other businesses in our own country.
Another real pleasure has been in reviving books that were once in print and working with live authors. We will shortly be releasing a newly revised edition of Ed Myers’ long out-of-print bibliography of Jules Verne first editions written in English. Another major accomplishment has been the reprinting of John Tebbel’s monumental four-volume history of book publishing in the United States, a must-have for those in the trade and for book collectors. Tebbel is over 90 years old and with a near century-old perspective is fascinating both in conversation and in print.
For those with the inclination (and, obviously, the time and the means) to start up a new business, book publishing and book selling are entirely complementary activities which have enabled us to “give back” to the trade, in addition to making our business more profitable.
All of these books, as well as others are available by name on our secure site, www.roses-books.com, or by doing a search on Clock & Rose Press at that site.
