Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!intercon!amanda@intercon.com
From: amanda@intercon.com (Amanda Walker)
Newsgroups: comp.text.desktop
Subject: Re: Self-Publishing
Message-ID: <1591@intercon.com>
Date: 1 Dec 89 15:50:20 GMT
References: <25160001@hpcvia.CV.HP.COM> <25160003@hpcvia.CV.HP.COM> <5173@mnetor.UUCP>
Sender: news@intercon.com
Reply-To: amanda@intercon.com (Amanda Walker)
Lines: 27

In article <5173@mnetor.UUCP>, frank@mnetor.UUCP (Frank Kolnick) writes:
> (Btw, printers are really skeptical when you do this sort of thing.
> Which is another reason to try know more than they do. On the other
> hand, when you go back for your next printing -- esp. in a greater
> quantity -- the president brings you a coffee!)

This touches on a good point.  Printers tend to be skeptical of "amateurs"
who don't know what they're doing, and usually with good reason.  Printing
involves a lot of detail, and one of the best things you can do to prepare
yourself for publishing something yourself is to learn as much as you can
about graphic arts and print production *before* you start.  A lot of this
may seem irrelevant, but it will let you tell the printer what you want and
answer most of the questions they ask you.  It will also gain their respect,
since it shows that you have made an effort to avoid common pitfalls.

If you just hand them a pile of loose Lino output and say "Here--make a
book out these", you'll end up being a "stupid customer story" :-).

Especially for stuff that doesn't involve process color, it's actually not
too hard, but keep in mind the old carpenter's adage: "measure twice, cut
once."  Problems you avoid in the first place are problems you don't have
to fix later...

--
Amanda Walker
InterCon Systems Corporation
amanda@intercon.com