Path: utzoo!mnetor!frank
From: frank@mnetor.UUCP (Frank Kolnick)
Newsgroups: comp.text.desktop
Subject: Re: Self-Publishing
Message-ID: <5173@mnetor.UUCP>
Date: 30 Nov 89 15:31:28 GMT
References: <25160001@hpcvia.CV.HP.COM> <25160003@hpcvia.CV.HP.COM>
Reply-To: frank@mnetor.UUCP (Frank Kolnick)
Organization: Computer X (CANADA) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lines: 44

In article <25160003@hpcvia.CV.HP.COM> 10e@hpcvia.CV.HP.COM (Steven_Tenney) writes:
>One other question, Frank--except for the software, could you give a
>ballpark figure on how much it cost to get your manuscript printed
>(mainly just the printer's cost)?
>
>Also, how does the IRS accept business expenses as far as writing off
>your own labor (assuming you did set up the production of your book
>as a business).  I knew of someone, who owned his own piano store, who
>treated himself as both president of his company as well as a laborer.
>
>Thanks for your info!

The actual printing cost is highly dependent on the paper stock (best
if you use a 'house' brand that the printer buys in large quantities)
and particularly the quantity printed. There's a set-up cost of
several thousand dollars (I got quotes from 3 to 8K!) , plus a per-copy
charge which diminishes gradually with greater quantities. My first
printing ran about $6 a copy (Canadian) for a 300 page book on really
good paper (I'm fussy, and it was my first book), perfect-bound,
with a colour, laminated cover. If I had printed 2000, the charge would
have been about $5; at any smaller quantity, it would have been
prohibitive. I priced out the equivalent of K & R and it would have saved
me another dollar or so (cheaper paper, smaller size, simple cover).
I didn't factor in the time spent, since this would have been depressing :-)

As for taxes, our equivalent of the IRS treats me as a low-volume 
manufacturer, so I can deduct the printing and materials costs. As for
salary and other such questions, we're primarily a consulting company,
and we're incorporated, and this is all too complex for me so I
let our accountant handle it :-) I.e., there seems to be a lot
of latitude in determining what goes where, and how your doing this
year, where your year-end occurs, and so on. I'd rather write.

You're welcome.

(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!)

-- 
Frank Kolnick,
consulting for, and therefore expressing opinions independent of, Computer X
UUCP: {allegra, linus}!utzoo!mnetor!frank