One of my many hats includes photographer (more of a beret, I suppose) and I
have recently joined with others to form a publications company that would
include specialty calendars in the product line. Given my interest in LBC's
and Triumph (64TR4 & 65 TR4A liveaxle) I had already daydreamed a bit about a
Triumph and/or LBC calendar. The truth is we were doing our homework and
preparation with an eye to a line for next year but...there may still be time
for 1999.
The best production method for nice high quality calendars is still the four
color separation printing process (six now available) but quantity is an
overwhelming factor in the price. For a low run like 500, printing alone would
be very high and there are other costs even in addition to putting the
calendars together and mailing them out. As for the photography itself, I have
no doubt that the list could take care of that and then some so that doesn't
have to be a factor in the cost. But factor in the other steps like scanning,
composition, color separations and making the plates and even selling direct
(no distributor) the overall finished price might still be in the
$13.95-$14.95 range. Not exorbitant but not cheap. (I am aware that with
todays technology, it is becoming (has become?) possible to print directly
from discs. However, I don't know a printshop in the area with that capability
and I don't know how that affects the costs.)
So the main initial questions are how many would buy one and is the price
reasonable? (If somone else wants to verify the economics of this, I'll
happily stand corrected.)
One additional thoguht on quantity that can help the situation. This is the
only list I'm on but I know there's and MG list and I assume others. As I've
already implied and I'm sure most of you already understand, the per unit cost
falls as the quantity goes up. And - the plates can be changed at a relatively
low cost so that a higher run of different calendars can reduce the cost. For
example, you could do a run of 2000 (500 Triumph, 500 MG, 500 Austin, 500
Jaguar, e.g) and that would lower the printing costs. Keep in mind, however,
that more photography means additional costs of doing the separations and
other parts of the process, but if its feasible to get other marques involved
- and if there's a way of doing some fairly rapid marketing to maximize the
run - it might be possible.
Please do not construe this message as a firm offer to do this for the price
stated. If it appears feasible, and we got a sense of the numbers involved, I
would get a specific quote for a finished product. In the meantime, the floor
is open for discussion.
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