printer for book 1

[NastySasquatch]

i saw on your facebook that you were deciding between domestic and overseas printing. As a dislocated worker from the american printing industry i need to know where your printing is from before i can purchase book 1 because id really like to get it.

*edit- an important aside to this is that i used to work for a company that did printing for Dark Horse on occassion and there are many domestic printers that love to print graphic novels. So encouraging webcomic authors to print in the US is important to me personally.

[balder]

Well, the international printer who did Duel in the Somme for us did a fantastic job at rates no domestic printer we've talked to can match. At this point (and I feel bad saying it), after getting dozens of quotes from all over North America and talking to a lot of other creators about their experiences, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that no domestic printer will match what we're getting from China. Sorry, but we're not even looking at this point.

[NastySasquatch]

That is a real shame, and it makes it a very tough decision for me how much i want this book now. The sad part is that most of the printers who did have competitive pricing for this sort of thing are closing shop because graphic novels do not make up a large enough percentage of their sales to keep the printers in ink.

[charles]

Heck, give them some names of printers with competitive prices if you know them.

The problem with webcomics is that they often have less than 500 prints, so they instantly miss out on the majority of bulk discounts.

[dogsx]

Looks like we could've had our books about three months sooner if only a domestic printer was used. Remember that outsourcing can look cheaper, but in the long run it usually is not. When your country doesn't produce anything, how can you expect customers to afford your product?

[gaiaswill]

Remember that outsourcing can look cheaper, but in the long run it usually is not.

I'm actually not that opposed to the idea of outsourcing; outsourcing is really just the logical extension of specialization. But this statement strikes me as truth nonetheless. I've dealt with overseas operations in my day job. There are language barriers, shipping snafus, and simply different operating expectations. This is even true when dealing with people sharing the same language in a different state. The difference is one of degree, not kind.

Going local may well be worth the "expense". Local support (i.e. the vendor supporting YOU) is worth a lot when something goes wrong, and something inevitably goes wrong.

Time and effort costs something too.