Scholarly publishing

[Robert Ehle]

I wish I had access to article Mr. Gribble quotes.  Unfortunately, our
marketing department already threw away the CHE this week.

I don't have a lot of time, but as the manufacturing manager at a
medium-sized university press -- a press which publishes at least two
or three new slavics books a year -- I'd like to put in my own
comment.

There has been a misconception for the last few years that because the
paper, printing, and binding of a book are _significant_ costs in
publishing, they are the _only_ ones.  This is just a reminder that
that's not true.  PPB in short runs (<1000) of first printings are
only about 50% of our cost.  The other 50% is in typesetting,
proofreading, and indexing.  These costs -- and in addition, the
overhead costs of our in-house project editors and designers -- will
not simply disappear by publishing on CD-ROM or the net instead of
publishing on paper.  This brings up another misconception, which is
that if an author has a manuscript in electronic form, s/he has
"absorbed the typesetting cost."  This is an understandable
misunderstanding (as it were), but it's a misunderstanding
nonetheless.  The only cost the author has absorbed is the
keyboarding.  We at Stanford Press have over the last three years been
gradually converting from a system using outside professional
typesetters to using in-house desktop technology.  Our typesetting
cost has dropped drastically.  Even figuring in the cost of one new
full-time person and as of next week a new half-time person, our costs
may eventually be (my guess) just over half of what they were three
years ago.  But that doesn't mean the remaining 60% has disappeared.

Sorry to be so long-winded.  I now have to get back to my job.  With
the permission of Mr. Gribble, Mr. Beard, and Mr. Birnbaum, I'd like
to forward this discussion to Assoc. of American University Presses
list, of which Sanford Thatcher is a member.

--
          Rob Ehle
          Asst. Production Mgr.
          Stanford University Press
          ehle at leland.stanford.edu