The last three parts in the series have dwelt on 'man' aspect of establishing and running your publishing firm. We have mentioned the need to get seasoned authors in part two, factors to consider as you get editors in part three. We also looked at you employing a graphics person for your book designs and lay out.
This last part will consider the machines you need to put in place as you will be doing a lot of printing if you want to make your publishing firm a standardized one.
Get an Office Space
The office space required by a book publishing firm will include a front desk office. This will have a front desk officer or receptionist and a computer system. There is no hard and fast rule about the size of your reception, but it must be big enough to host visitors, prospective and existing customers as well as contractors who come around on a daily basis.
The office must contain Air Condition system big enough to circulate through the entire office irrespective of the number of people there. It is the first impression that new people will have about your organization, it must be as professionally furnished as possible. If you can afford it, consult an interior designer who will guide you through.
The same thing must be considered when designing the other offices in the complex, from that of the CEO, to the accountant, neatness and comfort should never be overlooked.
Printing Press
As a new publishing firm, you may chose to print your books on your own, you may also chose to outsource this if finances will prevent you from putting the needed gadgets in place to run your own press. Please note however that If your decision is to carry out the printing of your works, you will be saving your new company a lot of money. Although running your own press is economical, it has its own challenges. These are manageable though if you get the right tool and persons.
To set up your own press, you will need to get a printing machine. In this age of advancement in printing technology, a printing machine that was in vogue yesterday may be out of vogue today. You do not have to be absolutely up to date when it comes to buying such machine. Depending on your budget, go for something that is not all new but not too old. The important thing is the output that the machine will give at the end of the day.
A printing press is not complete without a color separation negative film machine. This one too comes in variety.
Depending on how archaic or modern your machine is, you will also need to set up your lithographic section where plates will made out of the films.
There is need to buy stapling and binding machines too and also paper cutter for trimming and finishing.
Each machine is manned by different individuals who are skilled and are professionals in their own way. You may chose to situate your printing press in a place close to your corporate office, you may also situate in a different location as long as you will have easy access to it.
At the beginning, you do not need to print a lot. Print few copies of each edition and increase printing it with time and demand from the market.
Warehouse and Packaging
The importance of storage and packaging cannot be overemphasized if you do not want to incur loss as you carry out printing for your publishing firm. Hence there is need to build your warehouse in a place where your books will not become soiled. Ensure that your warehouse is not susceptible to rain. Such warehouse should be a no smoking zone as books too are flammable. There is need to fumigate the place regularly so that you will termites and other insects will not cause harm to your cherished books.
Books should be stored, packed and labeled according to genres, then according to titles. Some warehouse use the alphabetical format to store their books. A security measure should be put in place to prevent stealing of materials.
Marketing is Important
As soon as you have decided to go into publishing, long before you go to press, you should liase with book vendors, schools, public libraries and individuals about your upcoming books. Whatever the category you are publishing, advertisement done will go a long way to boost the sales in your organization.
Engage the services of professional salesmen to go from door to door and canvass for the usage of your published works. Set reasonable target for such ones so that they can be on their toes always.
Your marketers too can serve as street police. Piracy can kill your business, ensure that they are on the look out for people who are likely to pirate your originals and use it to enrich themselves. Do not hesitate to use lawsuits to deal with any culprit caught.
Be Determined
The need for being determined as you carry out your business is high. Like every other business, you may come across challenges that you did not expect. While they may appear overwhelming because you are a newcomer, they will pale into nothing when you start reaping the rewards of your hard work. There will come a time when all that is required of you is to sit and count the money made from your sales of book with little or no effort.
In the meantime invest all the efforts required, stay updated and find out what people want. Whenever you are at lost, come back and read through this article. Wishing you all the best that book publishing has to offer.
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