Re: Print On Demand

[Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>]

Dear Kay;

I agree with all the points you have made. But they have nothing to do with Print On Demand (POD). POD is no different then changing printers. All the things you talk about are basically the excellent services you now provide. Changing printers would not have to change any of that. I think the part that seems to conflict is that the POD printer could offer additional services we are not presently providing. It has been over a year since it was agreed to have a shopping cart for the Storefront. Shopping carts are the state of where the world is right now. If we expect new members to purchase anything we need to have a shopping cart. You and john do a great job servicing our existing members. But those members are dying out. We need to provide the services also that could bring new members. Many people use Kindles. Surprisingly even some in the iris society.  The POD printer could offer the Checklist on the Kindle. The storefront is the main source of Iris materials but not the only source. Our sections and cooperating societies also sell stuff. Unless the Storefront wants to handle everything there will always be optional sources.
	To me the real issue is the waste and loss of income from our present system. We print too much that never sells. We have heard complaints for years from John about storage, and yet given a chance to solve some of the problems we are resistant. I have been complaining to the board for the last five years that the organization has been loosing money and members. It is not a concern to me whether the POD printer will go bankrupt but whether AIS will persist.

----- Original Message -----
From: "kay ludi" <kludi@juno.com>
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Cc: aisstorefront@juno.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 7:43:09 PM
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] Print On Demand

Hello all,
We appreciate the amount of hard work and research that has taken place
to provide this information.
This is the first time that we at the AIS Storefront have been provided
any of this information.

The AIS Storefront was established to provide a single location for
customer/membership purchase of AIS publications and iris related items.
>From time to time the AIS Board of Directors has selected other iris
related publication from an outside source to be offered for sale from
the AIS Storefront. In the past availability of the publications and
custom support have been of most importance at the ONE-STOP SERVICE
CENTER. We take great pride in being able to provide continuing service
to the AIS membership.

The proposed Print On Demand concept means that the AIS membership will
have to go to an outside source to purchase an AIS Publication. 

1. Is AIS in a situation or condition that requires the membership to go
outside of the AIS Storefront to obtain an AIS Publication?

2. Are the AIS Board of Directors and Officers willing to tell the
membership that the 2000-2009 Ten-Year Checklist will not be made
available at the AIS Storefront? That orders for this publication will be
sent to a vendor outside AIS? (As managers of the AIS Storefront, we
desire not to be put in this position. Unfortunately, since we are the
customer's point of contact for sales items, we will have to provide this
information.)

3. What will happen if the vendor all of a sudden is no longer in
business or refuses to provide the service?

4. What method of payment will the vendor accept? Currently we accept
checks, money orders, credit cards (VISA or Mastercard only) and cash.
Several of our International customers have sent cash payments through
the mail (not a preferred method, but it happens). With the recent
proposal of changing the AIS Storefront to a Shopping Cart System, PayPal
will probably become an additional method of payment.

Communication to Membership - Change in policy, procedures and pricing.
AIS has several means and avenues to get the information out to the
membership. However, the changes do not get down to the members. A prime
example is the recent price update and establishment of a Shipping and
Handling Fee for items sold at the AIS Storefront. We still receive
orders with the old prices or the S&H fee not included. A note is affixed
to the shipping invoice explaining the change and "Payment Due". In most
cases the "Payment Due" is sent.

If it is decided to go to the Print On Demand Source, we expect to
receive orders for the 2000-2009 Ten-Year Checklist at the AIS
Storefront. If the order is for multiple items including the Checklist,
we will the order for items available at the AIS Storefront, provide a
refund check for the payment of the Checklist and a note informing the
customer to submit the order for the Checklist to another vendor/source.
(Orders with credit card payment will be charged for items shipped and a
note informing the customer to go to another source for the Checklist.
Orders for just the Checklist will be returned with the note. Does this
provide for good customer service and customer satisfaction?

Whether to make available the 2009 Checklist as a Paperback or Hardcover,
is a determination for the Board. We have received a number of inquiries
as to where a Hardcover copy of previous Checklist can be obtained.

We have continued to cut back the number of copies ordered/inventoried of
new publications available at the AIS Storefront. The latest being the
2010 Registrations and Introductions Booklet. The initial inventory of
500 copies was established in late March. To date, we have had 69 orders
for 165 copies. This publication will remain current until information is
published in the next Ten-Year Checklist,  9 years from now.

We, at the AIS Storefront, are not in favor of the Print On Demand as
proposed. We agree that the Print On Demand features will save money by
not having a large inventory, we feel that our current level of customer
service and customer support are critical in maintaining a positive AIS
image and service for the AIS Membership. With this is mind, we offer the
following proposal:

"That all Customer Orders for all AIS Publications be processed through
the AIS Storefront. Orders for the AIS 2000-2009 Ten-Year Checklist be
consolidated on a weekly basis for forwarding to the Print On Demand
vendor/facility. The AIS Treasurer will establish procedures for payment
of services provided by the Print On Demand facility. After the initial
high demand for a new AIS Publication has past (TBD), customer orders
will be filled from an inventory established at the AIS Storefront. (In
the past 6 months we have had only 3 orders for anyone of the previous
Checklist.) In addition, a small inventory will be established at the AIS
Storefront for sales at meetings and conventions."
 
When we establish the price for the publication, we need to include not
only the cost of the printing, but also the Shipping & Handling Fees that
the vendor will charge. 

John & Kay Ludi
AIS Storefront



On Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:40:47 -0700 John I Jones <jijones@usjoneses.com>
writes:
(If any of you have difficulty downloading or reading this I have put a
PDF version (POD_Description_R2) on the AISBoard website.


http://www.aisboard.org/aisdocs/




Over the past several years the subject of Print On Demand has come up in
relation to the various AIS publications we provide.


I decided to do some research on the subject and in conjunction with some
pricing that Jody Nolin did and in consultation with Mike Lowe and Judy
Keisling, I would like to present the following for discussion. I am not
at this time making a motion but rather want to make sure that we have
ample time to vet the issue.


I open this discussion in regards to printing the 2009 Checklist but the
same could apply to almost everything we print.


______________


Print On Demand (POD), sometimes called publish on demand, is a printing
technology and business process in which new copies of a book (or other
document) are not printed until an order has been received. "Print on
Demand" developed only after digital printing began, because it was not
economical to print single copies using traditional printing technology
such as letterpress and offset printing. In todays print market some
companies also use the term to mean short run printing often targeting
vanity or academic works.
In its simplest form copies of the document are only printed when an
order is received.
CreateSpace (createspace.com) is an established POD printer (an
Amazon.com company). I  have approached them as a POD source for the 2009
Iris Check List. Following are the terms, operational characteristics,
and benefits of using this POD source.
This is how it works.  
The CreateSpace primary thrust is to produce Trade Paperbacks but they
also have the capability to produce hardback books.
Production (for a Trade Paperback)
AIS signs up for a (free) account and submits a print ready file to
CreateSpace. The file is reviewed for conformance to their technical
standards. (No proof reading is performed, that would be our
responsibility.)
Once the file is approved we would order a proof copy. The charge for the
proof copy is the same as a production copy (pricing below). The typical
time for production of the proof copy is 1-2 days.
Once the proof is approved, we set the list price for the book and
activate the sales channels we wish to use (see below). 
At this point we are given a page in the CreateSpace eStore. This is a
webpage that anyone can use to purchase our book. If you would like to
see a sample page, go to:   
https://www.createspace.com/3405715
(you may have to paste this address into the address bar of your browser)
Purchasers pay the list price plus shipping and we receive our royalty
from CreateSpace.
When a book is ordered CreateSpace prints the book and ships it to the
recipient. It generally takes 1-2 days for production. At the time the
order is placed the purchaser is given an estimated delivery time and has
a choice of shipping methods.
We can of course order copies at our cost to have on hand at the AIS
Storefront or to offer for sale at our meetings and conventions.
Production (Hardback)
Once the trade paperback version has been approved for production, we can
opt to have the book produced in hard cover. There is an additional setup
charge and different pricing for this (see below).
Marketing 
As part of the standard package CreateSpace provides an eStore page (as
mentioned above) and a listing on Amazon.com. (At this time a hardcover
version would not be listed on Amazon, only on the eStore)
They also offer a Pro Plan option that allows us to earn additional
royalties and lower manufacturing costs as well as access to an Expanded
Distribution Channel (EDC) with the potential to distribute our book to a
larger audience through more outlets including: retailers, bookstores,
libraries, academic institutions, wholesalers, and distributors. One
disadvantage of the EDC is that books sold through the Expanded
Distribution Channel may be manufactured by third parties. There may be
some minor differences in manufacturing (e.g. paper thickness, color
shade, etc.) between the EDC and other Channels. (Hardcover books are not
listed in the EDC.)
Below is a Cost and Royalty Comparison between the Standard and Pro
Plans. 
(List price shown only for comparison, our price will be different)

Standard PlanPro Plan
CS eStoreAmazonCS eStoreAmazonEDC
List Price$16.00$16.00$16.00$16.00$16.00
CS Share$7.70$10.90$5.85$9.05$12.25
AIS Royalty$8.30$5.10$10.15$6.95$3.75

We can choose which channels we activate for our sales.
Costs (Trade Paperback)
Standard account  no charge
Pro Plan  $39.90 first year, $5.00 per year thereafter
Estimated unit manufacturing cost (794 pages plus covers, 6 X 9 trim ) -
$10.37 
Costs (Hardback)
Conversion to hardback - $199.00
Estimated unit manufacturing cost - $18.41


Jody has gotten some quotes for small run quantities of hardcopy
versions:
Source300 units
per copy/total cost400 Units
per copy/total cost500 units
per copy/total cost
Colorwise press70# satin17.44/$523216.66/$666516.14/$8072
50# uncoated16.47/$494215.70/$627815.18/$7588
DiYa Corporation
(7 days for sample, 35 for final)Includes shipping18.89/$566712.48/$6240
Book Printing Revolutionplus shipping, $99 set up
fee18.57/$557116.24/$6496
Bookmastersplus shipping16.53/$4959





Benefits of POD
AIS does not have to spend thousands of dollars to have 1200 - 1500
copies of the Check List printed and shipped to the AIS Storefront.
Much faster availability of first printed units.
There is no minimum purchase requirement.
There are no storage requirements for the AIS Storefront, no trips to
storage containers.
We dont have to insure the books against loss or damage (we have in the
past lost the entire stock of a Check List to water damage).
Large heavy cartons of books dont have to be shipped to new storefront
locations.
No risk of loosing money long term by ordering too many copies and having
to sell them at  below cost.
We dont have to worry about continually changing shipping and mailing
charges esp. to foreign addresses. That is all handled by the eStore
process.
We could price the softcover at $17.00 and the Hardcover at $22.00. The
hardcover price would only be a $5.00 over the price of the previous
Check List from 10 years ago. (We ordered 3000 copies of the 1999 Check
List. The per unit cost was approximately $4.00, total cost approximately
$12,000 plus shipping.)
Convert publication to Kindle - $69.00


Longer Term
We could, for minimum cost, convert previous Check Lists to POD and
eliminate all the costs of maintaining storage of them.
We could publish a complete copy of an updated and corrected Registrar
database.
Disadvantages
Might be slightly more expensive for purchasers.

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