Colleen, I have always thought of you as a pioneer who has steadily forged forward through many different eddies and flows, tides and typhoons. I had no idea that you did so while bailing out crafts that shred behind you. I know you learned from these lessons but I wish it had been smoother sailing. At least the pens have never been knocked from your hands.
Alas, seems so. But I had no idea how flimsy those had been. More like rafts than even dugout canoes which at least were oared. Savage Tales of Colleen.
We got match prints on some books. One of the things I got to take with me when I left the publisher was a pile of match prints. But even if you did ask for changes based on what you saw, there was no guarantee you'd get those changes. A lot of the match prints in my possession have notes on them for the printer, so yes, we asked. In all my career, I've never been able to go to a printer to check the color, and now that a lot of printing is done in China, it's anyone's guess what the final result will be.
Color checks were a common practice for covers where i worked when the Color was brought up and to the customer's satisfaction they actually signed the cover or poster.
I haven't seen a match print in decades. We don't get bluelines anymore, either. Normally we just preview a file on line, which doesn't really give you much of an idea how the printing will go.
The publisher had a track record. But they had no clue what would sell, how to sell it, and knew very little of the market. The imprint was being run by someone who had no business experience or acumen, and delusions of grandeur. They had one hit, a few median successes, and were ever after just throwing mud at a wall to see what would stick. This pretty much describes every small press I ever worked at. Donning's original business model was subsidized made-to-order books. So they had very little idea of how the retail trade worked. And they knew nothing whatsoever about comics. At all.
This text seems to be the definition "that it's not always good to be the first" in something... thanks for learning, there are many interesting facts, and I bet there will be many more.
Colleen, I have always thought of you as a pioneer who has steadily forged forward through many different eddies and flows, tides and typhoons. I had no idea that you did so while bailing out crafts that shred behind you. I know you learned from these lessons but I wish it had been smoother sailing. At least the pens have never been knocked from your hands.
I think "bailing out crafts that shred behind you" is kind of normal in this biz.
Alas, seems so. But I had no idea how flimsy those had been. More like rafts than even dugout canoes which at least were oared. Savage Tales of Colleen.
Too bad the Woman didn't do a press check. Where you go to the printer and okay the color while the press being made ready.
We got match prints on some books. One of the things I got to take with me when I left the publisher was a pile of match prints. But even if you did ask for changes based on what you saw, there was no guarantee you'd get those changes. A lot of the match prints in my possession have notes on them for the printer, so yes, we asked. In all my career, I've never been able to go to a printer to check the color, and now that a lot of printing is done in China, it's anyone's guess what the final result will be.
Color checks were a common practice for covers where i worked when the Color was brought up and to the customer's satisfaction they actually signed the cover or poster.
I haven't seen a match print in decades. We don't get bluelines anymore, either. Normally we just preview a file on line, which doesn't really give you much of an idea how the printing will go.
This is fascinating read, and most of it is as relevant now as it was then. Thank you.
Well, that’s new to me. A publisher not having a track record of his books.
It's like having a big family, going to the supermarket and doing all the shopping using only your memory.
Great Scott!
The publisher had a track record. But they had no clue what would sell, how to sell it, and knew very little of the market. The imprint was being run by someone who had no business experience or acumen, and delusions of grandeur. They had one hit, a few median successes, and were ever after just throwing mud at a wall to see what would stick. This pretty much describes every small press I ever worked at. Donning's original business model was subsidized made-to-order books. So they had very little idea of how the retail trade worked. And they knew nothing whatsoever about comics. At all.
And if you dared to make a suggestion, they wouldn't listen, right?
I read a government study at one time and that's the main reason small and micro businesses crash down.
They didn't studied their target market and would do things blindly.
Pretty much. Now, to be fair it was a lot harder to research this sort of thing before the internet, but I'll get into more of these issues later.
This text seems to be the definition "that it's not always good to be the first" in something... thanks for learning, there are many interesting facts, and I bet there will be many more.