I've followed with interestthe discussion on the print run of numismatic titles. Here are a fewfurther thoughts on press runs of numismatic books.

But before that, let me introduce myself. I am a professional working inthe publishing industry, in a domain which has nothing to do withnumismatics. I have also been an enthusiastic collector of fourth centurycoins for twenty years. Last year, these two facets of of my life coincidedwhen I published a book on fourth century coins - more info can be foundhere: www.lateromanbronzecoins.com.

I am absolutely convinced that the future of numismatic publishing lies inprint-on-demand. Traditional publishing of numismatic books is a riskybusiness. Numismatics is a niche market and apart from a few generaltitles, most numismatic books are a niche within a niche. Because thebest-case scenario sales figures for most titles is at best a couple ofthousand (and even then, a lot of titles will sell at most a couple ofhundred copies), print-runs are fairly low.

A low print run means more expensive titles. More expensive titles meansthat within the limited set of people who potentially interested, peopleare more likely to hesitate before buying, which drives the numbers furtherdown.

Another aspect is that books need to be stored and stocked. In an uncertainmarket, they might have to be stored for a long time before they are sold.This further drives prices up.

So, enter the print-on-demand book. It is stored as a computer file or setof files. Every time someone wants to buy the book, a copy is printed. Mostbig companies have deals with distributors and printers throughout theworld, which means that your book gets printed locally before being sent toyou. No decisions to be taken about print runs, no stocks to deal with,very little risk.

I think that the publishing industry needs to take a good hard look atitself. In order to survive, traditional publishing houses are going tohave to review many aspects of their publishing model in order to keepcosts down and to ensure that books don't go out of print - I truly thinkthat digital print-on-demand is the way to go, as there are no stocks tokeep and the publishing file is available indefinitely. It's sad that animportant company like Spink can't even maintain a full set of the RomanImperial Coinage in print.

The reason I published my book is that I was keen to revive a title (GuidoBruck's Die spaetroemische kupferpraegungthat had faded into obscurityafter it went out of print. So much information is being lost to thegeneral public in this way. I'm happy to say that it has sold as manycopies as I thought it would, that I haven't lost any money, that I'm notsitting on a pile of unsold books and that a classical title has beenrescued and will never be out of print again.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
QUERY: PRESS RUN FOR A NEW BOOK ON NUMISMATICS(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n40a19.html)
THOUGHTS ON PRESS RUNS OF NUMISMATIC BOOKS(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n41a07.html)
MORE ON PRESS RUNS OF NUMISMATIC BOOKS(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n42a08.html)