Q. I'm interested
in supplying my own cover art files. Do you have information on how to do that?
A. We offer information on basic file needs for both
hardbound and
softbound illustrated covers. However, covers
are so different, if you have questions about any sizing or element, please
contact us directly.
Q. Why do you request 1" margins?
A. This may seem like an awful lot of margin, however upon reflection it is not.
Keep in mind that all books have gutter margins that are usually set an additional .25-.5"
away from the spine. This makes a book that has four 1" margins into a book with a 1.25-1.5"
gutter margin and a
.5-.75" trim margin. While it's possible to print larger, we find
this margin request produces a book pleasing to the eye
and anything much larger can lead to broken spines and/or cut-off impression area.
Additionally, fo a novice author one margin size on all sides is easier to
produce than different margins and gutter.
Q. Although you request 1" margins,
can I have smaller margins?
A. You can, however, it negates all guarantees and there may be a
special handling fee involved. Please remember with larger print
area, text may be bound into the book and/or text cut off the
edges due to available printing surface on the presses. We
suggest if you have smaller margins you reduce the pages, or pay
us to do so for you.
Q. What is the difference between a
Camera
Ready Manuscript (CRM) and a
Camera Ready Copy Machine Manuscript (CRCMM)?
A. The CRM is ready for the platemaker cameras - "cut and paste" is acceptable
and the final page placement is made at the plate maker. The CRCMM is ready for a copy machine document
feeder (absolutely no cut and paste) - final page placement was made when printed and there are
no items attached to the printed manuscript.
Q. Can my book be different than your
standard basis?
A. Absolutely! Paper size, color, weight, type as well as ink
differences and limited book thickness (despite strenuous efforts, a 2,500 page
book can
not be bound and guaranteed against wear) can all be custom specified. With
custom orders the price rises, rather dramatically at times,
depending on what the author is interested in.
Q. While looking over your material, I
find reference to printed and companion books, why are there so many differences?
A. All promotional material was originally written with printed
(offset presses - quantities of 100 or more) projects in mind. In
1999, we began offering a companion program for book projects
under 100 in quantity that is a photostatic reproduction - not
traditionally recognized printing. Currently with an updated system and
increased quality for print on demand, digital printing as a low-cost alternative for ultra-small
publishing runs. Since offset and digital printing are two different reproduction processes
many things are different. If you see a reference on our site that doesn't
clarify offset printed or digital/companion, please notify us, it is a section
of our literature that hasn't been updated yet. If you are unsure
on a point, also contact us for verification.
Q. Can I still get less than 100 books offset
printed?
A. While you can actually order any number of printed books, the
time and materials involved make any printed order under 100 cost
about the same as if you ordered 100 books printed. Because of this, any
order less than 100, is quoted/billed for 100 books.
Q. Should I have a Library of Congress
Number, Copyright, or ISBN?
A. - Library of
CongressorCopyright- you may choose one, either, or neither.
Formal registration for both
of these require you to send books to Washington.
Additionally, copyright registration requires a filing fee. All written material has a (implied) copyright, whether you send
for documentation or not.
A. - ISBN - If you are planning on a large
marketing campaign, you may choose to get this number. It will
allow you to sell through major bookstores such as Books-A-Million and
Barnes & Noble. Your book will also be listed in the
publication "Books in Print". This number, on a
hard bound book, will also increase the publishing costs due to
ISBN stipulations. Otherwise, this number is not needed.
Q. If I reprint, is it less expensive?
A. Photo fees ($7) are reduced to Non-Process ($3) - if the halftones affixed to the manuscript are still good. If
your book had a cover plate you don't have to pay for a new one,
but there is a remount fee of $40 - deluxe binding cost will be reduced. If you haven't had your
manuscript returned, this fee is also saved.
Q. Why doesn't a reprint cost less?
A. Nearly all publishing materials (with the exception of cover plate) used for
your book are
consumable. This means that they will only be good for a certain
period of time. The main difference in reprinting costs are the
type of plate used. Some publishers use metal plates, these can
be stored and printed from at any time with or without the
author's permission. Using a less expensive (same print quality)
consumable plate that is only good for 48 hours is generally a cost cutting
measure that doesn't sacrifice quality of book. In addition, to
reducing your publishing costs, this also insures that you have
total control over printing.
Q. What if I want my books on glossy
paper?
A. Your small book orders can use gloss papwer with our digital printing
system. However, "glossy" paper is actually generally paper stock
and cannot be offset printed within our system. There is a drastic increase in price
usually associated with glossy vs. standard paper costs. Paper for flyers and
covers can be laminated after they are offset printed and are generally
considered glossy as well.
Q. Why does it take your company so long for production?
A. Many highly automated printing firms have very little hands-on control
of all stages in the process because of the automation factor. Books
published here actually continue with the more traditional methods: A high
degree of manpower, rather than machine is involved. This also provides a fuller degree of checks and
balances. It is because of this, and the "first come, first
serve" policy that book projects can take a few months rather than the few
weeks some publishers quote. Additionally, we try to be realistic about
time constraints, especially when quoting.
Q. When figuring page count does a blank page count?
A. Yes - prices are figured by the page. There are two pages on every
sheet of paper (leaf). Therefore if one side is printed, the other side counts as
well. If a blank sheet (two pages) are requested, the cost of the paper
and the extra handling charge equals the printed page costs.
Q. When using color on a page, if I have black text is it
still considered a full color page?
A. Yes - the term full color (or 4 color) refers to the number of colors used to
achieve the desired result on the page. Since the entire page (not just a
portion of it) must be run through the presses or through the digital printer (for small quantities), the cost is for the entire page
no matter if the color runs from margin to margin, or is in a ¼" shape.
Q. What type of contract to you have?
A. The work we do is based on requested needs for our services. We
offer written guarantees for offset print work and
therefore, don't have a written contract or additional paperwork of that type for
you to fill out. When you send in your manuscript and deposit, your cover
letter puts in writing what you "contract" us to do.
Q. Can I just drop by to show you my book and get help?
A. We do suggest that you call to make arrangements before you arrive to
conference. This is due to the fact that not being a traditional
"through the door" business means that much of the time there is not
additional staff that can hold other projects and conference at a moments
notice. Additionally, only one conference room is available for
consultation with authors. There are authors that make arrangements - sometimes months in advance - to discuss
their projects.
Q. Can my book be printed directly from Family Tree Maker
(FTM)?
A. POD (1-99 quantity) is very possible, however FTM
doesn't always work well with consecutive numbers through different types of reports.
It is also resistant to good book margins (but not impossible). If you are
looking at 100 or more books, a manuscript can be printed out to be offset
printed from. For a book that will hold more historical appeal, a suggestion is
to use the FTM export feature (>file>export) and sending all your general reports to a word
processing program where it can be placed in a better manuscript format.
For any charts, a good suggestion is to print out the charts, and print out pages with
manuscript page numbers only. You can then attach the chart on the manuscript
numbered page.
Q. How do I get a quote and what do
they cost?
A. Quote requests can be made by
email,
mail (PO BOX 505, Wyandotte, OK 74370), phone 918-542-4148.
Custom quotes are free of charge. You can also request the standard
price list link for the online standard fees.
Q. What type
of software do you suggest?
A. What works well for one author may be a nightmare for another. Therefore software programs are a very subjective question:
what follows is a Gregath staff consensus. 99.9% of the manuscripts Gregath produces are in
word processing program Microsoft Word.
We still prefer to index in a mainly "manual" way, using our time and
knowledge of the manuscript and retyping the entries and using Word's sort
feature, rather than the auto index feature, or using a separate indexing
program. If a software purchase is needed, one might wish to buy Microsoft Office,
which will include Word, spreadsheet/database program(s), usually a webpage
program, and sometimes Publisher. This program suite can deal with almost any
situation via import/export, rather than producing your columnar text in one program, the photo
pages in another, the text in a third, etc.
Q. Do you have any line spacing
requirements or suggestions?
A. As we generally help
genealogists and family historians, we don't subscribe to any particular spacing
rule. However, if you are using a sans-serif font (Arial, Verdana, etc.), we
advise against going closer than single space for general audiences. If the
subject of the book carries spacing standards - look at other books of this type
already published - we suggest you start there. Going "tighter" with a
sans-serif font confuses the eye at a glance which makes the book "harder to get
into". With a serif font (times new roman, Rockwell, etc.), you can go as small
as 1 or 2 point spacing above font size (i.e. 12 pt. font and 13 pt. spacing).
If you look at a serif font, the smallest for general audiences we suggest is 10
pt. font/11 pt. spacing for main text.
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here for more.
Q. I'm interested
in supplying my own cover art files. Do you have information on how to do that?