AMA: Out of print

Q.: What are the oldest books that you keep in print?

A.: The ones that didn't sell!

But — ahem — seriously, folks... Let me tell you a little story about this gem.

Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 3 was the first book I did through an honest-to-goodness offset print run. That means they were printed on a printing press by the hundreds and shipped to me so I could, in turn, ship them to the customers. The two previous books had been print-on-demand, which had no risk, but very low reward (in terms of profits). So I decided to have this one printed in bulk. Printing in more significant quantities would lower the unit price, increasing my profit margin. Done deal, right?

Well, this was before Kickstarter was a thing. So I took out a business loan from my bank to cover the expense. Long story short, the book didn't sell nearly as well as I had hoped it would. And to make matters worse, the next book would be the first printed in color. That killed my "knock-on" effect. The knock-on effect is when someone buys Vol. 4 and then buys earlier volumes to complete their collection. People who discovered Evil Inc in color weren't interested in the earlier black-and-white books.

I have a lot of boxes full of Evil Inc Annual Report Vol. 3 in my warehouse space that will never sell. So technically, it's the oldest book I "keep in print." 😀

Since I crowdfund my books these days, I'm less worried about putting a book on the market that lacks customer demand. It’s a self-solving problem. If the product lacks demand, the Kickstarter will fail. However, I am much more conservative in the number of books I order. As a result, some titles will definitely go out of print. For example, I have only a handful of copies of the first Evil Inc After Dark book. And when they're gone, that book will be unavailable.

I realize I could incorporate reprints of that book into a future Kickstarter — and I'm not saying it will never happen — but it's much more likely that I will combine sold-out titles to create a new omnibus edition.

I keep some titles available on a print-on-demand basis. This is true of the first two Evil Inc Annual Report collections, the first three Courting Disaster collections, and the Greystone Inn hardcover. It's easier to point to my online store than to go through the trouble of reprinting them for the handful of people who inquire. The others will go out of print when the copies run out.