For anybody who might be considering the book business, I put this one together to see what the actual time & cost was. This is about 9x6, 398 pages (heavy bond paper). Etsy has about 180 pages of blank journals; based on what I saw, this one I might be able to sell for $50. Cost of goods was $18.50, total hands-on time about 3.5 hours. That would make my hourly rate $9.00.
The first book I posted is bigger, about 10x7 but it is also made of a nicer paper for the text block. Half the number of pages but 3.5 times the material cost. I'd have to sell that one for about $70 to make my $9/hour.
So they're interesting to make and unique to give away, but I can't quit my day job. Dang.
5 comments:
Oooh, I like that one too!
But would you pay $50 for one?
Well, I don't have to because I know someone who makes them. I bet lots of people would though. Doesn't hurt to try! Maybe you'll become a famous bookmaker and will be able to charge exorbitant fees for them. And then I could sell mine on e-bay! Win-win for everybody!
I'm curious; if you had the necessary tools (presses, etc.) would it take you 3 times as long to make three books, or twice as long, or ....?
Dad
With this style there's a sequence where it's in the press for about 3 hours. 30-45 minutes of that is hands on, the rest is drying time. If I had to produce them in volume (a pun!) I think I could make 2 in 1.5x the time. At or around the 3rd book I'd bottleneck at the press - but it was homemade and cheap so that would be easy to solve.
The other thing is that I've only made 3 of the leather bound ones and they've all been different. I could save a little time once I standardized on a size.
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