Incidentally, since almost all the physical books from major publishers in the US are printed in China, that probably just increased the price by 50%, which massively lowers sales and means publishers will do much smaller print runs.
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I used to prefer paper over digital. But now it seems like book type font is shrinking alarmingly, or maybe it's just these old eyes -- A doctoral dissertation for some library science grad student.
An increase in printing costs in China is going to drive up demand for US printers, which is going to... drive up the cost for US printed books as well.
I'm sure. And we probably get a lot of paper (or the wood / pulp) from Canada. Was just making the observation that POD is not tied to China directly. All tariffs serve the beam (to quote Stephen King sort of)
Got a B&N card years ago, spent >$1K over the year, no other venue, they wanted $$$ to renew, told them wasn't the year's devotion enough? They said "$$$ please." Haven't been in one since.
Turned off Scamazon after the election. Now it's mostly used stores; must be really special to buy new.
Funding for libraries from the Institute of Museum and Library Services has been cut by DOGE. Many state libraries used some of the money to provide ebook collections for rural libraries. Not a great time for book world.
It gets even better. We're going to have retaliatory tarrifs on books coming up here to Canada, so that's an extra 50% on top of things.
Do politicians know that illiteracy is a key part of how politics can start slipping to the right?
I know some are hedging their carriers on it in places.
Note that that’s wholesale printing, but when you’re talking print runs of thousands, a 50% increase is Whoa Nellie. So smaller print runs, lower sales, gee, we’re not making as much money, eh, we can’t afford to send this back to press. Nice career while it lasted.
I'm expecting this to absolutely decimate the TTRPG industry for the same reason. A new game from an indie press might have distribution pre-orders in the low hundreds.
I work for a magazine printer in the US. Some of our paper comes from Canada. We have warned our customers and they are not pleased. Some will likely go under.
I strongly disapprove. I prefer reading the paladin romances on paper, not carved into the walls of the mines we all get condemned to after everything collapses.
Even for those of fortunate few of us lucky enough that their publisher prints in the US (thank you, Tor!) there is the small matter that our paper comes primarily from Canada…then Mexico…then China.
Back when I was doing Dragonbreath, color ink printing got so expensive, they went to grayscale.
Said that already, but I’m pissed and typing savagely. And—no shade on my publishers—but when books printed overseas go up, hey, the market will clearly bear that, so all the prices will go up. Even ebook, because the accountants think it should keep pace.
As of right now books won’t be affected this year because the prices are fixed already by the publishing companies. So we’re just waiting for next year’s downfall basically….signed a bookseller
One that I backed just ended two days ago, and the creator is saying that the pledge manager is going to have to wait until they do some math revolving around the new tariffs.
Ironically, this is a "reborn" Kickstarter from IP bought after the previous IP owner went out of business during COVID.
Different circumstances, but I remember when the cost of paper shot up at the height of the pandemic (initially due to supply chain issues, later due to greed). I've spoken to creators who lost money on crowdfunds during that time because of the cost of materials
I know several folks who got notices this morning that their kickstarter pledges might need to be adjusted to account for tariffs. And those were just the ones who are shipping across country borders; I don't think anyone's gotten to thinking about the price of paper.
Sorry, this is just…really making me nuts. I came up in these fields and this is a staggering blow that I am quite sure nobody in Washington gave a single thought to. Indie comics people do not have lobbyists!
god yes, I was starting to think about trying to kickstart a reprint of my Tarot deck when he took office the first time and I looked at his constant wittering about tariffs and noped right the fuck out of having *that* hanging over my head.
Ebook prices are way higher than they should be already. The price should include payments to the author, a reasonable profit for the publisher, and the half penny for distribution.
An ebook shouldn’t cost as much or more than a printed book. Even more so when you can buy a new book 20% off.
Previous experience with Macmillan execs says they will double price of books & ebooks 'to keep up with the market', quadruple ebook prices to libraries, and then scream at their authors that sales are tanking because of piracy and libraries.
Go to an Indian store and buy a plastic jug called a lota for $5 lol probably a billion people or more use one worldwide and have for generations, it’s okay if you don’t have a fancy schmancy bidet hookup
We have these. Metal and durable. Hot water kit available (recommend, even tho *I* seldom use). No idea what they cost now - I presume cost is up from the $35.00 I recall paying maybe 10 years ago.
Whether this or not,IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! (https://go-bidet.com/
Bidets and toilet paper are rarely applied to cattle, though I can't exclude the possibility that someone has an *extremely* pampered pet. Perhaps literally Pampered, for a house cow.
as someone who reads almost constantly it’s sad to think about how high book prices will go. even tho i use libby a lot, libraries can’t afford 50% tariff taxes
I don’t think many people realize that a lot of library systems can only afford to offer Libby because of the federal grant money which has just been “fixed” out of existence.
Every time books come into subject over the years with MAGAs, every single one has plainly stated to me that they have not read a book since highschool if not elementary.
These people are all at least ten, usually 20+ years older than me so no books since the 80s at minimum.
Hi! How does this affect book localization deals? Like, if a brazillian publisher were to bring your other books? (Loved what moves the dead btw) Not that i'm not already worried about US affairs.
America is addicted to cheap Chinese shit and that is how we got into this mess. There is going to be drawbacks to decoupling from Chinese trade, but it’s necessary.
I'll try to budget in a few paper print books a month, use the library, support local bookstores. I'm so sorry for writers, readers, and the book industry. And Children's picture books!!
Canadian book sellers were freaking about the planned retaliation tariffs since most of our supplies are in the state. But now prices will rise anyway... It really sucks for small bookstores. I hope for the best.
I submitted the tariffs form to the federal government focusing on books and said that if books and publishing are considered a cultural industry and they want to put tariffs on books, they should be considering doing supportive funding for the Canadian publishing houses and indie bookstores.
And as a librarian, that'll mean we can afford fewer books and I wouldn't be surprised if our main distributor cuts our discounts like they did for graphic novels in 2022, bc they were "less popular," aka getting hard to get and therefore order.
For anyone in small press, please, please consider US book printers. They exist, and their pricing has been only somewhat “uncompetitive” compared to printing + shipping from China.
And without the long lead-times and… best way to put this 😒… risk.
It could, for particular grades/weights where international companies have been the major suppliers. On the other hand, there are a lot of US paper mills, still.
Might just be a matter of choosing paper stock that’s not imported.
We put a lot into dodging set-up costs, and also handled sourcing some components, rather than having our packager have to source them (and charge us a markup!)
In 2019, I did a short-run, hugely-thick hardcover.
We chose really good paper, even did a spot-varnish, and US printing still worked out.
As with other US manufacturing industries, book & game printing have been suffering. If this shitshow saves that industry, it’ll be a tiny bright spot.😒
Well that just fits in nicely to help with the cause of keeping the population illiterate!
IS that why the Trump Bible is printed in China?
Maybe "religious books", as long as they are of the "right" religion, of course will be exempt.
I was just thinking about applying to table at a convention in the fall and calculated that I'd need to sell about 27 paperbacks in order to break even on the booth fees, taking into account the cost of ordering the books.
If my print costs double, I'd have to sell *50* books to break even.
Yes, it's four color printing that is overseas, we don't have the capacity here. Lots and lots of regular trade is printed here, and needs to be because of quick turn around time. Books printed in Asia are on the water for 6 weeks. There's a ton of color printing in Malaysia and India as well.
I think folks would be surprised at how much of the super high end stuff is printed in Europe as well. I have been recommending to friends to buy the pretty books you want right now, because it may be a lot harder later.
Oh,yes! I've printed in 4 or 5 different EU countries. Asia's biggest advantage is on books that need a lot of hand-work, like pop-up books. Children's books in particular go to Asia.
My feeling is if money is no object, you print your book on Italian paper at a German printer.
I repped DAP for a while and OMG the heft and feel of a huge art book printed in Italy or Germany. There's nothing like it. Books are my career, but I also adore them as an artform themselves.
Thinking about board game Kickstarters where the game is presently in production. Sorry, Cephalofair, those updated Gloomhaven games you were about to ship? 50% tariffs (or whatever random number it is). How does a little company weather that? They don't, that's how.
I did all my book & game printing for Kickstarters stateside up ‘til 2019, when we stepped back from publishing.
I am a huge fan of domestic production, and wish more people had forgone the lure of underpaid labor & toxic plastics abroad, which has imperiled US-based printing/packaging companies.
I thought that was mostly true for color things (comics, coffee table, etc.), and that novels were still mostly printed in the US. Prices go up either way but...
I had a very frank conversation with people over the last month or so. How comfortable are you paying let's say on average an added sales tax of 25% on everything you buy?
That's what a consumer essentially needs to be prepared for.
Capitalism requires consumers to consume in order to function.
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Turned off Scamazon after the election. Now it's mostly used stores; must be really special to buy new.
It’s a to advanced story, they can’t se the resemblance 🤪
Do politicians know that illiteracy is a key part of how politics can start slipping to the right?
I know some are hedging their carriers on it in places.
Hell, even if you don’t care about books, this might be a good time to stock up on TP.
Oh… oh.
Back when I was doing Dragonbreath, color ink printing got so expensive, they went to grayscale.
Ironically, this is a "reborn" Kickstarter from IP bought after the previous IP owner went out of business during COVID.
An ebook shouldn’t cost as much or more than a printed book. Even more so when you can buy a new book 20% off.
...I hate that this is plausible.
Time to look up bidet prices.. wonder where they’re imported from? Sigh…
Whether this or not,IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! (
These people are all at least ten, usually 20+ years older than me so no books since the 80s at minimum.
Ironically importing the paper to print books in the US is not.
Access to books is so important to me, I hope they find a way to avoid hurting the industry.
And without the long lead-times and… best way to put this 😒… risk.
Game-printing, too.
Might just be a matter of choosing paper stock that’s not imported.
Set-up costs are what cause sky-high per-unit quotes on lower runs.
Using an existing die-line, a standard box, a standard page size, etc, can shave costs down a lot.
Work with your supplier rep to find those savings!
We put a lot into dodging set-up costs, and also handled sourcing some components, rather than having our packager have to source them (and charge us a markup!)
We chose really good paper, even did a spot-varnish, and US printing still worked out.
As with other US manufacturing industries, book & game printing have been suffering. If this shitshow saves that industry, it’ll be a tiny bright spot.😒
I mean, all of everything is, but still
But does this also mean that preordering will probably be more important than ever for a book’s success?
IS that why the Trump Bible is printed in China?
Maybe "religious books", as long as they are of the "right" religion, of course will be exempt.
If my print costs double, I'd have to sell *50* books to break even.
😬🙃
[goes to check the back of the book]
Tennessee, maybe? Nice to know I might not have to deal with FIFTY PERCENT price increases, lolsob
Regular novels/nonfic are almost all printed domestically. But paper is the bulk of the cost, and that's imported, so yes, these tariffs will hurt!
Also, there's a big difference between the machinery to print comic books, yearbooks, and high-quality coffee-table art books.
My feeling is if money is no object, you print your book on Italian paper at a German printer.
I am a huge fan of domestic production, and wish more people had forgone the lure of underpaid labor & toxic plastics abroad, which has imperiled US-based printing/packaging companies.
I am so sorry. And I had hoped to trad publish, and that just kind of went out the window, and it all sucks so much for everyone.
Do you make less on ebooks? I mostly buy ebooks because my shelves are full, but would buy your books in paper if it put more money in your pocket.
That's what a consumer essentially needs to be prepared for.
Capitalism requires consumers to consume in order to function.