Why not publish Lawrences writings in a cheaper format?
Our editions of T.E. Lawrence’s writings involve two types of cost. The first, editorial research, is often very large. For many other twentieth-century writers, the editorial cost of preparing such editions might be covered by university salaries or grants. In the case of T.E. Lawrence, most research costs have to be recovered from the sale of the edition – and these costs are unavoidable. Therefore, however cheap the publishing format, our books would be quite expensive. If we produced the editions cheaply as paperbacks, the price including research costs would still have to be £40-50 each. Yet the physical books would be almost worthless and they would quickly deteriorate. It is more reasonable to recover the research costs through fine-press editions, where buyers know that what they buy is likely to have long-term value. We believe that high-quality content and high-quality production are a good combination. This is especially appropriate in Lawrence’s case, since he loved fine pr
Our editions of T.E. Lawrence’s writings involve two types of cost. The first, editorial research, is often very large. For many other twentieth-century writers, the editorial cost of preparing such editions might be covered by university salaries or grants. In the case of T.E. Lawrence, most research costs have to be recovered from the sale of the edition – and these costs are unavoidable. Therefore, however cheap the publishing format, our books would be quite expensive. If we produced the editions cheaply as paperbacks, the price including research costs would still have to be £40-50 each. Yet the physical books would be almost worthless and they would quickly deteriorate. It is more reasonable to recover the research costs through fine-press editions, where buyers know that what they buy is likely to have long-term value. We believe that high-quality content and high-quality production are a good combination. This is especially appropriate in Lawrence’s case, since he loved fine pr
Related Questions
- No, Melrose Books can publish books of nearly any length, although very short or very long manuscripts may be uneconomical to publish. Q: What format of books do you publish?
- What are the different ways in which a journal might be able to publish in an open access format, making the journals contents free to readers?
- Why not publish Lawrences writings in a cheaper format?
