Earthlight closing
Charlie Stross
Schuster UK are re-organizing, and apparently the Earthlight
(SF and Fantasy) imprint is being closed. According to
Publisher's Lunch, nine jobs are being lost, and there's a
re-org of who's in charge of which sections. This doesn't
affect only SF -- it's all aspects of S&S's adult trade
section. But I guess this means you can cross Earthlight off
your list of publishers to send that novel to. And if you're
waiting for a response, might as well give up and look
elsewhere.
-- Charlie
Anna Feruglio Dal Dan
F***.
--
Anna Feruglio Dal Dan - ada...@despammed.com - this is a valid address
homepage: http://www.fantascienza.net/sfpeople/elethiomel
English blog: http://annafdd.blogspot.com/
Blog in italiano: http://fulminiesaette.blogspot.com
Charlie Stross
as <ada...@spamcop.net> declared:
>> Of interest to many UK writers on this group -- Simon &
>> Schuster UK are re-organizing, and apparently the Earthlight
>> (SF and Fantasy) imprint is being closed.
>
> F***.
My thoughts exactly.
To those of you who haven't thought too hard about the way
the publishing biz works, when a major publisher goes down,
the waves slop around the rest of the industry. The
equivalent in US terms would be something like Baen or Ace or
Del Rey closing up shop. Here's my take on what's going to
happen:
Earthlight has a catalog with maybe twenty to forty authors,
most of them with >1 book. Like most British publishers, they
buy a mix. The mix is: about 40% UK reprint rights for
big-name American authors, about 20% big-name British authors,
and about 40% midlist British authors.
Among the former category you get people like Ray Bradbury,
Lois McMaster Bujold, David Weber, and Terry Brooks. These
guys have all had their UK publisher sink under them. Current
books will remain in print for a while, but any new novels
have to go elsewhere. Because the US rights -- the main cash
cow -- have already been sold, UK rights are available for a
relatively small advance. Thus, next year's novels from a
bunch of big-name have just been released to slosh around the
pool, making waves.
The big-name British writers probably won't have too much
difficulty finding new homes. (I'm talking about people like
Christopher Priest here.)
The real headaches fall on the midlist British writers. People
like John Courtenay Grimwood, Ian MacDonald, Mike Cobley, and
a bunch of others. They're going to be scrabbling to find new
homes, in competition with said reprint rights for the big US
reprint names, and it's going to be bloody. Earthlight was one
of the big guys, accounting for maybe as much as 20% of the
UK's SF/fantasy publishing, and while it's to be expected that
the competition will pick up some of the slack, lead times
being what they are it will take a couple of years before
things get back to normal. In which time, some of the smaller
fish will be left gasping on the side of the pool.
Verdict: it's going to be ugly, and we may end up losing some
good midlist writers with long-term potential simply because
they don't find a new home fast enough. But the climate for
anyone[*] trying to sell a first novel in the UK has just turned
very, very chilly indeed, and may well remain that way for the
next year or two.
-- Charlie
[*] Except me. I'm in the position of an American author selling
those reprint rights into the UK market, which insulates me
a bit. But it could mean my books don't appear in the UK for
a *long* time to come ...
Julia Jones
Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> writes
>Verdict: it's going to be ugly, and we may end up losing some
>good midlist writers with long-term potential simply because
>they don't find a new home fast enough. But the climate for
>anyone[*] trying to sell a first novel in the UK has just turned
>very, very chilly indeed, and may well remain that way for the
>next year or two.
Sod.
Turning it personal, to what extent is this S&S reorganisation going to
affect mainstream publishing? One of my beta-readers is suggesting I try
to sell the Trashy Porn Novel That Grew as litfic rather than sf, and
the other UK betareader said, "yes, that's a good idea". We think it'll
be a lot easier to sell in the UK than the US, but if the UK publishing
industry is in *that* much turmoil...
--
Julia Jones
The suespammers.org mail server is located in California; do not send
unsolicited bulk e-mail or unsolicited commercial e-mail to my suespammers.org
address.
Richard Horton
<cha...@antipope.org> wrote:
>The big-name British writers probably won't have too much
>difficulty finding new homes. (I'm talking about people like
>Christopher Priest here.)
Given the difficulty Priest had getting _The Separation_, an excellent
novel, published with reasonable backing, I suspect he would raise his
eyebrows at your suggestion he won't have too much difficulty.
--
Rich Horton | Stable Email: mailto://richard...@sff.net
Home Page: http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton
Also visit SF Site (http://www.sfsite.com) and Tangent Online (http://www.tangentonline.com)
Martin Sketchley
finding new homes. (I'm talking about people like Christopher Priest here.)
Chris Priest has already gone to Gollancz. See www.christopher-priest.co.uk.
>>some of the smaller fish will be left gasping on the side of the pool.
Hit me with a mallet and be done with it.
Martin
(first novel due out in Feb 04 -- from Earthlight!)
--
Martin Sketchley | www.msketchley.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
(remove EGGBEANSANDSPAM to reply by e-mail)
Mary Gentle
(Julia Jones) wrote:
> In message <slrnbhot32....@raq981.uk2net.com.antipope.org>,
> Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> writes
> >Verdict: it's going to be ugly, and we may end up losing some
> >good midlist writers with long-term potential simply because
> >they don't find a new home fast enough. But the climate for
> >anyone[*] trying to sell a first novel in the UK has just turned
> >very, very chilly indeed, and may well remain that way for the
> >next year or two.
>
> Sod.
>
> Turning it personal, to what extent is this S&S reorganisation going to
> affect mainstream publishing? One of my beta-readers is suggesting I
> try to sell the Trashy Porn Novel That Grew as litfic rather than sf,
> and the other UK betareader said, "yes, that's a good idea". We think
> it'll be a lot easier to sell in the UK than the US, but if the UK
> publishing industry is in *that* much turmoil...
I wouldn't give up hope, necessarily. The more diverse markets you can
aim it at, the more editors can look at it, even if there are fewer
editors left in skiffy.
Having said that, it may be a genre problem. I heard this week that X
Libris (Little, Brown's erotica imprint) is closing -- i.e. not
commissioning any more titles, although keeping the old ones in print and
available. Which puts my alter ego out of an enjoyable job.
Possibly the cold wind hasn't blown through litfic yet; it would be worth
your while sending stuff, I think.
Mary
Charlie Stross
>>>The big-name British writers probably won't have too much difficulty
> finding new homes. (I'm talking about people like Christopher Priest here.)
>
> Chris Priest has already gone to Gollancz. See www.christopher-priest.co.uk.
>
>>>some of the smaller fish will be left gasping on the side of the pool.
>
> Hit me with a mallet and be done with it.
>
> Martin
> (first novel due out in Feb 04 -- from Earthlight!)
Oh you poor bastard: much sympathy here. I speak as someone
who's had a publisher go tits-up under him earlier this year,
in the shape of Big Engine.
As a point of interest, are S&S still going to publish it, or
are they saying "sorry, you can buy your rights back or we'll
sit on it but it ain't going into print from us"? And did you
sell world rights, or just UK?
(My pet nightmare is having a book published the week the
publisher announces they're going to stop doing SF. That way,
it probably comes out with zero marketing and promotion --
because they've fired their specialist SF sales folk -- which
means sales will be piss-poor, and there's no chance of
subsequent sales to the same market.)
-- Charlie
Andrew Wells
> >>some of the smaller fish will be left gasping on the side of the pool.
>
> Hit me with a mallet and be done with it.
Mallet or mullet?
Andrew
Anna Feruglio Dal Dan
> Martin
> (first novel due out in Feb 04 -- from Earthlight!)
Oh, _shuck_. I'm sorry.
Julia Jones
Sketchley <msket...@EGGBEANSANDSPAM.blueyonder.co.uk
>
>>>some of the smaller fish will be left gasping on the side of the pool.
>
>Hit me with a mallet and be done with it.
>
>Martin
>(first novel due out in Feb 04 -- from Earthlight!)
Oh hell. Hope you can get something sorted out.
Charlie Stross
> In message <yT4Ta.23622$Df6....@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk>, Martin
> Sketchley <msket...@EGGBEANSANDSPAM.blueyonder.co.uk
>>Hit me with a mallet and be done with it.
>>
>>Martin
>>(first novel due out in Feb 04 -- from Earthlight!)
>
> Oh hell. Hope you can get something sorted out.
It turns out some more news has surfaced. Booktrade give a
thorough run-down of what the S&S changes mean:
Under the new arrangement, Earthlight, the science fiction and
fantasy list started up five years ago, will cease to exist as
an imprint from the end of this year. Its authors will be
published on the Simon & Schuster and Pocket lists where they
will be given the same profile and commitment as before, but
will enjoy the benefits of belonging to the main body of the
fiction list. As a consequence of this, Darren Nash, Senior
Editor, will be leaving the company at the end of September.
(See http://www.booktrade.info/index.php?category=news&feed=CompanyNews&newsitem=2614&PHPSESSID=fa6fe2cfb26272a8b6ced4c2c54d6086
for the whole gory story.)
This is *not* as bad as initially reported. However, it's
still not good news for any authors who were acquired by
Darren Nash (or John Jarrold, for that matter) and who had a
personal editorial relationship with them. And it turns out
that S&S are cutting 5% of their head count in the US, as
well -- this isn't just the UK arm.
And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
-- Charlie
Mark Atwood
>
> And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
> autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
Could it be that Earthlight threw in the towel in part *because* Tor UK
was starting up?
--
Mark Atwood | When you do things right,
m...@pobox.com | people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
http://www.pobox.com/~mra
David Bilek
>This is *not* as bad as initially reported. However, it's
>still not good news for any authors who were acquired by
>Darren Nash (or John Jarrold, for that matter) and who had a
>personal editorial relationship with them. And it turns out
>that S&S are cutting 5% of their head count in the US, as
>well -- this isn't just the UK arm.
>
>And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
>autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
>
I hope Tor UK produces the same quality of book as (American) Tor
does. Speaking of the physical product, that is. I'm becoming
increasingly annoyed at the typical shoddy construction and high-acid
paper used in most of my UKian hardcovers. Perhaps Tor can start a
trend towards sewn bindings and acid free paper in the UK?
-David
Charlie Stross
>> And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
>> autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
>
> Could it be that Earthlight threw in the towel in part *because* Tor UK
> was starting up?
I doubt it. Earthlight had a very strong identity and a strong
list. Why throw in the towel just because a rival has announced
that they're going to try and crowbar their way into your
market some time next year? A more normal corporate response
would be to say "we were here first -- bring 'em on."
-- Charlie
Mark Atwood
> >
> > Could it be that Earthlight threw in the towel in part *because* Tor UK
> > was starting up?
>
> I doubt it. Earthlight had a very strong identity and a strong
> list. Why throw in the towel just because a rival has announced
> that they're going to try and crowbar their way into your
> market some time next year? A more normal corporate response
> would be to say "we were here first -- bring 'em on."
I don't know about that. Businessmen *hate* competition.
Charlie Stross
> I hope Tor UK produces the same quality of book as (American) Tor
> does. Speaking of the physical product, that is. I'm becoming
> increasingly annoyed at the typical shoddy construction and high-acid
> paper used in most of my UKian hardcovers. Perhaps Tor can start a
> trend towards sewn bindings and acid free paper in the UK?
Hope so. (I believe certain Tor US editors are critical of the
quality of UK hardbacks -- hopefully it'll have some effect.
But I believe Tor UK is being run as a mostly-independent
publishing house, for obvious reasons.)
-- Charlie
Dan Goodman
news:m3r84i1...@khem.blackfedora.com:
> Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> writes:
>> >
>> > Could it be that Earthlight threw in the towel in part *because*
>> > Tor UK was starting up?
>>
>> I doubt it. Earthlight had a very strong identity and a strong
>> list. Why throw in the towel just because a rival has announced
>> that they're going to try and crowbar their way into your
>> market some time next year? A more normal corporate response
>> would be to say "we were here first -- bring 'em on."
>
> I don't know about that. Businessmen *hate* competition.
>
They hate "unfair" competition. They don't hate competition they think will
be inept. And they overestimate their companies' effectiveness.
I would expect the attitude to be something like: "They're American, so
they don't understand the British market. They'll fail, and we'll laugh at
them."
--
Dan Goodman dsg...@visi.com
Journal: http://dsgood.blogspot.com
James Nicoll
Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> wrote:
>
>And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
>autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
This autumn? The copy of Line of Polity I briefly owned
was from them...
--
"Sequels never enhance a work. They only serve to trivialize
it."
Frank Herbert
Charlie Stross
> In article <slrnbhqpsi....@raq981.uk2net.com.antipope.org>,
> Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> wrote:
>>
>>And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
>>autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
>
> This autumn? The copy of Line of Polity I briefly owned
> was from them...
Ignore me; I tend to be vague on what year it is these days,
mostly on account of really, really wishing I was still living
in the last century.
-- Charlie "H. P. Lovecraft would be proud of me" Stross
Mike Gallagher
<dtb...@comcast.net> writes
>Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> wrote:
>>And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
>>autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
>>
>
>I hope Tor UK produces the same quality of book as (American) Tor
>does. Speaking of the physical product, that is. I'm becoming
>increasingly annoyed at the typical shoddy construction and high-acid
>paper used in most of my UKian hardcovers. Perhaps Tor can start a
>trend towards sewn bindings and acid free paper in the UK?
I hope Tor UK publishes the quality of paperback that you normally find
in Britain. They cost a lot more than US ones but they last longer and
the cover art is generally less embarrassing. I've just gone through the
pb's I have to hand and I don't have any Tor US books to judge by; the
Del Rey ones are all right though not brilliant and the Baen ones are
frankly trash.
--
to reply, replace | 'It is better to light a flamethrower
'spamtrap' with | than to curse the darkness.'
'mikegallagher' | - Terry Pratchett
David Bilek
>In message <93tqhv08gog74ip5m...@4ax.com>, David Bilek
><dtb...@comcast.net> writes
>>Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> wrote:
>>>And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
>>>autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
>>>
>>
>>I hope Tor UK produces the same quality of book as (American) Tor
>>does. Speaking of the physical product, that is. I'm becoming
>>increasingly annoyed at the typical shoddy construction and high-acid
>>paper used in most of my UKian hardcovers. Perhaps Tor can start a
>>trend towards sewn bindings and acid free paper in the UK?
>
>I hope Tor UK publishes the quality of paperback that you normally find
>in Britain. They cost a lot more than US ones but they last longer and
>the cover art is generally less embarrassing. I've just gone through the
>pb's I have to hand and I don't have any Tor US books to judge by; the
>Del Rey ones are all right though not brilliant and the Baen ones are
>frankly trash.
Baen books are, indeed, trash. They are not representative of the
typical American mass market paperback.
FWIW, you seem to be comparing UKian trade paperbacks to American mass
market paperbacks. Is this intentional? The UK has mass market
paperbacks, doesn't it? Now that I think about it, all the UKian
paperbacks I have are trade paperbacks...
Odd.
-David
J. F. Cornwall
> Mike Gallagher <Mi...@spamtrap.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>In message <93tqhv08gog74ip5m...@4ax.com>, David Bilek
>><dtb...@comcast.net> writes
>>
>>>Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>>And it needs to be said that Tor UK is starting up this
>>>>autumn, which should take up some of the slack in the trade.
>>>>
>>>
>>>I hope Tor UK produces the same quality of book as (American) Tor
>>>does. Speaking of the physical product, that is. I'm becoming
>>>increasingly annoyed at the typical shoddy construction and high-acid
>>>paper used in most of my UKian hardcovers. Perhaps Tor can start a
>>>trend towards sewn bindings and acid free paper in the UK?
>>
>>I hope Tor UK publishes the quality of paperback that you normally find
>>in Britain. They cost a lot more than US ones but they last longer and
>>the cover art is generally less embarrassing. I've just gone through the
>>pb's I have to hand and I don't have any Tor US books to judge by; the
>>Del Rey ones are all right though not brilliant and the Baen ones are
>>frankly trash.
>
>
> Baen books are, indeed, trash. They are not representative of the
> typical American mass market paperback.
>
If they're not representative of the USAn "mass market", why are there
so many of them being sold? Surely you must agree they *are*
representative of at least a *portion* of the market?
And your "trash" may well be the sort of book I like to read. :-)
Tastes vary, and some of us like a rather wide variety of stuff!
A quick scan of my shelves for the books I keep shows Baen titles from
David Drake, Lois M. Bujold, Harry Turtledove, Larry Niven/Jerry
Pournelle, and a few others. *I* don't consider them "trash".
Jim Cornwall
Dan Goodman
news:uAmTa.88854$o86....@news1.central.cox.net:
I don't think he was discussing the contents. I think he was discussing
the books as physical objects.
> A quick scan of my shelves for the books I keep shows Baen titles from
> David Drake, Lois M. Bujold, Harry Turtledove, Larry Niven/Jerry
> Pournelle, and a few others. *I* don't consider them "trash".
>
With one exception, every author you cite has written some fiction which
I would call trash -- along with other fiction which I consider good.
David Bilek
>David Bilek wrote:
>> Mike Gallagher <Mi...@spamtrap.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>In message <93tqhv08gog74ip5m...@4ax.com>, David Bilek
>>><dtb...@comcast.net> writes
>>>>
>>>>does. Speaking of the physical product, that is. I'm becoming
>>>>increasingly annoyed at the typical shoddy construction and high-acid
>>>>paper used in most of my UKian hardcovers. Perhaps Tor can start a
>>>>trend towards sewn bindings and acid free paper in the UK?
>>>
>>>I hope Tor UK publishes the quality of paperback that you normally find
>>>in Britain. They cost a lot more than US ones but they last longer and
>>>the cover art is generally less embarrassing. I've just gone through the
>>>pb's I have to hand and I don't have any Tor US books to judge by; the
>>>Del Rey ones are all right though not brilliant and the Baen ones are
>>>frankly trash.
>>
>>
>> Baen books are, indeed, trash. They are not representative of the
>> typical American mass market paperback.
>>
>
>If they're not representative of the USAn "mass market", why are there
>so many of them being sold? Surely you must agree they *are*
>representative of at least a *portion* of the market?
>
>And your "trash" may well be the sort of book I like to read. :-)
>Tastes vary, and some of us like a rather wide variety of stuff!
>
>A quick scan of my shelves for the books I keep shows Baen titles from
>David Drake, Lois M. Bujold, Harry Turtledove, Larry Niven/Jerry
>Pournelle, and a few others. *I* don't consider them "trash".
>
Please read for context instead of responding in a knee-jerk fashion
because you think I'm impugning your taste.
Note particularly the bit in my original post where I explicitly
state, "Speaking of the physical product, that is" and then make
reference to bindings, paper, and so forth.
-David
James Nicoll
>> Mike Gallagher <Mi...@spamtrap.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>I hope Tor UK publishes the quality of paperback that you normally find
>>>in Britain. They cost a lot more than US ones but they last longer and
>>>the cover art is generally less embarrassing. I've just gone through the
>>>pb's I have to hand and I don't have any Tor US books to judge by; the
>>>Del Rey ones are all right though not brilliant and the Baen ones are
>>>frankly trash.
>>
>> Baen books are, indeed, trash. They are not representative of the
>> typical American mass market paperback.
>>
>
>If they're not representative of the USAn "mass market", why are there
>so many of them being sold? Surely you must agree they *are*
>representative of at least a *portion* of the market?
>
>And your "trash" may well be the sort of book I like to read. :-)
>Tastes vary, and some of us like a rather wide variety of stuff!
I think this is about Baen Books as physical objects: Badly
bound and the ink comes off on my fingers sort of thing.
James F. Cornwall
Ah. Sorry... Most threads seem to revolve around the contents, of
course, and there have been numerous comments about Baen's "futuristic
war porn" and such over the past couple of years. Since some of us
really enjoy that, I guess I did react a bit hastily.
Jim
--
****************************************************
** Facilior veniam posterius quam prius capere! **
****************************************************
** James F. Cornwall, sole owner of all opinions **
** expressed in this message... **
****************************************************
Mike Gallagher
<dtb...@comcast.net> writes
>typical American mass market paperback.
>
>FWIW, you seem to be comparing UKian trade paperbacks to American mass
>market paperbacks. Is this intentional? The UK has mass market
>paperbacks, doesn't it? Now that I think about it, all the UKian
>paperbacks I have are trade paperbacks...
The UK mass market paperbacks are lower quality than the trade
paperbacks. Here's the Harper-Collins mass-market edition of 'The Years
of Rice and Salt'; lighter-weight coarser paper, lighter card cover,
printing slightly less crisp possibly because of the paper but the ink
doesn't smudge, binding in fact slightly better than the Abacus trade
edition I have of 'The Sacred Art of Stealing'. Cover graphics about
equal in quality. And the book is smaller.
It's definitely midway in quality between all the Del Rey books I have
to hand ('Neverwhere', 'The Subtle Knife', some more) and any of the
trade paperbacks from whoever. On the other hand the cover price is
eight pounds instead of seven dollars.
David Langford
wrote:
[re Earthlight collapse]
>The big-name British writers probably won't have too much
>difficulty finding new homes. (I'm talking about people like
>Christopher Priest here.)
Never published in the Earthlight imprint; his latest, =The Separation=,
was a Scribner trade pb, more or less "disappeared" thanks to a Simon &
Schuster editor who didn't understand the notion of alternate history (the
subgenre to which it comes closest) and released it -- well, allowed a very
few copies to escape -- near-invisibly as just another WWII novel, with no
repeat no publicity budget. Chris Priest has since moved to Victor Gollancz
on the strength of the book's BSFA and Clarke award wins; VG will reissue
the book in hardback.
I gather that the Dumb S&S Editor was mightily annoyed that this novel he
hasn't liked had got rave reviews and won awards, and upbraided Chris no
end for telling the story on his website. Now that's what I call supporting
your authors.
Dave
--
David Langford
ans...@cix.co.uk | http://www.ansible.co.uk/
Martin Sketchley
few years ago...
A DREAM OF WESSEX [Earthlight -- pb]
THE SPACE MACHINE [Earthlight -- pb]
INVERTED WORLD [Earthlight -- pb]
FUGUE FOR A DARKENING ISLAND [Earthlight -- pb]
THE DREAM ARCHIPELAGO [Earthlight -- hb & pb]
One edition consisted of A DREAM OF WESSEX and THE SPACE MACHINE, another of
INVERTED WORLD and FUGUE FOR A DARKENING ISLAND.
As for myself, I've lost two editors and an imprint within the space of a
year; surely this is something of a record!
--
Martin Sketchley | www.msketchley.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
(remove ALLJEWELLERY to reply by e-mail)
David Langford
wrote:
>On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 00:16:53 +0100, Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org>
>wrote:
>
>[re Earthlight collapse]
>
>>The big-name British writers probably won't have too much
>>difficulty finding new homes. (I'm talking about people like
>>Christopher Priest here.)
>
>Never published in the Earthlight imprint; his latest, =The Separation=,
>was a Scribner trade pb
No, wrong -- I shouldn't post while shagged out from a long journey. As
well as his appearances in the "mainstream" S&S lists (=The Extremes= and
=The Separation=) Chris had some earlier stuff reissued by Earthlight, and
one of these -- =The Dream Archipelago=, a collection of thematically
linked stories -- was more or less a new book although several of the
components had been collected before. I abase myself. Thog is laughing
heartily at my humiliation....
Michael R N Dolbear
David Bilek <dtb...@comcast.net> wrote
[...]
> >>>the cover art is generally less embarrassing. I've just gone
through the
> >>>pb's I have to hand and I don't have any Tor US books to judge by;
the
> >>>Del Rey ones are all right though not brilliant and the Baen ones
are
> >>>frankly trash.
> state, "Speaking of the physical product, that is" and then make
> reference to bindings, paper, and so forth.
Jim Baen states that the printing, binding etc. of all US mmpbs is done
under the same quality controls by the same set of huge firms. Baen
usually gives a name like "Windhaven Press", the others just "Printed
in the United States of America".
What do you think of Baen hc quality ?
--
Mike D