One of our biggest expenses is postage and the USPS is raising their rates this month. When we started the press it cost $1.42 to send a book media rate. Right now the rate is $1.59 but they’re raising the it to $2.13. 54 cents may not sound like much but it adds up. We send out a lot of review copies. So far this year I’d estimate that we’ve sent out over 200 ARCs, not to mention contributor’s copies for anthologies. At these new prices it would have cost $100 more. So I think we are going to have to get even more selective about where we send review copies. It’s too bad more reviewers won’t accept PDFs, though I understand why they don’t.
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We don't at Rue Morgue because it is nearly impossible to convince our writers to read off the screen to review a book (and I can see why, it makes my eyes and head ache after a time, too). While PDFs can be printed out, they then turn into awkward full-page size arcs which are not easy to carry around.
I think selective review copies isn't necessarily a bad idea. Send out a press release for a title, and see who requests a copy, while still sending out copies to high-profile places or places you pretty much know you'll get reviewed. I do that with Burning Effigy titles and it works fairly well.
good idea
I like your idea about sending a press release to try to get people to request a copy. That's a better way of making sure the person receiving the book is really interested. Do you usually send the release through the mail or as an email?
Re: good idea
Usually through emails.
As the books editor at RM, I have also requested this of some of the small presses we deal with (who had concerns they were wasting money sending us lots of titles when we could only cover a select few).
Obviously, we can't review everything that comes out or even everything we get sent, so the press releases allow me to see in advance what smaller companies have coming up and I can pick and choose select titles that we'd want to cover in the mag. Saving them from spending tons of money on printing and sending out review copies that will never get covered, and we get exactly the titles we do want to cover. It saves the press money but also gets us what we need. Because trust me, I totally understand how expensive it can be to run a small press. And I love reviewing small press titles in the mag and I would hate to not be able to do that anymore - so yeah, to make a long tangent short, this seems to work very well in practice (and most people are hooked up to email these days).
Re: good idea
Excellent advice!
Ye gods, I had no idea that rates were going up that much. I knew first class was going from 39 to 41 cents, but that rise in book rate is a killer.
I still can't even figure out what the changes are for the other types of mail. Apparently International rates are going to be higher and it looks like boxes will also be a lot more but it's really confusing. I'm glad I got all those BB#10's mailed out already. I saw the pic on your LJ, by the way, it looked very ominous extending from your keyboard!
2 frickin' 13! Didn't know it was going up that much ...
Yeah, it's pretty outrageous since there's always the chance that they could lose your package and there's no recourse.