Print Brokers and search engines

I keep a close watch on the words and phrases that readers use in search engines to find this blog.  Questions about print brokers lead the pack. I guess I should have figured this out on my own because when I’m asked what I do for a living, and I say I’m a print broker, most respond by asking, “What is a print broker?” They wouldn’t do that if I said I was, for example, a stock broker, or even, as I saw on a television commercial recently, a shrimp broker. There’s something about the conjunction of print and broker that creates confusion, and often curiosity.

Why are print brokers attracted to the business?

I don’t know why others become print brokers, but I did because I wanted to provide better service for my customers. I reasoned that as chained print sales rep I was strictly locked into the capabilities, pricing, and business philosophies of the printer employing me. My customers, however, often needed either print production we couldn’t provide, or a redesign of their job to make it fit our capabilities. Either way I found myself in an awkward situation. What should I do, send them away or frankensteinize their project?

(Don’t bother looking up the word frankensteinize, it isn’t dictionaryized because I just created it, and neither is dictionaryized for the same reason.)

What services do print brokers provide?

In my experience a print broker typically performs these duties:

• Consults with customers regarding parameters of the print order. Reviews and discusses any job particulars that will affect the outcome.

• Suggests ways to decrease cost and/or improve quality depending on the requirements of the project.

• Provides samples like paper dummies, paper swatch books, foil stamps, or any other visuals the customer requires to make informed decisions about the print order.

• Aids the customer in determining and clarifying the specifications so that printers will bid apples-to-apples and identify production problems before they ruin the project.

• Pre-qualifies printers or other providers to determine which is the best match for the job.

• Submits bid specifications to qualified printers.

• Consults with printers as needed to answer questions or address production concerns. This is particularly critical when the job is complex.

• Gathers competitive bids.

• Scrutinizes the submitted written bids to make certain the directions were followed, and nothing added or neglected.

• Submits bid with specifications to customer. This gives the customer an opportunity to double-check the specifications at the same time as they receive pricing. The objective is to make sure all parties are in full agreement about the scope of the job.

• Facilitates the transfer of files, or other art to the printer.

• Works with both printer and customer regarding terms of payment and makes sure all conditions are met.

• Arranges and facilitates all necessary proofing steps.

• Attends press checks. Helps the customer understand the printing process and translates printerese into business normal.

• Arranges for delivery of the product to the required destination.

• Oversees and coordinates all parts of the job, this is especially critical if the project consists of multiple pieces.

• Invoices the customer for the work.

• Pays the printer. The customer writes one check and the broker takes care of the rest.

• Most important–deals with problems that may surface during or after the job is delivered. The broker acts is a shield between the customer and the printer in the event of a disagreement.

What is the most valuable service print brokers provide?

The bottom line is that both customers and printers need brokers. Brokers provide the most valuable service of all, we facilitate smooth communication between customer and printer, and that in itself, prevents a whole raft of problems that could occur. Printing, as I always say, is not an exact science. The process, from creative idea to finished product involves so many steps and demands that every one of them be done right. It is a miracle anything turns out as planned, but despite the odds 95% come out great. It’s the 5% that keep us in the graphic arts industry awake at night.

I’ve dedicated many of my blogs to self-publishing authors for a couple of reasons, first, I too am about to publish two books that I’ve written, a good brush up is always warranted, and second, I find myself working with authors more and more recently. As I listen to them I try to anticipate their needs. The miracle of the Internet has opened many more pathways for authors to get their work into the hands of their audiences, and self-publishing is a good way to go. In traditional publishing the authors were shielded from printing. It was the authors job to write and the publisher’s to handle all the other details.  Authors didn’t have to know anything about that other stuff, but if one goes the self-publishing route, you better have at least a cursory knowledge of what I’ve called in a previous blog printerese.

what you have to know

Suppose you were searching for a printer what do you want to know first? Right, how much is this going to cost? To determine the cost, the printer will  ask you some questions:

1. How many books do you want to print?
2. What kind of binding, hardcover or soft?
3. What is the page size of the book?
4. How many pages?
5. If it is hardcover, what kind of material do you want for the wrapper, leather, cloth, or paper?
6. If leather or cloth do you want foil stamping on the spine and cover?
7. What kind of paper do you want for the text?
8. Will it be half or full bound? This refers to using a different wrapper material on the covers than is used on the spine.
9. Will there be photographs, and if so, will they be color or black & white?
10. Will the pages bleed? (Remember this from a previous blog?)
11. Do you want the pages sewn or burst bound?
12. Do you want a dust jacket, if so will it print?
13. If the dust jacket prints is it four color, two color, or one?
14. Do you want a protective coating on the jacket like UV or film lamination?
15. Will there be any special processes such as foil stamps, or  foil embosses on the jacket?
16. Will the edges of the text be deckled or  smooth?
17. Will there be any other special requirements such as gilting?
18. Do you want a bookmark ribbon bound in?
19. Do you want endpapers (recommended), if so, will they print?
20. Do you want flyleaves?
21. How about headbands?
22. Are there any special boxing or packaging requirements?
23. If the books are to be shipped what is the address, how do you want them shipped, and do we use your account?

got lost after No.4

I’m sure there are other questions that must be addressed, but this is a pretty comprehensive list–don’t you agree? While each of these questions is important to pricing the project, unless you are in the business, you probably got lost somewhere after question number 4. What do you do? Well, you can run back to the safety net of traditional publishing, if you can find a publisher to handle your book, that is. Or you could decide to persist and learn what you can. Good resources would include, the web, the library, book designers, graphic designers, printers, or print brokers like myself.

knowledge saves

Whatever learning path you decide to take, concentrate on the 23 questions above and make sure you can answer them completely. Then and only then, are you ready to seek printing bids on your own. Otherwise you are a sheep just waiting to be sheared and trust me there are plenty of people who will gladly take your money while you are all starry eyed and dreaming of being a best selling author. In one case a woman spent over forty-thousand dollars before even one book was printed. Now that’s sad.