Choose a book printing partner

davesag commented 12 years ago

Says it all really. We need a book printing partner.

davesag commented 12 years ago

I have been discussing option with Geoff Hunt of Momento based in Sydney and have also been referred to Blurb based in the USA.

dmontherun commented 12 years ago

I thought Memento sounded pretty good from the verbal you gave, Dave. But I've just looked at Blurb - now that's a set up they've got themselves!

No immediate contacts or knowledge in this area from me ... just the inane observation that choosing the wrong partner could kill us straight away, so we should invest reasonable effort into scouting and due diligence.

dmontherun commented 12 years ago

Other Australian POD service providers (not reviewed):

Other global POD services providers (not reviewed):

dmontherun commented 12 years ago

A quick survey of user forums and feedback on some of the above POD providers, user desires and issues with POD services in general, plus inspection of some of the above provider websites, reveals some issues and opportunities to consider:

most POD providers offer one or more of the following methods to generate the book 'design' to be printed * online templates * proprietary software \ file upload or plug-ins (e.g. PDF, InDesign)
getting file uploads 'right' i.e. matching the detailed requirements of the POD provider seems to be a minefield
different users have very different preferences for the balance between convenience v. creative control v. output quality
some POD providers offer means to get data from Facebook into online templates (e.g. Blurb)
Blurb has clearly the most flexible range of options for creating books, has cookbooks as a specific example of books that can be created (http://www.blurb.com/cookbooks) and offers an online bookstore with established revenue sharing model (http://www.blurb.com/my/seller/info) as well as other useful features such as ebooks (http://www.blurb.com/ebook), digital preview (http://www.blurb.com/make/bookshow), etc. Blurb's US printing quality and reliability is universally applauded, as is its pricing (excluding postage). However, Blurb's Australian printing quality appears to be quite unreliable and its postage charges are prohibitive (and don't reflect the fact it has an Australian print service).
Momento seems to get the best balance of feedback on quality, reliability and price.

davesag commented 12 years ago

I sent the am email to Blurb via their website and got this response.

Molly Millhollon mmillhollon@blurb.com 10 Nov (3 days ago)

to me Hello Dave,

Thank you for your recent inquiry for a volume order with Blurb!

I manage the volume orders with Blurb and would be happy to connect with you directly on this matter!

If you are solely interested in discussing potential partnership opportunities, in terms of your new Facebook app I would like to provide you my direct manager's e-mail address.

He name is Eric Patterson and he is the VP of Business Development. He would definitely be the best person to speak with in regards to partnership and business development.

I look forward to hearing from you! You will find Eric's e-mail address below::

Eric Patterson VP, Business Development epatterson@blurb.com

Best Regards ~Molly

Molly G. Millhollon Saadat Inside Sales Manager mmillhollon@blurb.com 415.364.6365 - direct 415.358.4055 - fax

http://blurb.com http://www.facebook.com/BlurbBooks http://twitter.com/BlurbBooks

I sent the following reply.

Dave Sag dave.sag@openrecipe.com.au 10 Nov (3 days ago)

to Eric, Molly Thanks Molly,

Hi Eric,

I'd like to arrange a time to have a short conversation about our app and what sort of arrangement we can come to such that our users can print recipe collections as books.

I'm based in Canberra so GMT+11 right now (due to daylight savings). I'm not sure where you are but I'm happy to chat late in my evening if that helps.

Can we schedule a Google Hangout chat or Skype chat perhaps at a time convenient to you.

Cheers

Dave

Sent from my iPhone

I got this reply from Eric

Eric Patterson 11 Nov (2 days ago)

to me Hi Dave,

I am on the road for the next couple of weeks. Maybe early December?

How large is your install base?

Thanks,

Eric

I sent this response

Dave Sag dave.sag@openrecipe.com.au 11 Nov (2 days ago)

to Eric Early December is fine. Book publishing is being developed in phase two. Still building phase one with a view to Xmas launch so no users yet other than a few testers / seed users.

davesag / open-recipe

Choose a book printing partner #6