Print Shop/Book Store?

[lyllamarie]

I've been chewing on the idea, and since I've only been active for a little bit I'm not sure if the idea has been brought up and shot down, but I thought I would give it a go. Feel free to give feedback, or to give an emphatic 'No' . It's okay. it won't hurt my feelings, well maybe, but you can't be liable for crushing someone's entire reason for living and their hopes and dreams...

no, seriously, kidding.

I see that for the most part, books are available through Unigo for magical classes, and bards and entertainers can of course perform in the soon to be finished amphitheater. However, for the most part, I'm not sure where everyone is procuring their books, or for that matter printing all those nice fliers you see posted around town on the occassion (especially since paper is not cheap). So.. My proposition is for an Imperial Book Store/Publishing Company/Print Store. It would function with three large book presses, and employ those with scribe or book binding skills.

The book store would in essence be it's own print shop and publishing shop.. most of the titles for sale will be collections that are bought from local bards, entertainers, any who have a Master skill in a general skill and wish to compile a written work up aside from the traditional mentoring avenues. There would need to be logs provided, which I would imagine would go in the freelance section. First, books can be bought in 3 formats, from cheap to expensive. There would be a list of titles available for public purchase, examples include cook books, book of poems, book of songs, book of art, etc.

1. Loose paper bound by thread at 3 points on the folded edges.

2. Loose paper bound by thread, covered by flexible paste board with leather cover.

3. Paper bound then glued to thin wood spine and cover, then covered again with oiled and tooled leather with straps to keep closed.


Aquisition of new Material;
There are two methods material for book titles can be obtained.

1. Buying

2. Commisioning

The most common will be the purchase of materials; if a writer/artist wishes to distribute their works they will contact a clerk of the printing press. Moving through the correct avenues, the work is assessed for it's validity and value and the writer is paid for the work. At this juncture the rights to the material is brought solely under the name of the store.. the name of the writer remains on the publication, giving the writer a chance to distribute his name and works. The store will then begin offering the title on it's list, and will either be printed enmass (depending on the popularity) or on a request basis. If a writer does not want to wait for the proper avenues; if they simply wish to distribute fliers, pamphlets or books without compensation.. they can pay a fee to the shop for the print and work, which is assessed by the number of pages and how many copies they want. These titles are not added to the list available for public purchase.



disclaimer; the book store does not guarantee anonymity since the whole point of being published is to be KNOWN.. so if your going to write a fluff piece of tawdry romance and your Mr. Big Britches Warrior or your Mrs Anacharist to the Empire.. our suggestion would be to use a disguise and pen name. Even then we still reserve the right to snicker behind your back when your not looking.

[Stormbringer]

We do get this about every 6 months and I don't really have the willpower to make a comprehensive answer every time. Maybe there should be a section on the web site for good ideas that get rejected on a regular basis, so it would save everyone time.

Briefly, in the sort of period you mention, books were not widely available, they were not sold in shops and most people couldn't read anyway. They were produced either by religious bodies for internal use, or by scribes working for nobles, and the subject matters were extremely limited. Now you can argue that this is a fantasy world where characters gain literacy through some unknown means (since there are no schools I've ever seen, and the majority of the population would still be working 18 hour days just to survive) and where magic could turn out books at an unlimited rate. Which could be an equally valid argument for laser cannons and spaceships. So we draw arbitrary lines on what fantasy and magic can achieve, and in a world where we encourage bards to exist, we don't encourage competition from mass-produced entertainment.

Freelance scribes who want to try and earn money by copying scrolls (excluding spells) could work in the same way as any other freelance enterprise providing they roleplayed the purchase of materials and the work of copying something which they had roleplayed acquiring from somewhere so they actually had something to copy in the first place. But there won't be a book shop, there won't be a lending library and there won't be any empire funding by being able to sell the product to any official location. So you'd need to persuade other characters to give you money for doing it and you'd also need a valid reason why your own character was capable of doing that work.

[Elise`whitepaw]

then againt her are more and more people who are having in there back ground that they have learn to read by them selfs or with a touter esle where... i think this is a good idea

[L`aquera]

I cringe when I think of the amount of work I took IC'ly to create L`s book of her spells. A lot of rp time, I hunted down who could make the leather bound book itself and then had to learn how to put it together. To say the least, her book is servicable, but not pretty , but I did spend the time IC'ly to write it down, was oft found in the library of Unigo doing so. This was early and middle and late stages. It was a long progressive time. Considering I've had L` for over two years, you do the math. Now.. think of a library.....

Yeah.. scary isn't it? It is. Which is where SB is coming from. Now! There is a possibility once real IC trading starts going on with other countries that some books could be imported. Rare books could go up for sale. I'm sure some of the older players made spell books of their own. Keep in mind I thought I had to do that IC.. heh.. Well, it was still nice to do it.