Have you self-published a deck? Looking for advice.

[Barefoot Fool]

I'm interested in finding out where people who have self-published decks have gone to get decks printed and how much to expect to spend. I've gotten some quotes and it seems like the on-line card printing places I found are going to charge me about $7000 and won't print less than 3000. This seems astronomical in both aspects.

I am open to any ideas for self-publishing.

I couldn't find an answer anywhere here, but if there is one I would love to read it.

 

[HudsonGray]

LOL! More than a dozen people here have done it.

Yes, the cost is high, depends on what you're getting done. Lamination/varnish costs, the corner cutting costs separately, the printing cost.... it adds up. Add in a tuck box and the price doubles (I made pouches for all 1,300 of mine). You can self publish.

Mine was done on the cheap -- card stock at a local printer. First print run of 500 was $1,300. I sold out in just over a year I think. Second print run was 300, third print run was another 500 (of which I have about 300 left). The higher the print run, the lower the cost per deck. The printer did all the cutting (he did a good job framing each) and packed them in sets of 4 to a group, each deck set divided by a purple card, in the boxes. It was up to me to do the little white booklet and the packaging and shipping.

Several people here have used Gamecrafter (the TaRat deck was done this way).
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish
These have been suggested --
http://www.dpandi.com/resources/printmakers/printmakers.html
http://www.delanoservice.com/
http://www.gobretail.com/podcards-pricing.php
http://www.tmcards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=6afabc2a6fe57c004bf9761ee0c2079c

I remember someone saying they used Lulu.com but don't know which deck it was.

In the USA there is a Carta Mundi office in Texas and Tennessee, they do tarot and won't mess up an order. However 3,000 is the minimum print run.
http://www.cartamundiusa.com/elite/contact/
They will do up self published decks.

Julie Cuccia-Waats did either the Blue Moon or the Maat deck at a printer in Waukesha, WI. There are local printers that can do the right surface varnish and give a fully professional finish to the decks. Look around locally, keep getting quotes. Take samples of another deck along to show what you want them to duplicate with their paper and inks.

It was a little buried, but here's my thread as I went through the process. Not sure if it'll help you (you may not be doing a black and white deck on card stock, LOL) but I posted everything I did on it.
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=8948&highlight=hits

 

[Barefoot Fool]

More than a dozen people here have done it.

Thank you so much. I knew plenty of people here had done it, but I do have to call you all to find you all

Now I get to go through all the info you sent.

 

[Babalon Jones]

$7000 for 3000 decks is not a ridiculous price, actually. I spent MUCH more than that for very many less decks, but I also had boxes and books to consider. I agree that you likely won't need 3000 decks to start though, unless you are one hell of a marketer. And keep in mind you would need a room to store them in, that many takes up more room than you might think!

Like Hudson mentioned, as the number of decks go down, the cost per deck goes up, so reducing the number won't proportionally reduce the price.

If you can find a printer close to you that is the best option, as the shipping alone could cost hundreds of dollars if you have a lot printed (paper is heavy!) and that won't be included in the prices you are quoted.

You can save by having them bulk packed like Hudson did, not all collated and shrink-wrapped, and by rounding the corners yourself, collating and shrinkwrapping yourself, but keep in mind that doing so takes more time than you might think. doing hundreds of anything becomes very repetitive! It may be worth it to you to pay the printers to do as much as you can. Get quotes, and samples first.

Carta Mundi may take a long time to get back to you when you contact them, the minimum is 3000 like Hudson said. I got a much higher price than $7000 from them for 3000, and did not end up going with them as it was too much, but my deck is full of color on both sides.
I will be writing about my experiences on my blog soon, when I have some time, with more info there, about what worked & what didn't, what I tried, what I thought of but didn't try, what getting quotes is like etc. I'll try to get the info up in the next week or so.

Edited to add: don't give up! It is a struggle and it takes time but it can be done in many different ways.

 

[tarotlyn]

I'm interested in finding out where people who have self-published decks have gone to get decks printed and how much to expect to spend. I've gotten some quotes and it seems like the on-line card printing places I found are going to charge me about $7000 and won't print less than 3000. This seems astronomical in both aspects.

I am open to any ideas for self-publishing.

I couldn't find an answer anywhere here, but if there is one I would love to read it.

Hi! Barefoot Fool... Not sure if you found a printer yet, but I recently, a few days ago,
put my new 'All Bears Tarot' deck on: http://www.thegamecrafters.com web site.
(THANKS TO MoonGypsy...she gave me the link)

The crafters site gives you your own web page and do all the (excellent by the way) printing.
They use very expensive high quality professional equipment.

Once you learn how to find your way around their site, it is amazing how well they are set up.
They also have a 'chat' service that you can use to contact other members there that
I am sure will help you answer any immediate questions you may have.

I would suggest that you decide on a printer (such as the game crafters) BEFORE you
design your deck (if possible)...each printer will have different requirements as to the size, etc.
of your card photos for submitting for printing. I like the game crafters because they have
a really neat 'proofing' process that you will use before they will print your cards.

You can choose a 'printed' tuck box and offer either printed or download for your LWB
meanings documentation. They don't charge by the deck, but by each printed sheet of
cards and also a separate charge for the tuck box, etc. if your want that. Right now, they
have just the poker size and a 'giant' size card template, but they are adding the regular sized tarot card
template to their tarot printing options. They may have already added that size.

Profits: They do receive 30% of the proceeds of each sale (leaves you 70%)...BUT they
do ALL the printing, etc. Don't forget they also give you your own NICE web page to sell from,
where you can write up your own description of the deck as well as add your own
sales images. Their form pages will help you create your web page very easily! It's fun as well!

THE BEST PART: You need NO money up front! They are totally PRINT ON DEMAND...
When someone orders a deck...then they print it and ship it out to them via priority mail.

They handle and pay for all the printing, card stock, cutting, corner rounding, tuck box printing and
assembling. Plus they ship for you and they keep great records for you, which you will be
able to follow along with in your 'stats' account they set up for you on their account.

They are excellent on communication with you and send immediate emails regarding any sales
you make from your web page on their site.

The also have a forum there where you can post, however, I found that their 'chat' service
which shows up on each page when you are in your account, to be so much better when
needing immediate help. (I think I mentioned that already! )

Here is the AT link to my bears deck creation thread... http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=164322
...so you can see what I went through, but most of my game crafter's site experience is
towards the end of the thread.
I WISH I had used their tarot card template (for sizing) BEFORE I created my cards!
Luckily, several of their members (from the chat sessions) helped me turn out a
very successful little bear deck in spite of my starting with the wrong size card!!!



Good luck with your tarot venture!
HUGS
tarotlyn

 

[souljourney]

Tarotlyn....
Thanks for the heads up about downloading their template first! We are working on a couple of decks and I think they are who I'm going to use.

I am curious that if I want to personally purchase a number of my own decks, will I have to pay "retail" and get my royalty cut or can I buy them at cost?

I sent a friend a link to your All Bear Tarot. They LOVE bears.

 

[windynightsemporium]

Hrmm...I don' think my advice would help much since I hand-drawn the images on mine and they're all different, since they're custom jobs...the most I have to spend is the 20 or so dollars on enough laminating paper...

 

[gregory]

Gamecrafter has quality issues (have deck with misaligned backs ) and also OUTRAGEOUS postage charges. They also send things out in vast boxes (adds massively to the postage and wastes paper etc.) Think medium mailer box (US) for one small deck....

You have PM.

 

[tarotlyn]

My own deck should be here in a couple of days...they shipped it yesterday and
they ship via priority...they do ask that you get insurance...but you don't have to.

Boxes, yes, I hear they are large...and they are working on changing that. They are used
to mailing out 'game board' sized items is why.

I will post here when I get my deck, as to the back alignment...they do suggest using a back
image that doesn't have a border, thus causing less problem.

...be back in a couple of days...

HUGS
tarotlyn

ETA: They are very good about fixing things if something goes wrong...that is why they have
you buy the very 'first deck' yourself, so you can check everything...and if you don't like it,
then just contact them and tell them....they are great about redoing something if it is wrong.
Plus, they have templates (that you use) that show the cutting lines, etc.
Plus you have to use their 'proofing' page for each card before they will print it.
I am glad I was able to proof each card, because I was able to correct anything at that stage.

When I was proofing a card, I could see exactly what would be cut off and what would go
all the way out to the edge bleed lines, etc.

 

[tarotlyn]

Tarotlyn....
Thanks for the heads up about downloading their template first! We are working on a couple of decks and I think they are who I'm going to use.

I am curious that if I want to personally purchase a number of my own decks, will I have to pay "retail" and get my royalty cut or can I buy them at cost?

I sent a friend a link to your All Bear Tarot. They LOVE bears.

Hi! souljourney, you will be able to buy all the decks you want 'at cost' and distribute
them yourself.

What I did, for now, is to set my selling page on their site to a 'cost' price and only able to be
seen right now by me giving my friends the link to that page. Once I set the page to 'publish'...
(public viewing and selling) then anyone will be able to buy from that page.

Even after you set your page to public viewing/selling, you (only you) will still be able to buy
as many decks as you want at 'cost.'

Good Luck with your two decks...
taotlyn...