MOVABLE STATIONERY Volume 3 Number 4
June 1995
$4.50. If the royalty is 10% you get 45 cents for each
So What do They Package?
book.
Robert Sabuda
"What is a packager?" is one of the most frequently asked questions I hear at children's book author/artist conferences. In standard juvenile publishing there is the author and artist (unless they're one in the same) and the publishing house. Pretty simple. But when a pop-up or other type of novelty book is produced things get a little trickier. Most publishing houses do not have the expertise (nor the time) to design and execute a movable book from start to finish. It's bad enough that they have to spend so much time copy editing and color proofing their flat picture books. But correcting die molds and overseeing assembly, too? Forget it!
That's where the packager comes in. Most packagers are unaffiliated with the publishing houses. They bring ideas and concepts to the houses and then guide the project through its entire production until the books are delivered to the publisher's doorstep. The publisher writes out a check for the whole lot (the publisher is obligated to buy every copy) and then treats the book as one of their own, marketing and distributing it with the rest of their juvenile titles.
"Does one get paid the same way from a packager?"
No, but this is not necessarily bad. When an author/artist signs a contract for a flat picture book he or
she gets an advance plus a royalty (against the advance) for a percentage of the retail price of the book. With a packager the royalty is a percentage of the base price of the book. The base price is the cost the packager sells the book to the publisher for.
For example, if you are the author/artist of a picture book that retails for $20.00 and receive 10% royalty, you get $2.00 for every copy sold. If you are the author/ illustrator (and maybe paper engineer) for a pop-up book that retails for $20.00, you do not get $2.00. A $20.00 book has been marked up by the publisher 75% 80% from the base price, which in this case makes the base price about $4.50. Your percentage comes from that -
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"But that's hideous! You should get the $2.00" Maybe. But you have to remember a couple of things: One, the average first printing for a picture book is 10,000 to 20,000 copies. The average pop-up book has a first printing of 40,000 to 80,000 (the packager will sell foreign rights like mad, which the publisher may be more cautious and wait to see how the book does). And, two, if the picture book doesn't sell well you only get a percentage of those books sold. With pop-up titles the publisher must buy all the books so your percentage is guaranteed for every book. Which is very nice on payday!
"So which is better, a publisher or packager?"
If you don't have any background or experience in novelty books but have a pop-up idea, you're better off going to a packager. They can represent you and your concept in the most enticing fashion for a pubiisher.
A publisher will most likely only work with someone directly on a pop-up project who can execute all the necessary die drawings, nesting sheet (a large sheet that all the pop-up pieces will be cut from like a giant jigsaw puzzle) and answer any and all questions pertaining to the assembly. A big job requirement for one person! But it has the advantage of dealing directly with the publisher. With a packager, the author/artist/engineer sometimes falls out of the loop of communication since so many people become involved with the project: the editor at the packager, the art director at the packager, the paper engineer at the packager. the production coordinator at the packager, then the editor at the publisher, the art director at the publisher and the marketing people at the publisher! That's a lot of people putting in their two cents worth on your project. And trust me, they do.
"A pop-up book sounds like so much work. Is it worth it?" Absolutely. There's nothing like ripping the shrink wrap off your latest title (while the employees at the book store scream that there's already a display copy open) and watching your book come to life!