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General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

Money maker?

The notion that the $130 book is a "money maker" is, I think, probably off the mark. TAS has an average circulation of 40,000. Let's say 5% of TAS readers buy the book, and an equal number of non-subscribers buy it, both of which sound unlikely to me. That would give them a total run of 4,000 copies. The cost of doing a small production run of a high-quality book with color plates is daunting. If someone asked me to invest in that project as a money-maker, I'd turn them down cold, even if the thing was already written, edited, proofed, photographed, and laid up.

Art books over $1,000 *do* sell, and the publishers claim to make money on them - see link. Still, the high quality book market is a niche, and the high quality audio book market is a niche of a niche. It's tough.

But I'm glad they did it, and if I had cash lying around I'd probably get it, as I've been in audio, high end and otherwise, for decades, and met a number of the leading characters. And $130 isn't that much for this kind of book; Rizzoli and other "high end" bookshops sell many volumes in the $200-500 range, and enough in the $1,000+ range to keep stocking them. Even lowly Folio Society books, which are nicely printed and in slipcovers, run $45-70 a copy *unillustrated* and they have comparatively big production runs. For fun, check out their limited edition page, with their $12,500 "Les Grandes Heures de Jean." Copies are apparently still available, but hurry.

It's all a matter of what your passions are, and what resources you have to indulge them. Then there is extravagance for extravagance's sake, a.k.a. conspicuous consumption. We need that (think blue meters) as it helps fund the development and production of the gear we like.

WW
"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.


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  • Money maker? - Bill Way 16:51:43 07/20/14 (0)

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