The Book That Costs More to Print Than It Earns
In 1917, Virginia and Leonard Woolf spent two months printing and binding 150 copies of a small book called Two Stories. It contained a story by each of them, with illustrations by Dora Carrington. They sold 134 copies quickly enough to raise the price on the remaining copies. Their profit was seven pounds and one shilling. The Hogarth Press was off to a successful start, but it had taken a great deal of work to earn a modest sum.
More than a century later, a publisher can work just as hard, sell hundreds of books, and lose money. Printing and selling books has become easier in many ways. A publisher can have a copy printed when someone orders it, without keeping boxes of books in a warehouse. But easier does not always mean profitable.
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