Merrick Books Brings Authors’ Visions to Life With Deluxe, Limited-Edition Books | Publishing

6/19/2024

RRD’s premium print and fulfillment support helps leading publisher increase book sales and save 40% on shipping costs 

CHALLENGE

Author Andrew Cobble founded Merrick Books in 2022. His goal was to help independent science-fiction and fantasy writers create deluxe, limited editions of their books without breaking the bank. Cobble had learned the ropes when publishing his own book and had gained the expertise to guide fellow authors. Merrick Books was created to help authors crowdsource the funding to publish their own customized books.

These premium, collector’s edition books are often over 800 pages and sell for approximately $75 each. Both authors and readers display them with pride. However, when working with external print and fulfillment vendors, Merrick Books experienced inconsistencies in quality and service. They sought an end-to-end partner to mitigate these issues and provide cost savings.

SOLUTION

In RRD, Merrick Books found a partner with consistent quality and customer service. As an end-to-end print and fulfillment vendor, RRD now collaborates directly with the Merrick Books teams, offering suggestions for elevating their final products and improving cost efficiency.

The insight and ideas RRD provides are the result of vast experience. RRD currently works with 716 book publishers around the world, including the “Big Five,” and offers broad expertise and high-end features to all authors. 

“RRD has the scope and scale to achieve anything we’ve ever seen in a book — and some things we haven’t ever seen,” Cobble said. “RRD is able to produce unique editions with features other vendors aren’t capable of, and the books are coming out better than we expected. Our authors are very excited because they’ve never seen these features. Readers are thrilled because the books are unique additions to their home libraries.”

RRD’s extensive printing capabilities allow authors to choose from an itemized list of feature options — which they can then detail in their crowdsourcing appeal. The available special features create vivid images that stand out, including color interior maps and other artwork on glossy, coated paper stock. Gauffered page edges, a gilding and decorating technique widely used in the 15th century, is also available. Custom slipcases, unique foiling, and laser engraving are options as well. 

RRD also created an economical solution to get pre-signed, tipped-in pages included in each book to enable end users to receive author-signed book copies efficiently. The team also devised and deployed a plan to prevent overseas shipping damage. Ultimately, RRD helped Merrick Books save 40% on shipping by combining several different books into one container load.

Merrick Books now has a partner that understands its vision and is invested in its success. 

“Our final product is premium because RRD offers a level of quality and customer service that doesn’t exist with other vendors,” Cobble said. “With RRD, we can create and publish a luxury edition that’s going to be worth it to consumers. RRD helps bring our vision to life.”

RESULTS

RRD’s support has helped Merrick Books deliver a striking product and experience cost savings. Merrick Books’ new looks are driving sales — one author’s orders tripled after she showed a mock-up on social media. 

“People do judge a book by its cover and the better your cover is, the more books you’re going to sell,” Cobble said. Additional results include: 

• 40% savings on shipping costs due to improved methods
• Review copies of books are produced more cost-effectively
• As of spring 2024, a dozen books have been published, and an additional dozen are in development
• Books are protected by better shipping methods while in transit 
• Tipped-in, signed author pages provide cost and time efficiencies when delivering autographed copies