Four Centuries of Solo Mandolin Music
http://www.neilgladd.com/Publications/NGP%201002.html
This has been mentioned in other threads, but now that it is out and available, I thought it deserved a thread of it's own.
A little background on the book: This is not a method or teaching material, it is just a book full of concert repertoire, enough for several entire concert programs. There are a few easier pieces, but most of it is not for beginners. I edited the first edition, Three Centuries of Solo Mandolin Music, for Plucked String Editions in 1988. It was 66 pages with 19 pieces, and sold initially for $20, but went up to $25 sometime in the 90s. When I decided to redo it, I decided to take out the arrangements, and include only original compositions for mandolin. I also had to leave out some contemporary pieces that I did not have the rights to, so I had to replace all of the pieces that were taken out with different music, and also intended to add "a few more." I had no idea what it would cost, but guessed that with more pages and 30 years of cost increases for paper and printing, that it might sell for $35-$40, and offered it for pre-sale at $25, to give people a discount. It turned out to be more of a discount than I thought. I kept finding more and more and MORE pieces that I wanted to include, and by the time I got a printing estimate, it was up to 151 pages and 65 pieces, only 9 of which were in the first edition, and the list price was up to $65. That is based entirely on the printing cost, the same as my other books, this one just has a lot more pages! I wanted to include some contemporary pieces to replace the others (and account for the 4th century mentioned in the title), so I put in some of my own short pieces, and asked 3 composer friends if I could include some of their music. Unlike the first edition, where all of the composers had assigned their copyrights to Plucked String, I only asked for permission to print their works, so all of the composers still own their music. This is the first time that I have printed music by living composers, other than myself, so it is the first time that I will have to pay royalties on copies sold, and their payments will be higher because of all the earlier music raising the list price. PD composers subsidizing living composers!
I have been charging a flat shipping rate for all of my orders: $3.50 within the U.S. and $6.50 to other countries. The first few I have sent to Europe and Australia have actually cost $22.50 each. This is a one pound book!!! I need to fix that eventually, but decided to wait until January before I make any changes, as I was really worried about pricing the book out of the market. So, if you are outside of the U.S. you can get a bargain on shipping through the holidays.
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Originally Posted by Doc James
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