Thank you for your interest in Masthof's printing/publishing facilities. We have printed over 300 titles in the past fifteen years, many for persons out-of-state, and can do whatever you wish: typeset, layout, design, proofread, index, print, bind, and ship the books to you. We can also take a typed copy from a computer diskette into layout and design and print it. Or, perhaps you wish to do the layout and design, and we just print your book.

We would be honored to prepare a free quotation to print your book, but need to receive answers to the following questions before we do so:

1. Size of book (5 1/2" x 8 1/2", 6" x 9", 7"x10", or 8 1/2" x 11" or whatever you wish; the smaller the size book, the less the cost per book)

2. Type of binding (papercover or hardcover; books with fewer than 88 pages are generally stapled; over 88 pages can either be perfect bound in a cardstock papercover or smyth-sewn in a hardcover; papercover books can be laminated)

3. Number of photographs (cost is $14.00 per picture, but they are worth it!)

4. Number of pages [An estimate for now is ok.] Unless you are preparing the camera-ready copy, this is a difficult figure, because we won't know the exact number of pages until we are ready to go to press. In the meantime, we can estimate the number of pages by using what copy you have now. Send copies of about six pages of your manuscript for us to type into our computer. We will then lay it out and see how many of your pages will make one of our pages, and then estimate how many pages the final book will be. This means that you need to have most, if not all, information in and know how many pages you have.

5. Number of books you want. The more books you print, the less each book costs. Our average number of books printed is about 500 for a limited run and 2,000 for a broader scope book. We'll be happy to offer prices on several different quantities beginning with 100 on up.

We use only acid-free paper which means that the paper will not yellow like newsprint. The quality is great! In fact, you would never know that most of our paper is also recycled. So you are helping to preserve our environment by printing your book with us. We will be happy to acquire a Library of Congress number for your book and also assist in copyrighting your book.

It generally takes about eight weeks to print a book after the camera-ready copy is prepared. If you provide the camera-ready copy, our payment schedule is 60% with order and 40% thirty days after the books are delivered. Otherwise, the terms are 30% with order, 30% at presstime, and 40% thirty days after the books are delivered.

We print and mail a mail-order book catalog four times a year to over 5,000 persons all over the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and would be happy to consider listing your book in this catalog and sell copies for you both in our catalog and in our bookstore. Please feel free to write or call with any questions. Some of our authors do not have the storage space, do not wish to fill orders and ship orders daily, and/or do not wish to collect and process the Pennsylvania sales tax. In these cases, we can serve as your distributor and will store, sell, and ship books for you. Monthly consignment checks would be sent to you for books sold the previous month.

It is a joy for us to assist persons see their story get into print and share it with family members and friends. It would be our privilege to assist you too. I'll look forward to hearing from you again.

Sincerely,

Masthof Press
Lois Ann Mast
Printer/Publisher