Ron Pramschufer's Archive
- Website
- http://www.selfpublishing.com
- ron@rjcom.com
Profile
Ron Pramschufer has been in or around the printing and publishing industry for over 35 years. His experience, including working in the pressroom, bindery, production office and estimating department helped give him a firm foundation to build on when he entered sales and management. He was partners in a small press publishing company in Annapolis, MD in the late seventies and co-invented and marketed two controversial political board games which sold over 100,000 copies in the early eighties.
Moving from his home state of Maryland to New York City after his game experience, Ron sold printing services to, primarily, small to mid-sized book publishers for over a decade before founding RJ Communications with an old friend. Ron recognized the potential of the Internet very early as a powerful communications tool. In 1997 he started one of the first printer related websites, www.rjcom.com, which caters to the professional print buyer. This evolved into www.BooksJustBooks.com and more recently www.selfpublishing.com which target the print buying novice, primarily self-publishers. All three sites are still operating successfully and SelfPublishing.com was named as one of Writers Digest’s, 101 Best websites for writers for 2006.
Educating the novice print buyer has been a top priority from day one. To help address this issue, Ron co-authored the popular title Publishing Basics- a Guide for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher, now in its Third Edition, as well as Publishing Basics for Children’s Books, in its Second Edition. He is the organizer of the monthly Publishing Basics Newsletter where he writes a sometimes controversial Ask Ron column which addresses various aspects of the publishing process. On the same note, he started the Publishing Basics Radio PodCast in 2005 and serves as the show’s host. A wide variety of topics are covered including a very popular series titled, The Truth Behind POD Publishing, where he conducts interviews with a select group of industry insiders. Since its inception, RJ Communications has helped thousands of customers print over 105 million books.
Ron is married and has three children. His daughter, Stephanie, teaches second grade and recently self-published her first children’s book in the Oliver the Clownfish series. Matthew, his oldest son, owns a website design business and Erik, the youngest, is enjoying high school.
Posts
- What do you think about Amazon’s announcement that small publishers need to print with their printer in order to be listed on Amazon?, 17 Apr 2008
- What are the steps are involved in Self-Publishing a book?, 24 Mar 2008
- Do you know any good book printers?, 11 Feb 2008
- What do you think of Facebook as a marketing tool for self-published books?, 05 Dec 2007
- Did you change your mind about authors buying a single ISBN?, 22 Oct 2007
- What do you think about Author House buying IUniverse?, 20 Sep 2007
- What can you tell us of Amazon’s new direct POD service, CreateSpace.com?, 22 Aug 2007
- Handling Problems – What to do when a printing job goes bad, 17 Jul 2007
- 12 Steps to becoming a better print buyer, 19 Jun 2007
- How many books can I expect to sell at Book Expo?, 08 May 2007
- How much does it cost to publish an Illustrated Children’s book?, 10 Apr 2007
- How much does it cost to self-publish a book? Part 3, 07 Mar 2007
- How much does it cost to self-publish a book? Part 2, 05 Feb 2007
- How much does it cost to self-publish a book?, 03 Jan 2007
- Over the past year, thousands of you have read my articles on a variety of aspects of self publishing., 07 Dec 2006
- Is there any way to have a children’s book illustrated on a tight budget?, 06 Nov 2006
- Can I buy a single ISBN for my book rather than 10?, 04 Oct 2006
- What would you do if you only had $500 to market your book?, 06 Sep 2006
- Are book fairs good places to sell books?, 05 Aug 2006
- Is there ANY Print on Demand Publisher that you like or would recommend?, 05 Jul 2006
- Do you know why do people buy from you?, 06 Jun 2006
- I heard that Author House was ordered to pay $230,000 for a book that they published?, 06 Jun 2006
- How many books should I print on my first printing?, 04 May 2006
- Why can’t I make money with a POD Publisher?, 03 Apr 2006
- How do I find a printer to print my book cost-effectively?, 06 Mar 2006
- My printer tells me that the price of paper is increasing so my printing cost is going to rise. Is that true?, 04 Mar 2006
- What are the differences between publishing a trade book and a children’s illustrated picture book?, 01 Feb 2006
- Is the customer always right?, 03 Jan 2006
- A Word of Thanks, 06 Dec 2005
- Book Hits New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestseller list in 2 Weeks with No Advertising, 01 Nov 2005
- Are there any Trade Customs that POD Publishers adhere to?, 11 Oct 2005
- Do you think that self publishing is much of a gamble?, 11 Sep 2005
- Aren’t the various publishing services like Author House and Xlibris just printing services?, 11 Aug 2005
- WBJB Publishing Basics Radio, 11 Jul 2005
- Should I buy the printing for my first book directly from a printer to save money?, 11 Jul 2005
- What is this Publishing Basics Radio I have been hearing about?, 11 Jun 2005
- What does the Battle of Normandy and a successfully self-published book have in common?, 11 May 2005
- Will I be able to get my book on Oprah?, 11 Apr 2005
- When can I expect my printer to extend me credit terms?, 11 Mar 2005
- Do I really need a professional editor to edit my manuscript?, 11 Feb 2005
- I have written a children’s picture book. How do I proceed with having it edited and illustrated?, 11 Jan 2005
- I would like to take this holiday season to honor the men and women of the US Military who have given their lives this past year, in service of the country they loved and the freedoms they cherished., 11 Dec 2004
- Amy Fisher - If I Knew Then…POD Superstar or Vanity Press Deception?, 11 Nov 2004
- I appreciate the “Free” copy of Publishing Basics that you offer folks but is there anything else you can do to help the would be publisher learn more about the business?, 11 Nov 2004
- Ask Ron - When is the best time to print your trade book on an offset sheet fed press?, 11 Oct 2004
- Ask Ron - What do you think about the future of E-Books?, 22 Sep 2004
- What is the best way to sell my book on the Internet?, 11 Aug 2004
- My printer tells me that the price of paper is increasing so my printing cost is going to rise. Is that true?, 11 Jul 2004
- Can I print short run color children’s picture books?, 11 Jun 2004
- Why can’t I print hardcover color picture books in the US?, 11 Jun 2004
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