Fairy Tale Review, from Wayne State University Press, is a fun journal to print. It is an annual literary journal that publishes NEW fairy tales. Stories from Fairy Tale Review have been included in The O. Henry Prize Stories AnthologyBest New American Voices, and Best American Fantasy, and have been listed as “Notable” in Best American Short Stories, among other honors.

Wayne State has been our print client since at least 2005, but they didn’t take over the production, printing, and sales of Fairy Tale Review until 2013. But, funny enough, Bookmobile has been printing Fairy Tale Review since 2010, when it was still being produced by Kate Bernheimer’s Fairy Tale Review Press in Arizona. Small world! Berhnheimer is still the editor and controls the content, but Wayne State handles the production, as well as subscription and distribution services.

So from the get-go, it was a good fit: after all, we already had the previous issues archived. And short-run printing (SRDP) is the perfect fit for journals. SRDP has enabled the creation and printing of so many new literary and arts journals and magazines—we’ve seen their numbers increase exponentially. Once upon a time, journals and magazines were limited to either printing 2,000 copies via offset, or producing them by photo-copying, folding, and stapling. But with short-run printing, they can now print anywhere from 25 to 2,000 copies and receive affordable, professionally produced issues with any of the bells and whistles Bookmobile provides. (See Twenty-One Ways to Embellish Your Print Books for examples.)

Literary Journals at Bookmobile

Journals are the perfect fit for our Automated Replenishment Program (ARP). This year, we’ve begun moving many of Wayne State University Press’s journals into ARP, with most issues slated to be in the program by the end of 2015. In the past, Wayne State would send us a traditional print and purchase order, email a list of mailing labels, and we would mail out the journals on the list and then send the remainder to Wayne State’s warehouse for storage.

Now, we put each journal into ARP and Bookmobile sets the print run. Once Wayne State approves proofs, they upload the issue’s subscription list through our eFirst portal, and we mail them out. We keep some copies on hand in our warehouse to fulfill future orders, but Wayne State only pays for printing when an order is shipped. Back issues continue to sell for all their journals, so now they can continue to reap the benefits of those sales without having to manage reprints or warehouse the inventory. With the Fairy Tale Review, we often see orders come through one copy of each issue in the series. Also, our ARP is flexible enough to accommodate duplexed covers, uncoated covers, and color inserts (for scientific journals like Human Biology). And yes, we poly bag too!

Bookmobile’s ARP has been an invaluable tool for us, especially with Fairy Tale Review. We’re able to fulfill orders for back issues without sacrificing print quality or paying for more copies than we actually need. —Julie Markowitz, Journals Marketing and Sales Coordinator, Wayne State University Press

We also print books for Wayne State University Press through ARP as well. We don’t fulfill individual orders like we do with their journals, but they use ARP to replenish stock in their warehouse. We keep two separate ARP accounts for Wayne State too, books then journals, which makes things easier for their purchasing department.

Want to know more? Contact me!