27/09/2024
We will soon be submitting David McClister's Hebrews commentary (2nd. ed.) to the printer. Before we do, I want to mention two quick things.
First, the price on this volume will be higher than the original commentary. This is for three basic reasons:
1. Page count. Although it is the smallest factor, this edition will be about 60 pages longer than the first. The difference is minimal when it comes to cost, but not nonexistent.
2. Inflation. The original commentary, published in 2010, was $25. According to Dr. Google, 25 2010 dollars is $35.50 today. While we're not interested in raising prices just because it seems to be in style, the reality is that our costs have risen with inflation.
3. Printing style. FC Press has an ability that we do not have: warehousing and inventory management. They were able to do the first edition in a traditional, larger offset print run and we will be primarily using print-on-demand technology (though we can do larger runs, if necessary). Offset printing is significantly cheaper than print on demand. We keep low profit margins in order to keep low retail prices, but even with that, our prices will be a touch higher than an offset print run of the same book.
All that said, the price for this commentary will be $39.99. (Inflation alone nearly gets it all the way to that price!)
Second—although this has already been said here, I'll add it again for anyone who missed it—because the first edition of David’s commentary was published by FC Press, where we both work, I want to add a point of clarification here. When I learned that printing was near its end and the contract was expiring, I made a conscious effort not to discuss it with him at all, even though we had only recently published his Philemon commentary. I had no intent of “poaching” the book from the College and didn’t want to influence anything related to his plans. That said, when David approached me about possibly publishing the second edition, I was more than happy to agree.
