Self Publishing and Book Printing for the Self Publisher

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.

Hi, my name is Dana Cole. I’m a partner here at RJ Communications. Before joining RJ, I was vice president of production and planning at Abbeville Press, New York City, where I worked for 16 years doing just what you are doing now, buying printing and handling book projects from start to finish. My career in publishing began at Alfred A. Knopf in 1979. My experience at Knopf was all one-color books and at Abbeville it was all 4-color books so it’s great fun to be able to assist RJ customers with both. The children’s book program is really exciting for me- I’m thrilled to be able to make people’s dreams come true. There are so many great books out there dying to get to the market, they just need you to publish them. Feel free to contact me if you have any production questions. I can be reached at Dana@rjcom.com. In addition to books I love cross-country skiing and sailing and I’m a super-big dog person, the “mom” to two Westies, Winston and Whiskey.

My name is Jonathan Gullery and I was born and raised in New Zealand, and received my background in graphics from an apprenticeship in the newspaper industry there.

I arrived in New York in the early 80s and continued a career in design with a Mac Plus (and no hard drive!). Since that time I’ve worked mostly free-lance until teaming up with RJ Communications to create Budget Book Design in 2002. Budget Book Design has evolved into the design department of SelfPublishing.com and since then I’ve designed nearly 1,000 books, everything from relatively simple novels to lavish presentation volumes including cookbooks, poetry, family histories, children’s picture books and coffee table art books.

Although I use state-of-the-art equipment I still believe that providing old-fashioned customer service is the best way to successfully compete in our digital world. Feel free to contact me at Jonathan@rjcom.com.

My name is Jacki Lynch. I am the first person who sees your BJB print order. That means that I open and set up your order, send your files to Lauren in our prepress department and make sure all materials get to the printer. You will hear from us if there are any problems. Michael & I will work with you to try and get your book ready for printing. From there, Denise takes over.

I am a New Yorker’s New Yorker. You will be able to tell by my New York accent. I am a graduate of Northern Arizona University with a Bachelors in English. I have spent most of my working years in the publishing industry, and I love books. In addition to working at RJ Communications, I spend my free time reading, taking care of my 3 dogs, Johnny, Julie & Jake and trying to grow the perfect rose garden. Feel free to contact me at Jacki@rjcom.com if you have any questions about creating your paperwork for your print order.

My name is Bob Powers and I am a Book Coach at RJ Communications. My career in printing started over 35 years ago in the Baltimore area. I worked in many departments at commercial and book printing companies from layout to customer service and management. In fact, Ron Pramschufer was a sales rep. and Dana Cole was one of my customers. Who would have known back then, that we would end up together at RJ!

It all happened when I received a call from Ron as I was getting ready to retire. He convinced me that I still had a lot of useful years and experience and should join the RJ team. So, as of July 2004 I did and am very happy to be part of the group. I am here as your coach, problem solver, and advisor at any point in the process. I have a good listening ear, if you just need to talk. I can be reached at 800-479-1870 or at Bob@rjcom.com. In addition to working at RJ Communications, I spend many happy hours with my 6 ½ year old Bichon Frise named “Chops” and enjoy working in my garden.

My name is Matt Pramschufer and, yes, I am related to Ron Pramschufer…. He’s my dad. I was born and raised in Maryland. While most of the other kids were playing sports or getting into trouble, I was working on my computer (with occasional time out for fishing). I can take computers apart, put them together, network them, and create artwork and websites with them as well pretty much anything else you can think of with them. I received a degree from Westchester Community College in New York in Graphic Design a couple years back. Since then I have been designing websites and databases, including the one you are currently visiting. I am also an active book layout cover designer. I’m still a pretty good fisherman as well.

If you have any questions about the website design process, or how to market your book online you can reach me at matt@rjcom.com.

My name is Denise Puryear and I am a production person here at RJ Communications. (This means I am your contact once you have placed an order with us. I work with the printers on your behalf.) I’ve been in this demanding industry for over 25 years now (and NO I won’t tell you how old I am!).

I started my career at McGraw-Hill Publishing Company in the College Book Division producing College Textbooks. Unfortunately, after 22 years of service, McGraw-Hill, along with many other companies, had to downsize, which meant I lost my job…But this sad story wasn’t the end for me…I found a new home at RJ Communications!

I have been working for RJ Communications for over 6 years now, and have to say that the personal service we provide our clients is second to none. Working with all the different customers and vendors has been a very enjoyable experience. I love helping our customers seeing their projects go from dreams to printed and bound products, this is especially rewarding when I see the excitement of first time publishers when they receive that first tangible product.

If you have any questions for me, I can be reached at Denise@rjcom.com and maybe I can make your publishing dreams come true too!

My name is Lauren Simonetti and I am here to help you with all of your design needs and file management here at RJ Communications. I have been a book designer in the publishing industry ever since I graduated from college as a fine artist and graphic designer. Before joining RJ Communications, I worked for Simon & Schuster in the Trade Design Department for 7 years. I am dedicated to preparing the finest quality files for print so you can feel confident about your completed product. I love working with typography, reading, and enjoying many forms of creativity. Feel free to contact me at Lauren@rjcom.com with any questions concerning your files and design.

RJ Communications
51 East 42nd Street
Suite 1202
New York, NY 10017
phone: 800-621-2556
fax: 212-681-8002