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Fantasy is a genre where most books are produced by a very few (big) publishing houses in the UK and USA. These are the houses that can afford to take the risk on large print runs bec

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

ause they have many other titles too. They produce a few fantasy titles (bad luck, authors) in big volume. Big volume is necessary for most kinds of book printing, but fantasy is the

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ost critical, certainly within fiction.

Let's see why. I'm a fantasy fan. I won't buy a fantasy title unless it is (a) thicker than a doorstop (b) reasonably priced. I don't buy hard

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

overs or large format (expensive) paperbacks - I look for that small fat little book which opens up to a world where I can get lost for days and days. The fatter the better.

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

Mass-produced magic

So to sell, the fantasy book needs to be long, most often double or triple the length of the common novel. That means it costs almost three times the

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

amount to produce. And yet, the average selling price for these books is very close to that of your mainstream fiction titles. So you've got a product which has a low selling price an

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

a high cost price. The only way to get your cost per book down is to drive the size of the print run up. Short runs or on-demand printing just don't work when you've got a 650+ page

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

book.

Mass markets mean lower prices

In a niche market (like non-fiction - Paragliding in South Africa) you could sell a book that thick for R350 ($50 or ?24)

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ecause there is limited competition and the information has high value to a small number of people. In a mass market such as 'fiction', even 'fantasy fiction', there are so many wonde

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

ful books out there which your title will compete with, and they dictate the price - as set by the mass market paperback produced in masses. That's $15.99 or ?7.99 thanks to Harper Co

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

lins, Penguin, et al. for the trade paperback, and even less for mass market format.

Print on Demand too costly
So you can get your book all made up via Print O

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

n Demand services like Lightning Source or Lulu, and still be out on the bench with a product that is 4 times the price of the competitors. I don't care how good your writing is, unle

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

s you can make me levitate in my chair I'm not going to buy your one sparkly title instead of FOUR of the top fantasy authors' new releases.

Low volume doesn't work<

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

r>

So I've just printed 5 000 copies of my fantasy novel (in the small South African market the mark of a 'Best Seller' is around 4 000 copies). Will they sell? Yes, I hope so, but

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

that's not why I've printed so many. I've printed that volume because if I print less than that, then the books you buy through the bookstore, priced at current market values make me

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

othing. (Retail price minus bookshop markup, minus the markup of the distributor, delivery costs, development costs, printing costs, advertising, office, tax). Truly. I could print 20

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

0 copies of the book, market my heart out, sell all of them through the bookstores and not even get my money back. I have to go big, or go home.

Would you bet your money on m

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

agic?
When faced with this kind of gamble, many publishing companies will decide to go for another kind of book. It may not be the quality of the writing they are reject

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

ng, it's the risk in entering the market given the minimum efficient print run costs and the small unit returns. Unless they can see it selling by the tens of thousands, it just isn't

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

worth it.

Thankfully there are a few publishers who are prepared to take a long shot, and you can bet most of them are fantasy fans. You have to believe in magic to make magic happen

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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