Print runs

[Unimportant]

Does anyone have ballpark figures of what would be a respectable print run for a genre first novel by major publishers and by small presses?

[Torgo]

Depends on the market you're selling in to, but mostly on the economics of that particular book. Can't be bothered to go into it again (I have the 'flu), but I did do a quick sketch of it the other day: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20159. There's a level below which the book isn't economically viable; I'm not sure whether small presses find it easier or harder to make a print run work. Certainly big publishers can get better deals on printing the book etc but they also have higher overheads and thus require better margins. I'd expect that the bigger you are, the fewer books you need to print to make a profit. Sorry, am I rambling? It's the Avian Death Flu.

[Unimportant]

Ta muchly, kind sir.

Here. Have a jar of Vick's Vap-O-Rub.