With my (currently) 10th grader, I have the luxury of only needing one more history/literature credit before she graduates. She will be ready for Year 4 in the fall, but I'm contemplating waiting until her senior year, and doing the redesigned Year 4 with her then (i.e. skipping TOG with her next year).

Can you tell me if your plans for Year 4 are still to print your product as sales allow you to, meaning we would probably need to do the digital downloads for much of next year, as we've done this year for Year 3?

It seems strange to think about a TOGless year, as we've enjoyed TOG for 7 years straight now! Still love it, but I do like marking up my own paper copy, and I sold my classic TOG year 4 several years back.

Thanks for the wonderful curriculum! It's not an overstatement to say it's truly been life-changing for all of us.

Karen

Hey there Karen,

First of all: GASP! NOT use TOG??? :::Shudder:::

Ok; now that that's out of our system, first let me say that those who love printed copies that throughout the year next year you will be able to get printed copies of Year 4 unit by unit! With our Print/DE packages, you can expect about a two week lag time off of when we release each unit. So, for instance, we're hoping and planning to release Unit 1 at the end of May. If you then order it, you can also at that time order a printed copy. The download of the unit would be immediate; the printed copy would take about two weeks to get to you.

So, except for the fact that we are not taking orders up front for the entire year, but asking people to save and pay unit by unit, there's not a whole lot of difference between these past three years and this coming year for Redesigned customers.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Am I understanding you correctly? You will be printing units, not copying them at the 5¢ pp rate?

Is this "new" news? I too am wondering if I understand this correctly - up to now, I thought the only plans were for Y4 to be DE, with printing option through a family at .05 pp.

If there will, in fact be a hard copy version available, does the outlook for the whole year, at this point, look good? I'm sorry to be asking a question you've probably heard a bazillion times, but it has been somewhat confusing, trying to make plans for next year.

Thanks, Laurie

This is good news just because the last I read LP was hoping doing Y4 next year would work out, but weren't sure. I've been thinking about that a lot this week, and here comes this post. Yea!

Just to clarify: we are talking ONLY about DE/PRINT packages, and for Year 4 these will be the color xerox technology, not the offset technology. What we have heard back from those who have ordered Print/DE packages is that the color xerox and offset copies are *almost* indistinguishable from one another, and certainly the differences are unimportant for the purpose of USING the curriculum (which is the purpose of the exercise, right?).

TRULY, ladies, if print is a must for you, and if TOG is your desire, the *slight* difference between xerox and offset technologies shouldn't matter. The purposes for having in hand printed copies are 1) convenience (since you COULD print them yourselves at home using DE) and 2) the ability to mark up your copy (can't do digitally, but again, you can print them at home and do so, or you can use our printer friend's service and get a full, color xeroxed copy mailed to your door).

Print/DE packages make so much sense for those who love print. Not only do you get the "old" technology with all its joys, but you get the benefits of DE: searchable, always easy to update, print ANY part of the curriculum at any time as many times as you want, never lost or damaged, etc.

Hope that clarifies! But, if not, keep those questions coming. Our desire is to serve and bless you!

Thank you for your patience. I am still trying to understand.

When I order Year 4, I will have a choice of two printed versions, color or offset? The "color xerox technology" you refer to is the same quality that I would get from a local printer? And that is somehow inferior to the product I have on my shelves currently from Year 1 and 2 redesigns? Are we talking just about a difference in paper quality? Is the "color xerox technology" going to have a shorter shelf-life?

Karen

No worries, Karen. Probably 100 others need clarification, too!

When you order Year 4 this coming year, you will need to order it by the unit, since we do not want to be put into a situation where we cannot perform what we promise (as was nearly the case last November for those who pre-ordered a full Year 3 plan). While we are now confident that God is indeed calling us to see Year 4 Redesigned come to fruition, we are asking everyone to put their Year 4 money in a cookie jar somewhere, and draw it out unit by unit over the course of the next year. We have always recommended that you purchase books unit by unit, so this is no change whatsoever.

Unit 1 is now being written. We are projecting that it will be digitized for instant download at the end of May (and can always use prayer for these deadlines!). This means that, if all goes well, we'll put it up for instant download then, and probably accept orders for both CD versions and DE/PRINT packages in early May.

The "print" part of a DE/PRINT package will not be fulfilled by doing large runs on offset printing machines. Because of the economy, we can no longer pay the tens of thousands of dollars that that kind of printing demands. Rather, we have partnered with a printer (who wishes for his print shop to remain anonymous because he cannot do the customer service end of making these copies for individuals AND keep the prices down, but his first name is Coleman). Coleman uses "on demand" printing technology that is, for all intents and purposes, high-speed color xeroxing. He uses a nice paper (heavier, I believe, than what you'd get at Staples), the quality is sharp, and the copies have no different shelf life than offset, as far as I'm aware. The ONLY downside to the Coleman copies is that our template was designed to use "bleeds" and Coleman copies don't. Bleeds are where the ink from the presses go off the sheet of paper, and then the paper is trimmed to its final size. In Tapestry volumes, this means that the color that makes up the "tabs" on each page is visible if you hold the unit sideways. FUNCTIONALLY, this makes almost no difference. You get the good of the tabs (in either Coleman or offset copies) by flipping through the pages, not by looking edgewise at the unit.

Again, the feedback that we've received thus far from those who ordered Coleman copies is 100% positive. No one has at all said that the paper is too thin or the images in any way inferior. The bleed is the only functional issue, and it's minute.

Now, for Year 4, all that has functionally changed for customers who desire a pre-printed TOG Y4 is that we do NOT anticipate offering stand-alone, offset-printed copies. What we will be offering is unit-by-unit DE (by download or disc) and DE/PRINT (Coleman) copies of Year 4 Redesign.

Remember, too, that if you don't mind printing at home as you go (printing just what you need each week) you don't have to buy a Coleman copy at all. His copies are, though, high quality at an amazingly low price, and more convenient.

Does that help?

Great explanation Marcia.

For those who will be buying Y4 next year...

I was just thinking, rather than putting the money in our cookie jar, would it be helpful to put it in your cookie jar? In other words, what about buying gift certificates for Lampstand Press? Perhaps that feels the same as pre-orders, placing production pressure on the company. I know some families are concerned about having the money available when the time comes and like to purchase everything as one start-up expense for the year. Of course, I'm sure a gradual purchase serves many families as well. Any comments from headquarters?

Also, if I were to purchase a gift certificate from Lampstand Press to reserve funds for my upcoming units in Y4, but then later decided I would like to use that money for resource books, is that an option? Now that there are 2 bookstores for Tapestry, how does that work?

Thanks!
Eia

Eia,

Thanks for asking.

Lampstand Press and Bookshelf Central are now two entities, so, no you couldn't transfer.

As far as us taking money ahead, we simply can't see the future. From what we see NOW, we will be continuing throughout this year to finish Year 4, but I think it would be simply presumptuous to assert that we know for SURE that all will go as planned. Therefore, we still prefer your cookie jar to ours.

By George, I think I've got it.

Thank you so much for explaining all this, Marcia. (... again! I'm sure you've said it all before in other threads, but somehow it helps to have you say it again, maybe just in different words.)

Do appreciate your hard work so very much. You are a blessing!

Karen

I wanted to thank Karen for this timely post. I'm sure I've read the information 100 different ways, but somehow this time I "get" it. Thank you, Marcia for answering so clearly and thanks to all at Lampstand!

I'm excited to have a DE/Print option for year four forthcoming! Thank you all so much for the ongoing blessing TOG is to me and to my family!

You're most welcome, Dell! Thanks for the kind words. They mean a lot.

I like the option of DE/print combo. How much will that be per unit of Year 4, since it will be coming out unit by unit??

AnnM in Texas