We've had a few queries about the Issue 2 hardback and Issue 1.

Firstly, we will, at some point, be producing a hardback version of Issue 1 for all you completists who want every issue in hardcover format. We will also be offering it at a discount of £8 to customers who have already bought Issue 1 as a softcover, with further information to follow at a later date. Issue 1's hardback will be numbered, dustjacketed, slightly tweaked and limited to 100 copies.

The Issue 2 hardback will feature an extra story and will be colour throughout, whereas the paperback will only be colour in the middle section for costing reasons (as the Issue 1 softcover was). Because of the limited, numbered, hardback and colour format of this edition, the price will be set at £24.99, which we consider to be reasonable and fair considering the individual cost price of each of these books and the cost of similar magazines (take a look at Postscripts and the PS Publishing range, for example). We will also be aiming to produce a slipcover or traycase once the first four issues are out, which subscribers will get at a discount, for storing all four hardbacks.

We try to make our products as cost efficient as possible, although we are required to give 60% RRP discount to Amazon.co.uk and 35-55% discount to retail outlets, which means our products have to be priced accordingly. An industry minimum is that the cover price should be five times the printing costs (excluding design and contributor fees) in order to make a book financially viable. We at Dog Horn are less interested in making profit than delivering excellent books and magazines, and that means we price our books significantly lower than we should. Our lower print runs mean we have to pay more per individual copy produced than the giants such as Random House, because they publish tens of thousands of copies for each title. In comparison, we have to pay £4-16 for every book we print because of the quality, images and small print run of each.

That said, we'd like you to support our titles by ordering copies from your local bookstores or by buying direct from our online store. We are continually striving to reduce costs so you, our readers, can see the benefits, but that can't happen unless our readers support us in doing this. We have recently signed with Biddles, Ltd, a printer who offer very affordable prices for paperback and hardback books with low print runs. This will ease the burden for future projects.

We have also considered the option of reducing the costs of production by making Polluto 100% B&W (except, perhaps, for the hardback version). However, we feel this would not be the best product for our readers, because our colour artwork is award-winning and is what distinguishes us from many other literary magazines of a similar spec.

Preorders can be placed for Issue 2 in softback and hardback now.