Martial Arts Handbook Reimagined

Immediately after enrolling, it's important for new students to walk out of the school with something physical in their hands...something that gets them excited and looking forward to the next training session.  At BETA Academy, many years ago, we used to give our new students a handbook that would provide them information about the Academy as well as help them get oriented to set some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai training goals.  Its was 124 pages!

Two problems with books in general:

#1 Nobody READS anymore.  

#2 High Cost of Production

We received one of the best handbooks from WeWork.  Our management team was in need of a remote administrative office and meeting space so we visited the WeWork across the street.  We ended up signing on to join the co-working space and upon our first day, we were given a slim , sleek handbook welcoming us to the community.  I must admit, I didn't read it for months but once opened, it  gave me some inspiration to revisit our Academy handbook.

They had it figured out and the 2 problems were solved.  It was short, under 20 color pages and full of concise info and pics.  It was 5x7 and stapled together.  After scouring the internet, we learned that the term for that is "Saddle Stitch Binding" as opposed to "Perfect Binding" which is a self-publishing industry standard.  

So, we've decided to do something similar and offer a more slimmed down version of our handbook and keep it short.  

Our previous book cost around $6.00 per unit to make but saddle stitching with our new company would bring the cost down below $2.50.  More info to come as we finalize our book and go to print.

Authored by Nakapan Phungephorn

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