Since I've already addressed the creative process and procedure that I've found helpful for making Tarot cards in an earlier essay found on this page, I will focus on the more practical aspects of getting a deck published in the following essay. Tips on becoming published, self published and/or making individual hand made deck copies for personal study & sale will also be outlined as well some tips for self promoting.

*Note* There are also useful Tarot journal exercises to help stimulate your writing and intuitive skills that go hand in hand with making a deck found on the following links on my site:
A Major Arcana Sample Key Including Archetypal Examples of the Cards Depicted in Movies
A Sample Tarot Key Including the 4 Suits, Numerology, and Court Cards
A Fun, Contemplative Major Arcana Journal Exercise
That said, let’s dig into the nuts and bolts of getting your deck out into the world for all to enjoy!

Getting a deck published by a reputable company
I recommend before sending your work to a publisher that you contact them first and find out if they are accepting new submissions. They usually have downloadable submission packets on their sites. If you do find a publisher willing to publish your deck, expect it to take at least a year. If an advance is offered it will probably not be much more than $1000. They may do 10,000 copies the first printing giving you perhaps 9% royalty on the publisher’s net wholesale proceeds. They usually will ask for full/sole exclusive rights to license and sell internationally in any form. You will probably retain the copyright and the full rights will revert back to you once they’ve stopped printing. They can sell them to you at wholesale price (around 50% off), which you may then personalize for your fans and sell on your own website for full price (or include free shipping or some such bonus). You can also promote your deck at Tarot conventions and local book signings, etc. Other benefits to being published by a big company are... It's great for circulation! With (possibly) 10000 copies made the first printing and excellent promotional tactics, your deck will get great exposure. You needn't spend so much time and energy self-promoting and, of course, no huge personal financial investment needed.

Tarot deck publishers:
US Games: 179 Ludlow Street, Stamford CT. 06902 1800-544-2637 www.usgamesinc.com
Llewellyn: P.O. Box 64383, St Paul MN. 55164 Phone: 1800-843-6666 www.llewellyn.com

Self Publishing
Some positive points about self-publishing:
1) You have full artistic control.
2) All costs are a tax deductible business expense (except your time).
3) It takes much less time to publish (3-6 months rather than a year or more).
4) Deck reviews and exposure may grab the attention of a big publisher (or other possibilities) for future ventures.
5) To help fray costs you could see if your friends/Tarot group would want to chip in for a cut in the profits. You could also make a collaborative deck with such a group if you didn't want to make the full deck yourself and split expenses. You might give a discount for pre-orders while they are being printed to offset up-front expenses.

My experience Self-Publishing...Going to a local publishing house
Back in 1995, I invested about 15 thousand into making and distributing 1000 decks, and books. That included most other expenses such as buying a shrink wrap machine to package the cards ($375), getting a business license, fictitious name, ISBN # ($150.), website, fliers, postcards, and attending Tarot gigs. The books and decks together cost $9530. The books, (B & W text with images, 100 pg. with color covers) cost, $4652. and the decks (80 card, full color front, two-tone back, with rounded corners) cost me $4876. The die cutter to perforate the edges and make round corners cost $800. 1000 blank, sectional boxes cost $800. I had 1000 extra book covers made ($200.) which I glued onto the boxes. Part of my dilemma was that I only had so much money that I could invest into this endeavor. Therefore the professionally minded staff at Self-Publishing Partners in San Diego, in trying to keep within my budget, were not able to offer options like protective plastic coating on the cards or seek out a printer specializing in playing card production. Another problem was that since I needed to cut costs somewhere, I did not opt for the cards to be cut and collated. Instead I got the cards in perforated sheets, which I then had to punch out and collate by hand. I couldn't fathom what a time consuming process this would be. But 5 sheets a deck multiplied by 1000 is months of work. Not to mention how careful I needed to be not to tear the cards when removing them from the perforated sheets. And then collating them also takes much time. The local printers that Self Publishing Partners relied on for this project were, in hindsight, not up to the task of making 'playing cards' of any kind and didn't understand how vital it was that each card back be EXACTLY the same. There was also a problem of inconsistency on the fronts of some cards. Certain cards came out off center, dark, muddy or had weird spots on them and had to be discarded. Eventually this Self Publishing company had to sue the printers and send half of my order out to be reprinted by another company in order to achieve a more satisfactory result. I deeply appreciated how Self Publishing Partners stood by me, while risking their own commission by paying for the reprint out of pocket while dealing with this lawsuit. In the end I fear they lost money by taking on this project.
It's also worth noting that I priced my deck and book set at $24.95 but I didn't realize that when I sold them wholesale at $15.00 a set to stores, and $11.50 a set to distributors such as New Leaf that I would be breaking even at best. So it's important to figure in the middle man when thinking of a price in case you plan to have them available in stores.
Once the deck was published, Michael and I traveled the west coast (from San Diego to Northern Washington) selling the deck wholesale to independent occult and New Age shops. If shops agreed to purchase 5 or more deck sets we would give them a free demo copy. I sent the deck to Tarot reviewers I discovered online such as DT. King, Mary K. Greer, etc., and was contacted with positive reviews from Michele Jackson and Diane Wilkes. DT. King helped us build my first webpage for promoting the deck set. Later Michael and I studied website building to create a more elaborate site. Things evolved naturally and with early support from the Tarot community for which I'm eternally grateful.

Self-publishing companies that specialize in making decks
Carta Mundi website: www.cartamundi.com has a branch in the US. The phone is 1-800-892-2782.
The minimum order is 5000 decks. A few years back, they quoted me a price of $10,000 ($2.00 a deck) for 5000 decks (no books or boxes!) already collated and shrink-wrapped. The cards would be printed on quality card stock (known as superlux 330) with a full color front and two tone back, sized 4 ˝” by 2 2/3rds” with rounded corners. The price quoted for a B & W deck was $8600. ($1.72 a deck).
Their prices have probably gone up...
Although on the other hand I've also heard rumors that the printing industry is going through a great technological evolution and so we can expect higher quality print jobs for our decks at lower prices, so that's exciting! It might be worth investigating. For instance check out the self published decks by Monica Knighton (Tarot of the Dead), Chris Paradis (Rock & Roll Tarot, 1st and 2nd editions) Baba Studios (Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot as well as many more gorgeous decks) Dori Midnight (Dirty Tarot), Julie Cuccia-Watts (Blue Moon & Maat Tarot), Lunaea (Full Moon Dreams Tarot), Ellen Lorenzi-Prince (Tarot of the Crone now in its 2nd edition), Joanna P. Colbert (Gaian Tarot) and others. Most of these are on my Tarot Links page You may want to contact some of these artists and ask how they were able to self publish their decks.

This site has an extensive list of deck publishers worldwide www.guntheranderson.com/cards/manuf.htm

Yaquinto Printing: www.yaquinto.com
Phone number: 214-330-7761. They will do less then 5000 decks. But the less decks - the more it costs per deck. The price they quoted me, Nov.'99 for 1000, 80-card decks (same specs.), book and printed, tuck box was $17742. ($14.46 each set. X 1000, plus the film costs of $3282.) For 2500 the price per set goes down to $7.77 ea. (plus the same film cost) for a total of $22707.
*Note: You can always have books and boxes, printed locally to save costs. Ask your local self publishers or professional print shops as well as Carta Mundi and Yaquinto to send you a detailed price quote, brochure and card samples. You might want to have a list of questions ready with details such as; what card size, quantity, thickness, and if you want 'common borders' or prefer the imagery to bleed to the edges, a protective coating, etc. If you are using a program such as Photoshop be sure to save your images in the recommended file format and begin with a high enough resolution (at least 300 dpi).

My Method for Handmade Decks
These decks I color copy (5 Tarot cards per 8 1/2 by 11 sheet), cut out, glue individual backs on (with Avery brand glue stick), trim, laminate, and then trim once more. It's a good idea to put something heavy onto your stack of cards between the process of gluing and laminating because if they begin to curl, they may get air pockets or wrinkles. It's worth it to invest in a good paper cutter for cutting the cards once they are laminated, giving them a straight 1/8th" edge. It also helps to put a piece of colored paper down on top of you cards on the copier so that you'll be able to distinguish the edges of your cards (avoiding white on white borders). Estimating each color copy page to be around 1 dollar, for a full set of 78 cards you're looking at about $16. plus the backs. All three of my decks have individually designed colored backs.
Naturally B & W backs are much cheaper to produce although I would still copy them on quality, color copy paper. You could also just glue the fronts (while still in sheet form) onto colored, handmade or designer paper which may be cheaper and much easier during the cut and paste portion of the process (that's what the majority of hand made Tarot deck creators do). Also the quality of color copiers differs from shop to shop so it's good to check around. Some artists print cards off of their good quality computer printers especially if they have created their cards in a digital art program such as Adobe Photoshop.
I print my most recent deck with my Epson Stylus Photo Printer with great results. For my Lucky Pack Tarot , created in 2006, I print in high resolution (300 dpi), both fronts and backs on Epson double sided matte, 47 lb (card stock) paper. Then I hand cut, laminate, and trim a final time. It is a much simpler process and the imagery looks sharp and vivid. I'm very pleased with the presentation.

You can buy a laminator and lamination sheets at the local office supply store such as Office Depot although I like the lamination products better at a company called USI. Their website is www.usi-laminate.com
Phone: (800) 243-4565. If you have a business they will sell you the products at a discount. And they give you a choice of lamination products too, which Office Depot does not. USI has many types of machines and lamination sheets. For example, USI sells glossy lamination sheets in either 5 mil thickness (my personal preference for Major Arcana decks; nice and sturdy) or 3 mil. (most folks prefer this as it makes a full deck easier to shuffle as they are not as thick and bulky and it's also more cost effective per box) The 5 mil 'Opti Clear lamination pouches' (item number 0182) costs around $24.00 and come 70 sheets to a box (11 1/2" letter size). Depending on the size of the cards, 4 to 6 cards would fit on one lamination sheet. The 3 Mil 'Opti Clear lamination pouches' (item number 0179) costs around $18.00 and come 100 sheets to a box (11 1/2" letter size) so you get quite a bit more for your money. (Note prices are subject to change since the printing of this article. These prices were last confirmed in May of 2008.)

Other Good Options
A clever company called 'Plain Cards’ designs and sells software templates, perforated cardstock sheets and all you need to inexpensively make decks from your home computer & printer. In August ‘06 they designed a downloadable program specifically for Tarot decks. The cards are the standard 2.75" x 4.75" Tarot card size. (4 blank perforated, round-cornered cards per sheet; 22 sheets/88 cards per pack in either matte or coat-able card stock - cost $12.50). They also sell a ‘plastic playing card’ spray ($7.50) for a protective card finish. The focus is more on ease of use and cost rather then superior printing (jpeg quality). They also have links to free photo editing programs and other helpful information. For more details: www.plaincards.com/Tarot.html

Carol Herzer is an artist who produces lovely decks. These decks have a different kind of lamination, using a machine that has two rolls of continuous lamination. This clear lamination is on both sides to prevent curling and give the proper weight to the cards. There are no bubbles, creases, and it is not stiff. Printing is done in the copy shop on 32 pound paper. A colored vinyl backing is added using colored con-tac self adhesive shelf liner after lamination and before the cards are cut. Cutting is with a guillotine cutter, with a long blade that comes down all at once. Corner clipping is done by hand with haircutting scissors. I have a few decks done by Carol in this manner (including the Blue Rose created by Paula Gibby) and they are durable and of an excellent quality. www.soul-guidance.com

You could also have a place like Kinkos laminate your cards but I've had bad luck with the local one here. Bubbles on the cards, cards that melted together, cards that curl and don't lay flat, etc. I much prefer to do it myself but you might try it out this way once and see if you find it easier.
*Note In the Article section of my site I have guest artists who share their own techniques of creating decks.
Jean Hutter for example, has offered an easier and quicker method than mine, (if you don't mind creating decks that have backs without a specific design). And Michelle Cohen 's article also shares a completely different method of deck making which has a gorgeous and tactile presentation (a thick cardstock, with a glossy, slippery feel to it.)

Self Promotion
I'm lousy at self-promotion so the website did much of the work for me. That and sending promotional copies out to deck reviewers and contacting Tarot websites for a link-up, joining and contributing to online Tarot list groups (and signing off with my website addy), putting my site on search engines (for free), attending Tarot conventions, and writing articles for magazines and zines in exchange for free publicity. Most Tarot conventions will trade you a vending table if you agree to do an interesting presentation in exchange and many magazines that have an interest in Tarot will give you space to promote your deck in exchange for an article of yours that they agree to publish. Llewellyn for instance did a wonderful yearly Almanac type book, 'Tarot Reader', and was looking for fresh approaches to Tarot. Not sure if they will continue with this project in another form in the future.
Esty.com is a website (similar to e-bay) with very reasonable fees, that was created especially for artists selling their work. I've opened up a (free) shop there for selling my handmade decks.

Key folks to ask if they will agree to a complimentary copy of your deck in exchange for a review:
Diane Wilkes inherited Michele Jackson's infamous Tarot site now known as Tarot Passages. She has many excellent reviews to her credit and has a long standing reputation for writing honest, in-depth, reviews. Her website is well traveled by the Tarot community: www.tarotpassages.com (Tarot Passages is currently on Hiatus.)
Bonnie Cehovet Vice Pres. of the American Tarot Board of Certification does reviews on Aeclectic and in this online newsletter: www.angelfire.com/nm/spiritualwarrier/index.393.html
Aeclectic Tarot is a great forum that showcases tons of decks & Tarotists' posts updates and reviews
Lee Bursten is a well articulated and candid Tarot deck reviewer, e-mail: lbursten@earthlink.net
Mary K. Greer's Blog (I imagine Mary still does excellent reviews and you may contact her here)
Gina of Wicce's Tarot has a lot of deck reviews on her website: www.wicce.com
Most of all have fun and enjoy the process!

Arnell Ando