Print a Book

The book printing process is different from printing a booklet or a catalog. This is a serious item which may require a publisher or a bookstore to put their name on it. This means that the process to approve the book for sale is strict and expensive. You can also order a private print and make private arrangements with the bookstore. However, the self publishing method is a convoluted adventure of the spent money and stress. Certainly it is not "a walk in the park".

Print a Book with Self Publishing

If the publisher does not want to take a risk with you then self publishing is the only option. Book printing is the same as trying to design and sell any product. If you will not put as much time into the book marketing as you would in writing your book then you are going to fail. For starters, the stories of the mass self-publishing success are simply false.

Statistically, the average book published in US sells less than 2000 copies. This includes the statistics of the bestsellers. Thus, the new books seldom bring more than $20 profit for novice writers. Only exceptional works pull up the numbers. The main reason for this gloomy outlook is the internet. The other, is the fast paced life style in which people seldom have the time to read.

However, if you do have a good idea then you should publish. The cost of printing a book is not a killer but certainly a dear experiment. The are two ways to print a book: quick with a limited budget and long with a substantial investment.

A Cost Effective Book Printing Method

Printing a book with a low budget reduces financial risk but also limits the success. The price for printing a book containing 300 paper back pages (22cm by 14cm) is as follows:

• $5 to print a book when ordering 100 copies
• $4.5 to print a book when ordering 300 copies
• $4 to print a book when ordering 500 copies
• $3 to print a book when ordering 1000 copies
• $1.25 to print a book when ordering 5000 copies

Thus, for an initial experiment to print a book you can try to order 100 copies. You will have very little (if any) profit but you are testing the market for as little as $500. For small quantities you can also try to print the manuscript using an ordinary laser printer. In fact, the printing company will never dedicate the major press machines for small orders like 500 copies. They will still print them using the laser printing technology. The professional binding can still be done using printing businesses or other specialised companies.

Print a Book With The Quality

If you have a spare cash you can add quality to the format and composition of the layout. Most local printers and graphic designers will charge +/- $200 to create a first class cover. An additional $40 per hour will pay for a page compositor. The page compositors are professionals who ensure that your layout and the page design is optimal for book printing and readers. For starting writers this option is financially risky. For established self-publishing writers it is a necessary step.

Prices to Print a Book

There are not many companies which specialise in the book printing. From the foreign, online operators the Gorham Printing offers a decent service. Australian businesses like Print a Book provides a good value for money for local writers. You should not go overboard with the quality, though. 500 books made of 112pp large square format can cost over $5000. This means that you need to market your book at $10 each to recover printing costs.

Print on demand is also risky. Amazon offers basic print on demand books for $15 each. The best is to use a gloss laminated cover and the paper back quality. At the end, you are selling the content not the cover.