I need a small book printed...

I need to have a small book printed, but need some advice on the best place to have that done. Any ideas?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by 1106 Design on October 3, 2011 at 10:31am

Hi Jennifer,

The answer depends on how many books you need and whether or not your book will be sold on Amazon or is for private use. There are hundreds of printers. Some specialize in short runs with no Amazon connection. Others, such as LightningSource.com and CreateSpace.com can print small quantities and put your book on Amazon as well. Please provide more details and I can answer with more targeted advice.

Thanks,
Michele

1106 Design.com
Book design and self-publishing advice. With hand-holding.

Permalink Reply by Tambra Kendall on October 3, 2011 at 9:38pm

Michele,

You always give such good advice. It's always a joy to read your responses to people.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Hugs,

Tambra

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Vass on October 4, 2011 at 6:43am

Thanks for the great advice. I have already checked out the sites and I am weighing my options.

Jennifer

Permalink Reply by Tony Burton on October 3, 2011 at 11:52am

Michele is correct--there are a number of variables to consider. The answer also depends very much on your definition of "small." If the book is in a small or unusual size/format (i.e., 6x6, hardcover, 32 pages), your choices become more limited. I ran into this issue when printing a small devotional book in hardcover, with a small number of pages, and with 6" by 6" pages.

The choices in the U.S. were very limited for a variety of reasons. Most printers simply would not produce a book with those parameters. A couple of others were willing to do so, but in order to get the price to an affordable level I would have had to print 6,000 or more in the initial printing, and that was out of the question. Also, since the page count was very low, it was hard to find someone who could put that in a casebound format, but because it was poetry interspersed with pen-and-ink illustrations, the layout was crucial and I could not just increase the font size to make for a thicker book.

In the end, I had to use a printer in India, using very thick paper, to get the book to an affordable cost point (even taking overseas cargo shipping into account). The printing production quality was spotty, with about 15% of the books of such poor quality (failed bindings, smears, etc.) that I had to discard them, but again, even with that taken into account, the final per-book cost was lower than it would have been by having it printed in the U.S. Had I printed them in the U.S., I would have had to price the books at over $25 each retail, in order to make any profit at all and pay royalties to the author. 32-page gift books of inspirational poetry by an unknown author seldom sell at that price.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Vass on October 4, 2011 at 6:45am

Thanks Tony,

I have several small books (40 to 100 pages) that I have worked on for years. I think they are ready to be published, but I was looking for the best price. Thanks for giving me some additional options to think about.

Permalink Reply by Joe McDaniel on October 3, 2011 at 5:01pm

Jennifer, Michele's advice is right on target. I might be able to help. My wife and I have done over 100 books (mostly small quantities) using Blurb, Lightning Source and eBooks as well. We charge by the hour so the more complete the manuscript the less expensive it is to do. Feel free to call me (720) 851-0397 to discuss. We always enjoy discussing books.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Vass on October 4, 2011 at 6:47am

Good morning Joe,

Thanks for the offer. I will call once I decide which books I am going to print first and I need to make sure my manuscrit is complete.

Permalink Reply by Tambra Kendall on October 3, 2011 at 9:35pm

I plan on using CreateSpace for my print books. They offer two sizes for print.

If by small you mean paperback size, then CreateSpace offers that size as an option.

They don't have a minimum number of copies you need to buy like Lulu does. Last I heard, Lulu's minimum number to purchase is 10.

Of course, you can check out Lulu and CreateSpace. You need to figure out what best suits your needs. Many people use both and are happy with the results.

Hope this helps!

Tambra Kendall

Daughters of Avalon Publishing

www.daughtersofavalonpublishing.com

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Vass on October 4, 2011 at 6:42am

Thanks to all of you for the great advice. I am so happy that I found this forum. I have nearly 30 books that I have started, but have gotten discouraged in the past because I did not know where to go. I have found so much good advice on SPAN that I feel I can actually do this.

Thanks again!

Permalink Reply by 1106 Design on October 4, 2011 at 8:28am

@Tambra: You're very welcome! Hand-holding is the best part of my job!

@Jennifer: You might also look into LightningSource.com, which allows you to set your retail discount lower than CreateSpace. They're owned by Ingram, so their extended distribution is less expensive than that offered by CreateSpace. Some of the "self-publishing companies" charge a high cost for each copy of the book because they print at Lightning Source. I once talked to a new publisher who paid $8.90 for a 200-pg softcover book from some POD outfit I'd never heard of. The price at Lightning was $3.90. The bottom line is you don't need a "self-publishing company" to self-publish. Once you have worked with editorial and design experts to craft your book to industry standards, POD printing (without the snake oil) is available to everyone.

Michele DeFilippo
1106Design.com
Book design and self-publishing advice. With hand-holding.