Save $1,500 Printing Your Book

Questions are answered like: What printers should I send bids to? What is a quality "low book bid?" How much money can I save by having my book printed out of state? Can I start with just 1,000 copies and make a good profit?

Save $1,500 Printing Your Book:

131 requests were sent nationwide for data on paperback and hardbound editions
by Welmon "Rusty" Walker, Jr. MBA

Rusty has 20 plus years of experience in the small press business. He is the Founder and Publisher of That New Publishing Co., and has conducted publishing and small business seminars for many years. His current seminar is www.PublishingSecretsRevealed.com The company has published his books (like The Alaska Corporation Manual,) and the books of 10 other authors. Most of the books are hardbound. He brings his knowledge and experience to you in this book for self-publishers, and the small press industry. The e-book of this new Millennium Edition is on CD-ROM and includes:

* The total list of the 131 book manufactures used in the study.

* The raw data sheet showing specific quotes from each printer, with statistical calculations showing, the 4 lowest bids, the highest, average, and range for each data set.

* 10 charts/graphs, for 1,000, and 2,000 copy press run prices for both hardbound and trade paperback. A chart shows the number of printers that returned bids from each state. There is a detailed break-even analysis at 1,000 copies, using the low bid for hardbound and paperback.

* An extensive annotated bibliography of books and articles on publishing and related subjects is included.

* How to price your book for success.

* How to get quotes from and manage the book manufacturing process to get the quality you want. Plus, the best payment plan to use.

For the Self-Publisher and Small Publisher, manufacturing is the major up-front cost in a new book project. Attention to this area is important. Reducing cost here can make a big difference in profit, or if the book will be issued at all. At any time, chances are that a few quality printing plants are having a temporary slow period. When business is slow, it is better to bid a project low to keep the press running. You cannot know when or what plant has slow time. You must, "bid them all." More than $1,500 can be saved with extensive nationwide competitive bidding to find the idle press.

To demonstrate this point, 131 printers were asked to offer costs for the same 192 page, 5½ x 8", trade paperback and hardbound editions. The quotes were for 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 copies. The bids stated the publisher will supply camera ready text and four color cover art. With 44 bids returned, paperback data for 1,000 copies had a low bid of $2,270. The next three lowest bids are $2,323, $2,335 and $2,412 respectively. The three lowest are only $65 apart. There is no need to accept the one lowest bid.

With 24 hardbound bids returned, the data for 1,000 copies had the low bid at $3,309. The next three lowest bids were $3,475, $3,938, and $4,034. These figures dispel the general thinking that you cannot get low hardbound bids for short run books. For the lowest bids at 1,000 copies, the hardbound bid is $1.04 cents per book more than the trade paperback cost. The next lowest bid is $1.20 more than the low paperback bid.

The general business norm of requesting bids from 3 or 4 suppliers, does not work for Short Run Book Publishing. High bids come in at 3 to 5 times the low bid price. The above charts show a broad range of bids. An average bid for paperback at 1,000 was $3,752. The difference in the low to average bid is $1,482. The average hardbound bid was $5,607. That difference was $2,298. A lot of money can be saved with nationwide book bidding. You don't have to pay the highest prices to get quality book printing. Why take a chance on missing good low bids? "Bidding them all," is the only way to greatly increase the chances of getting many quality low bids. For about $40 in postage, you can get bids from every printer. Know what the total book manufacturing industry states your book will cost to print. "Paying too much for printing, and retail pricing that is too low has doomed many first time book projects." This e-book will show you how to avoid these disasters. Click here to e-mail your questions to the author