POD Book Printing Costs
Question: What are the best options and
costs (fixed and variable) to
self-publish a paperback book of non-fiction of 200-400 pages in quantity of
500-2,000? I want to know whether it makes more sense to print all at once, or
utilize one of the internet book publishing services. It must include fees for
copyrighting, ISBN number, and listed on Amazon for purchase. This is to be used
for my business to give to clients and prospects and to sell.
John's Answer: You will get the best
value by going to a book printer for 500 to 2000 copies of a book. And then
doing the copyright work yourself. It doesn't take much time to get a copyright.
POD companies will cost about $7 to $10 per book for a book your size doing them
1 to 25 copies at a time. Book printers will charge about $2.00 per book for
2000 copies, maybe a little more or less, since you didn't give a
specific page count.
You are always better off with a real book printer if you can afford to print
a thousand copies or more right away.
For book printers, go to
Book Printers.
For POD printers/publishers, go to
Print-on-Demand Printers and
Publishers. Some of the best PODers include Infinity Publishing, iUniverse,
AuthorHouse, and Xlibris.
Another Reader's Question: $7 to $10
seems a little high for a small POD book. Mine is 236 pages, and I pay $4.44 per
copy from Lightnng Source.
John's Answer: $7 to $10 is an average
fee for POD publishers not printers. Again, it certainly depends on the size of
the book. A 400-page book (the person said between 200 and 400 pages) would go
much higher POD than your 236 page book. That's why I offered the high range.
But you are right. Of all the POD printers, Lightning Source is one of the less
expensive per copy.
But the person wanted to use a POD publishing service to include copyright,
ISBN, Amazon listing, etc. That's why POD publishers charge more per copy than
Lightning Source, which simply prints your book but doesn't charge for
editorial, typesetting, ISBN, etc. because they don't generally offer those
services.
How to Judge Whether a Book Is Reliable?
The following conversation is excerpted from my Promoting Your Books blog at
http://openhorizons.blogspot.com. I think it’s a useful exchange to help
you think about how your book competes or complements other books in your
subject area. In creating any book marketing plan, you need to know how your
book fits into the world of existing books — and books to come.
John Kremer’s Original Post
Sometimes when you get so many books to read, look at, review, or provide testimonials for, you might choose to follow the simple
method used by the great Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski to decide which books are worthy of your attention.
Because he did not have time to read every new book in his field, Malinowski would take each new book he received, open it
immediately to the index, and check to see if his name was cited there (and how often). The more Malinowski, the more compelling the book would be.
No Malinowski, and he doubted whether the subject of the book was anthropology at all.
I have used this same method when I receive new books on publishing,
self-publishing, and book marketing. If my name is not cited in these
books—and often, they can't be worth much. If my 1001 Ways to Market Your
Books is not mentioned, they are hardly worth the effort to crack the
spine. My thinking is very simple: If they do not cite me or my book, they do
not know much about the field of publishing and marketing books.
You should use the same criteria when reviewing books in your own special
field. If they don't cite you, ask them why. And they better have a good reason.
An Anonymous Comment
The frightening thing is, you're serious, aren't you?
There are people who have been in the printing and publishing business for
decades longer than you and have acquired a vast amount of hands-on knowledge
that is very valuable. And they have no idea who you are. There are books
written by marketers who have repeatedly had successful multi-million dollar
ad campaigns (BANG!, for example) and I doubt they have ever heard of you.
Sometimes I tire of you self-declared experts. More importantly, I avoid you
and would never recommend you. Your book's layout (at least the one I saw) was
not good. Not only did you have first-paragraph indents your margins were far
too small to make reading comfortable. Packaging is very important and can
often indicate a book that was done on the cheap. Hopefully you've addressed
these issues in subsequent editions as they do indicate a certain lack of knowledge or care about the package.
--- A name no one would recognize, 'cept dear ol' ma.
John’s Responding Post
Yes, I am serious. Of books on marketing books, mine is the best. The second best is the two-volume Book Marketing Handbook by
Nat Bodian. I check for both of our names to verify whether or not a book on marketing books is reasonable or content rich.
I've read every new book on publishing, marketing and publicizing books that has come out in the past 25 years. I have never seen
another book that matches either of these titles for their depth and
comprehensiveness. There are certainly some other great books on publishing,
marketing, and publicizing books. I know that because I use them. If you'd
like to review all the books I've read on the subject, check out my bibliography at
http://www.bookmarket.com/1001bib.html. Only when you've read at least 20
to 30 of the titles on that list will I accept your judgment of my book. I
would be slap-happy if I were to accept your judgment without that qualification.
Now, while many people (readers as well as reviewers)
have called my 1001 Ways to Market Your Books one of the best books on
marketing they've ever read, I don't claim that the book can compete with the
many, many books on general marketing that are currently in print. But, for
books on marketing books, it is the best, bar none.
You are right: Many bestselling authors and marketing experts have never heard of me. Or, at least, won't recall having heard my
name. Indeed, many people working at the big New York publishers will not recognize my name. Of course, they are the same people who don't generally
recognize as valid any book published west of the Hudson. That's their loss.
On the other hand, there are many, many bestselling authors and well-known marketers who do know me by name. Many are my friends.
But they are a small percentage compared to those who don't know my name. Now,
to some extent, of course, that is my fault. I am lazy. I don't do everything
I could do to hammer my name home to those people. I could, but I don't. That's my choice.
I am not a self-described expert. My expertise has been heralded for many years by many, many authors, publishers, bestsellers,
booksellers, agents, publicists, and more. Only after those heralds have I
ever taken on the moniker of book marketing expert. Now, of course, I use that
moniker all the time — not because I have a big head but because it's true.
My dear ol' ma probably never acknowledged me as book marketing expert, but that's okay. Even my wife hesitates to recognize me as
such. But neither is really into publishing or marketing books. My wife, by choice, doesn't want to know what I do. I respect that.
It is fine if you avoid me and don't recommend me. I have thousands who do recommend me. And thousands is not an exaggeration. I would
certainly rather that you be wrong than those thousands of fans. And, given
the number of Kremer critics versus the number of Kremer fans, I feel very
confident in continuing on the course I have set — that of providing the best book marketing advice in the world.
You probably find that last statement frightening as well, but it is founded on my experience consulting with thousands of authors
and publishers, including many bestselling authors and successful small
publishers. I am well aware that there are many other book marketing consultants (I list them at
http://www.bookmarket.com/101bkmark.html), and many of them are incredible
at what they do. I send many of my clients to them for detailed advice in
specific areas. But, if you want the best advice, you come to me. If I weren't
that confident in my advice, I couldn't charge $500 per hour and have clients actually pay my fee.
Book Design Considerations
As for your critique of my book's design, I would offer the same critique. My book isn't pretty. The book design is functional, not
pretty. It's designed to get the most information into the smallest number of pages.
I'm not sure what you have against first-paragraph indents, but I guess that's your preferred style. Good typography allows for
no first-paragraph indents, large cap first letters in first paragraphs,
first-paragraph indents, and many other options. I have never heard of a
first-paragraph no-indent law in book design and certainly have seen no evidence of it in many, many well-designed books.
My margins are far too small for comfortable reading. I will admit that. I wish I could make them more spacious but to do so would
mean a much larger book (which my readers have told me they don't want). You
could, of course, make the same critical comment about many editions of the Bible, dictionaries, or other reference works.
If I were to use what I consider a great design for a book, I'd have a 1200-page book (after widening the margins, using more white
space elsewhere, increasing the type size to 11-point, and including more
illustrations). The problem then would be two-fold: 1) I'd have to raise the
price of the book by $10 to $20, and 2) I'd scare off too many readers by
having such a big door-stop book. The book, for some potential buyers, is already much too big and intimidating.
Packaging is indeed crucial to a book's sales success. Having written many articles on the importance of book design, I am a strong
advocate of improving the packaging of most books. 90% of books could benefit
from some design changes. Whenever I can, I advocate book design changes to my
clients (if they can afford the changes and are going back to press soon).
My book is not done on the cheap. Its design is not the result of a lack of knowledge or care about the package, but just the reverse.
I do care about the packaging, and I know good book design when I see it. But
every book is — or at least should be — the result of many design decisions
and compromises. In this instance, I chose to have a smaller and less
intimidating book at the expense of white space, illustrations, and margins.
Amazingly, these choices have not caused my book to be unreadable. Indeed, most people who have written to me have told me that my
book is one of the more readable they have ever read. Those comments, of
course, do not arise from the book's design. They result from a writing style that comes from the heart and well-earned experience.
