The first decision you’ll need to make as a self-publisher is: What is your purpose for publishing your book? Do you merely want to record your family history or preserve a collection of favorite recipes to share with family members?
Are you a business professional who wants to produce a booklet to give to your clients to help clarify terms that are specific to your industry? Do you envision writing a book to sell to the general public and generate a source of income?
The answer to this question will determine most of the choices you make regarding your book, from the number of copies you’ll print, to the cover style and production cost per copy.
When you’re ready to choose a book printer, plan to spend a lot of time researching the services and prices of many companies to find one that is right for your budget and overall vision. There are hundreds of choices available.
First of all, make sure the printer you choose offers the binding style and trim size that you want. If you plan to make a profit from selling your books, you’ll need to consider the cost of production per copy, especially if you want to sell them at wholesale prices to bookstores or other retailers.
Book Printer Options
Vanity/Subsidy or POD (Print on Demand) Publishers: These are publishing companies that charge a fee that can range from $500 to $15,000 (or more) to put your book together, depending on which services they provide, including layout, editing, typesetting, cover design, printing and marketing.
These companies offer fulfillment services. They ship books after receiving orders, then pay the author a royalty on the price they receive (wholesale or retail). Vanity publishers also assign one of their company’s ISBN’s to your book, which means that they will be listed as the publisher of record (not you).
Rarely do authors recoup even a small fraction of what they pay to a POD publisher. Vanity publishers make money from selling services to authors—not from selling books. But if you can afford their services and don’t have the skills or resources to produce your book yourself, then carefully investigate and compare prices of any companies you are considering. "Google" the company's name and read all comments, both good and bad. Also, check the "Writer Beware" column on the Science Fiction Writers of American website: www.sfwa.org.
Examples of Vanity or POD Publishers are: Author House, Infinity Publishing, and Trafford Publishing
Digital Printers: These companies will print your book in quantities of 25 to several thousand copies using heavy-duty laser printers, which are similar to home computer laser printers. The cost is quite affordable, but prices do vary, as well as services. The more books you order at one time, the lower the cost per book.
Digital Printers: These companies will print your book in quantities of 25 to several thousand copies using heavy-duty laser printers, which are similar to home computer laser printers. The cost is quite affordable, but prices do vary, as well as services. The more books you order at one time, the lower the cost per book.
Most book printers, whether digital or offset printers, require that you provide a PDF (Portable Document File) of your book text for printing. This means you need to own software, such as Adobe® Acrobat, which is fairly expensive. Adobe® also offers a monthly online service for about $10.00 per month for creating PDF files. Check out these services at: http://createpdf.adobe.com/
You can also find a few free PDF software versions online, and some word processing packages (i.e. Microsoft® Office) now come with PDF creators. Make sure any program you use can create “High Quality Printing” PDF’s, which maintains a 300dpi (dots per inch) level for photographs if you have inserted photos into your book. “Standard” level (150 dpi) is too low.
Some book printers will create these files free of charge if you use their printing services. You upload your word processing file (i.e. Microsoft® Word) to their computer, it creates the PDF file, then you place your print order.
The digital book printing company that I have used and highly recommend is InstantPublisher.com. They can usually fill your order in 7-10 working days and will print as few as 25 copies. Their free software will create the necessary PDF files from your word processing document. Use their instant pricing calculator to estimate the cost of publishing your book. The more books you buy per order the lower the cost of each book. They also offer a variety of binding styles and provide affordable book cover design assistance. There is a small charge for full color book covers, bindings other than perfect (paperback) and for creating a bar code from your ISBN number to place on the back cover.
POD (Print On Demand) Printers: These companies can print one book at a time or several hundred books to ship directly to your buyers. Some POD printing companies sell only to wholesale accounts (Lightning Source); others to individual customers (LuLu.com and Create Space.com).
POD (Print On Demand) Printers: These companies can print one book at a time or several hundred books to ship directly to your buyers. Some POD printing companies sell only to wholesale accounts (Lightning Source); others to individual customers (LuLu.com and Create Space.com).
The binding styles are sometimes limited to perfect (paperback) or case bound (hardback). The royalty you receive is normally the sale price minus the cost of printing the book plus a commission fee (usually about 20% - 40% of the retail price).
If you don’t want to fill book orders yourself, a POD printer can be a good option. Another advantage is that you don’t need to invest money in a large quantity of books and store them until they are sold. Prices and services vary widely, so compare those offered by several different POD printers to find the one that best meets your needs and budget considerations.
The one I have used and highly recommend is createspace.com. If you can create your own PDF files for your book's body text and cover, then you can upload them to Create Space (owned by Amazon.com). They can print and bind just one book at a time to fill orders. Your only financial obligation is to purchase one proof copy of your book. They also offer a free "Book Cover Creator" program if you don't have the skills or resources to create your own. The only binding style they offer is paperback (Perfect Binding).
Create Space will post your book for sale on Amazon.com and offers "Expanded Distribution" to sell to other retail stores. As the author, you can purchase books for your own use for a very reasonable fee. Production cost per book is the same no matter how many books you buy per order. The price is also the same for all book trim sizes. If you don't want to purchase your own ISBN, they will give you one free of charge and create the bar code for the back of your book cover for free. They will also provide a free webpage (e-store) for your book. There is no additional charge for a full color cover. Their commission is 40% of book retail price if sold on Amazon.com or 20% of book retail price if sold from your Create Space e-store, plus the cost of printing the book.
Order Self-Publishing On a Budget: A Do-It-All Yourself Guide in these formats:
Order Self-Publishing On a Budget: A Do-It-All Yourself Guide in these formats:
Print version for $6.95 on Amazon.com
E-Book for $2.99 on Amazon.com
