Book printing quotes (transparency)

[Morrus]

I thought some people might be interested in these. This is (one of several) set of quotes I got for printing 300-page books for What's O.L.D. is N.E.W.

I know folks sometimes discuss printing costs on these boards. This is just one example.

The quotes are for 300 pages, softback and hardback, black-amd-white and color, making four quotes total. Each has a different unit price based on the number produced. As you can see, the unit price drops DRASTICALLY when you print more copies.

Hardcover colour
200 units: $43.10 per book
1000 units: $12.07 per book
2000 units: $8.33 per book
2500 units: $7.58 per book

Softcover black-and-white
200 units: £12.26 per book
1000 units: $4.22 per book
2000 units: $3.21 per book
2500 units: $3.01 per book


Note that this does NOT include shipping to customers, which is a separate cost altogether, and can be very expensive.

Now, these only go up to 2,500 units. Realistically, that's 5,000 total (for 2.5K each of O.L.D. and N.E.W.) which is far, far more than I expect to sell (our ZEITGEIST hardcover KS sold just over 300 copies). So I don't know how that progresses if you're selling a lot more like, say, WotC, does. I assume the costs come down much further.

Anyway, attached below are the full estimates for the four specifications at 200, 1000, 2000, and 2500 unit levels.

 

[Morrus]

Here's another couple of quotes from a different company just for comparison.

Color hardcover
250 units: $40.02 per book
500 units: $21.80 per book
1000 units: $12.59 per book

Softover black-and-white
250 units: $15.48 per book
500 units: $9.10 per book
1000 units: $5.90 per book

 

[Morrus]

The break point to make the upgrade from softcover black-and-white to hardcover color is about 1100 copies. Of each book separately.

Upgrading to hardcover black and white works at 350 units, softcover color at 900 units, then hardcover color at 1100 units. Softcover color is kinda lost there.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Have you looked at PoD alternatives? The costs will most certainly be higher, but then you don't have to worry about committing to a large print run that might not sell.

 

[Morrus]

Have you looked at PoD alternatives? The costs will most certainly be higher, but then you don't have to worry about committing to a large print run that might not sell.

I only have to order enough to cover the Kickstarter pledges. Every one will be effectively pre-ordered.

PoD is, as you say, significantly higher, even with bulk discounts.

 

[mach1.9pants]

EDIT: D'oh you can ignore the below, although it is still reasonable value for small print runs and there is the advantage of shipping direct. The first price I saw had the UKP symbol £, so I thought all your prices were in pounds

For a small order of softcovers from Lulu that does not seem correct.

A 300 page B+W interior, colour exterior from Lulu is $12.40. For a single book. And you can always get at least 15% off Lulu (GETIT15 or whatever). And shipping is direct to customer, not shipping to you then you repack (packaging cost/time) then customer (another shipping cost). And they ship from lots of places, for example Australia for me, making it significantly cheaper than the USA.

To me Lulu is by far and away better value than those quotes, for softcover.

Even a hard cover is only $24.50

 

[Morrus]

To me Lulu is by far and away better value than those quotes, for softcover.

It's roughly the same for very small runs. It's twice to four times the price for larger runs.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Yeah you'll notice I almost immediately edited my post Morrus, I was thinking in pounds - and also the savings you (and me) get with shipping, Lulu codes and also thinking around a print run of approx 300 ~ same as Zeitgeist.

EDIT again! And I forgot how weak the pound is ATM, was thinking of the days of 3 dollars NZ to the pound!

 

[delericho]

The quotes are for 300 pages, softback and hardback, black-amd-white and color, making four quotes total. Each has a different unit price based on the number produced. As you can see, the unit price drops DRASTICALLY when you print more copies.

That's interesting data. Thanks!

Now, these only go up to 2,500 units. Realistically, that's 5,000 total (for 2.5K each of O.L.D. and N.E.W.) which is far, far more than I expect to sell (our ZEITGEIST hardcover KS sold just over 300 copies). So I don't know how that progresses if you're selling a lot more like, say, WotC, does. I assume the costs come down much further.

I'm sure they'd go down further, but I'm not so sure about 'much'. Broadly speaking, there are two sets of costs: the fixed costs of setting things up to do a run at all, and the fixed costs per unit for materials. Doing a bigger run obviously means that the fixed prices are divided by a larger number of units, so they drop down, but obviously the materials per unit don't cost any less. So, somewhere there's a 'floor' that the cost can't drop below.

Given the relatively small savings from moving from 2,000 to 2,500 units, it looks like you might already be getting towards the point where the per-unit costs are the dominant part of the resulting price. So I'm not sure how much further there is to fall.

(But, of course, the only way to be sure would be to get a quote for 100k units, which IIRC was the approximate size for the first print run of one of the PHBs (3.5e?). Or, in fact, for Hasbro to get that quote, since they no doubt have their own pet printers and their own special rate.)

 

[Blackbrrd]

Hardcover colour
200 units: $43.10 per book
1000 units: $12.07 per book
2000 units: $8.33 per book
2500 units: $7.58 per book

From the numbers above you extrapolate that each book costs 4.491$ to print and that the print setup costs roughly 7579-7722.5$

I used these two equations to get those numbers. I checked them against the 1000 and 2000 units and they fit pretty well.
200x+y=8620
2500x+y=18950