WHERE TO GET A COFFEE TABLE BOOK PRINTED?

peterev · Aug 22, 2008

hi,
i've just finished my first book and i'm self publishing.looking to print around
3000 copies of a coffee table book. has anyone sourced printers of quality with reasonable prices? heard of cheap rates in spain,italy,china and holland but googling seems to throw up meaningless crap.ideally i would like to spend around 4 per copy.

thanks

peter

dbonamo · Aug 22, 2008

I found good bit of info by googling "book printing" Coffee Table

http://www.printusa.com/quotes/atlas-books.html

http://www.booksjustbooks.com

http://www.whitehallprinting.com/

Good Luck

Hans-Ludwig · Aug 22, 2008

Hi peter,
last year I bought a book from Nitsa (the title was something like "Non-Photography ...") published via Lulu (www.lulu.com). Maybe this way of publishing (printing on demand at reasonable costs at quite acceptable quality) can be interesting for you? Take a look to their web-site!
Best regards
Hans-Ludwig

bill schwab · Aug 22, 2008

peterev said:
ideally i would like to spend around €4 per copy.

I hope I am wrong, but I think you are dreaming. Especially with only 3,000 copies. The more you print, the less expensive they will be per copy, but even 10,000 would not be that inexpensive per copy from a good printer. Sure there is Lulu and other POD printers, but quality is an issue. You should also consider the fact that even with 3,000 you better have some good storage space because even a very famous photographer will have trouble moving that many copies. Think more like 500 - 1000 copies to start.

Best of luck to you!

Pinholemaster · Aug 22, 2008

China

peterev · Aug 22, 2008

thanks dbonamo and hans for the links i'll check them out.

bill, your not the only person suggesting a smaller run, i have the space to store the books, but can i sell them..?? i probably have to sell around 700 just to break even so
it will be interesting.

pinholemaster, your one word reply has caught the eye.do you have any leads?

Shangheye · Aug 22, 2008

I have to agree on the numbers and price. I have self-published. A run of 500 books of which all but 80 sold. It was done in China and it cost 9Euros a book,,,and I had to pay for the lot...so we are talking Euro4000! and that was China. I think you are being very optimistic. Print on demand through the likes of Blurb is a good idea, and you get to proof the book. But the margins are low...but then again they often are for the average authour. Rgds, K

peterev · Aug 22, 2008

Shangheye said:
I have to agree on the numbers and price. I have self-published. A run of 500 books of which all but 80 sold. It was done in China and it cost 9Euros a book,,,and I had to pay for the lot...so we are talking Euro4000! and that was China. I think you are being very optimistic. Print on demand through the likes of Blurb is a good idea, and you get to proof the book. But the margins are low...but then again they often are for the average authour. Rgds, K

thanks shangheye, how many pages were in your book? and who was the printer?

MikeSeb · Aug 22, 2008

As an aside, I've frequently wondered why the publishing industry hasn't gone to POD for all but its very top-list authors--JK Rowling, John Grisham, and their like.

Granted, there are economies of scale with larger print runs (10,000 and above); but what about the costs incurred by publishers in shipping and storing books, and accepting returned unsold copies? With booksellers in most cases able to insist upon returning unsold books to the publisher as a condition of offering them for sale, the whole industry is just one huge consignment operation. Wouldn't it make sense to accept higher per-book production costs, but print only what is ordered with virtually no unsold books or other "carrying" costs?

Good luck Peter with your enterprise. You might visit Luminous Landscape; Michael Reichmann wrote an article there within the last couple of years about his experience getting books printed overseas--China I think.

Shangheye · Aug 22, 2008

There were a total of around 160 pages, mixed colour and B&w...which can make a difference. The company I think was called Copy General...need to check. They needed alot of managing, and I paid a friend of mine who was a publisher to manage it all...I paid her $1500. The books retailed for around $42...or at least in Euros they were Euro35 each in 2006. I made a good profit, but I also took all the risk. You need to consider which approach you want to follow. Oh I also arranged a launch party which cost Euro 1000, but the place I had it then displayed my prints there for 6 months, I sold several canvese and prints from this as a sideline....and ofcourse got word of mouth. Ultimately the book made it into the national press, and I even got an interview! Rgds, Kal

peterev · Aug 22, 2008

MikeSeb said:
Good luck Peter with your enterprise. You might visit Luminous Landscape; Michael Reichmann wrote an article there within the last couple of years about his experience getting books printed overseas--China I think.

thanks mike i'll check it out.

peter

peterev · Aug 22, 2008

Shangheye said:
There were a total of around 160 pages, mixed colour and B&w...which can make a difference. The company I think was called Copy General...need to check. They needed alot of managing, and I paid a friend of mine who was a publisher to manage it all...I paid her $1500. The books retailed for around $42...or at least in Euros they were Euro35 each in 2006. I made a good profit, but I also took all the risk. You need to consider which approach you want to follow. Oh I also arranged a launch party which cost Euro 1000, but the place I had it then displayed my prints there for 6 months, I sold several canvese and prints from this as a sideline....and ofcourse got word of mouth. Ultimately the book made it into the national press, and I even got an interview! Rgds, Kal

well done,are you still marketing it?

Shangheye · Aug 23, 2008

Not any more, I have moved back to Europe, and sell the odd one here and there, if someone contacts me after seeing it on someone else's table. I didn't get an ISBN number since the bulk of the sales were intended in China. I personally would not repeat it the way I did. It was alot of hard work and took the fun out of photography for me (it took three months to slelect images, layout the book with my publkisher friend etc....and then after release, there was six months of marketing on weekends etc). Blurb seems to be an easier option without the stress of the outlay. The advantage of Blurb is that you can produce a single printed book, and use it as a basis for seeing if outlets are interested. You can then get it an ISBN number...but as I say...you don't make much money the Blurb route (I know a couple of people who have produced books through Blurb, like Suzanne Levy on APUG). Depends on what you are wanting out of this. The act itself, or as an investment/return project. K

Shangheye · Aug 23, 2008

Sorry...I means Suzanne Revy!

Moopheus · Aug 23, 2008

MikeSeb said:
As an aside, I've frequently wondered why the publishing industry hasn't gone to POD for all but its very top-list authors--JK Rowling, John Grisham, and their like.

Wouldn't it make sense to accept higher per-book production costs, but print only what is ordered with virtually no unsold books or other "carrying" costs?

No, mainly because the economics of commercial trade publishing doesn't work unless at least a few thousand copies are sold of a new book anyway. Unless you've got a way to eliminate editorial costs, typesetting, advertising and promotional costs, corporate overhead, etc. and etc. On the other hand, POD makes a lot of sense for slower-moving backlist where those costs have already been amortized.

Also, as long as you're moving physical product through retail channels, there will be unsold books. No matter what.

As to printing, it's been a few years since I've had to do any print buying, but you might look to see who's doing printing in Iceland. You didn't say where you were, and whether you needed color or b&w (makes a big difference). Some years ago I saw some print samples from a printer in Iceland (the name unfortunately escapes me at this time), some museum exhibit catalogs, both b&w and color, and the work was absolutely top-notch. Really, some of the best half-tone repro I'd ever seen. Prices were not too bad, even at shorter runs, though more than Hong Kong.

Síle · Aug 23, 2008

Peter,

My father has just had a collection of poems published that he completed online though an Irish company called Choice Publishing. A quick look at their site and I could find prices, which were very reasonable, as well as an option to choose full colour picture books .
When they arrived, the box included book marks, with the name of the book and author, and invitations to the "Book launch" at a time and place to be decided by the author.

We're all busy planning that bit now

His book turned out brilliantly, but it is poetry and therefore simply type apart from the front cover, but it may just be well worth a look?

peterev · Aug 25, 2008

[ You can then get it an ISBN number...but as I say...you don't make much money the Blurb route (I know a couple of people who have produced books through Blurb, like Suzanne Levy on APUG). Depends on what you are wanting out of this. The act itself, or as an investment/return project. K[/QUOTE]

unfortunately its the investment/return option. the stupid option!

peterev · Aug 25, 2008

Moopheus said:
As to printing, it's been a few years since I've had to do any print buying, but you might look to see who's doing printing in Iceland. You didn't say where you were, and whether you needed color or b&w (makes a big difference). Some years ago I saw some print samples from a printer in Iceland (the name unfortunately escapes me at this time), some museum exhibit catalogs, both b&w and color, and the work was absolutely top-notch. Really, some of the best half-tone repro I'd ever seen. Prices were not too bad, even at shorter runs, though more than Hong Kong.

full colour if you can remember any of the printing house names that would be fantastic!

peterev · Aug 25, 2008

Síle said:
Peter,

My father has just had a collection of poems published that he completed online though an Irish company called Choice Publishing. A quick look at their site and I could find prices, which were very reasonable, as well as an option to choose full colour picture books .
When they arrived, the box included book marks, with the name of the book and author, and invitations to the "Book launch" at a time and place to be decided by the author.

We're all busy planning that bit now

His book turned out brilliantly, but it is poetry and therefore simply type apart from the front cover, but it may just be well worth a look?

i'll check them out,thanks a million and congratulations to your father.

WHERE TO GET A COFFEE TABLE BOOK PRINTED?

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