Printer recommendation for self-published book project?
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Hi All,
Does anyone have a recommendation for a quality book printer, for a short run (50 copies)? This is for a self-published children's book project for my client, which will only be given as gifts (not sold). I've looked at several options in the US (e.g., Bookmobile, Blurb, Bookbaby). I've not considered options outside the US because I'm concerned about clear communication, quality, and timing, but if anyone has had a good experience with an international printer, I'd be open to it.
Note: This will likely be the last self-publishing project I accept, aside from my own personal projects, as it pays very little and is generally, a challenging process emotionally. The one up side: I have several charming vignettes to add to my portfolio. Ultimately, I made a commitment to not only illustrate this book, but produce it for my client, so it would be nice to have a beautifully printed end product.
Thanks in advance for any printer recommendations!
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@johanna-kim I used https://www.createspace.com/ - you don't have to sell on amazon if you don't want and its much cheaper then Blurb. I had someone use blurb and it was super expensive almost $25 per book to print where createspace for me was only $7 per book.
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@chip-valecek Thanks for the tip. I'll check them out.
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I'm curious about this too. A project I'm working on was going to be printed with createspace until the author decided he wanted it to be a hardcover book. As createspace only does paperbacks, I'm wondering if anyone has experience with a publishing company that prints hard cover books that is economical and high quality. There is a very small publishing company publishing the project, so it may not be in my realm to decide how it's printed, but I care about the book and want to be able to make suggestions if it seems the best thing to do. The publisher is new to children's books, so I think we're all in learning mode.
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@kathrynadebayo Hi Kathryn, thanks for noting that Createspace doesn't do hardcover. That rules that one out for me because I'm doing a hardcover picture book with printed end papers.
I have looked into Bookmobile, Blurb and Bookbaby. Blurb has a really fun user-friendly website where you can construct your book, do print-on-demand, and make your book available through their website and I think through Amazon as well. Blurb's quality seems high as well. Bookbaby has a website with similar functionality but it's less user-friendly and not as nice an experience; not sure about quality. Bookmobile makes quality books, but you need to work with them via email/phone to communicate what you want. I'm leaning towards Bookmobile since they will do printed end papers while the other two won't unless I'm doing a much bigger print run.
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@johanna-kim
Those details are helpful... thanks for sharing your research.
