It’s perhaps the most common question we get from new book printing customers:
How much does it cost to print a book?
The answer — at first — is always the same: it depends.
We don’t have standard pricing at Advanced Print & Finishing because every book project we print is a custom job. Therefore, not only do you get the exact book specifications you want, you also get the best per-book cost we can offer for every order.
We want to use this guide to direct you to a collection of previous articles focused on the various book printing options you have and how each will impact your price.
And remember you always can head over to our book quote page to get a price on your exact book.
Book Type
Hard cover books
Choose between case bound and case wrapped books
Soft cover books
Choose between perfect bound or saddle stitch
Note that hard cover books take more time to produce than softcover books.
Quantity, Page Number & Size
Quantity, of course, has a huge impact on price regardless of the book type you choose. While a large cost in short run printing is the setup cost, your per-book cost lowers drastically as your quantity increases.
Enter up to three different quantities per quote to see an example of the difference.
Your next option will be the dimensions of your book.
See info on overall paper size as well as examples of common book sizes
Note that when entering number of pages, this refers to the number of printed pages, not the number of sheets of paper.
Paper Type
The paper you choose for your book will determine the look and feel of your book.
Find out more about the multiple book paper options available
These are the primary options you’ll have for your book, however there are numerous upgrades and add-ons you can ask about as well.
Custom Book Printing
What do we mean when we say that each book project is a custom job? Our prepress department sets up each job independently of every other job. This means you can print any specifications for your book project and not rely on pre-set templates or options.
What you want is what you get.
This is opposed to some on-demand printing companies that limit the options available, including size, paper type, etc. This allows them to produce very small quantities of books at a low overall price, but keeps the per-book price high for all quantities.
When printing with us, you don’t have any of those limitations. You will work directly with our customer service department and prepress team (and can even reach them on the phone, which is unfortunately becoming rare in our industry). Let us know exactly what you need and we’ll make it happen. You’ll work with a real person to make sure your book is exactly the way you want it before it goes to press. With the on-demand companies, your files may never be seen by a person before it is printed, and this is how errors happen.
For some actual price example comparisons, see our article on the different types of book printers.
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