Note: This article is part of a series on Book Printing for Kickstarter. See more on our Kickstarter mainpage. Short run printing works better than print on demand for most Kickstarter projects, but that doesn’t solve the problem of which printer you should use to print your book. As you may guess, we’re a bit biased on the best printer topic here at Colorwise, but we also want to give you all the facts on why you may want to choose us or a similar short run printer for your project. It can be a little overwhelming looking for a printer, particularly if you are printing your first book. Often the first thing you find are large national printers, but these are not always the best solution. Here are a few reasons short run printers like Colorwise may be the best choice.

Short Run is Often More Cost Effective

Many of the bigger companies specialize in very short runs and print on demand (i.e. 1-10 books). And while they can offer good prices for those amounts, the unit prices often don’t come down too much as the quantity increases. This is not to knock big names like Blurb and Lulu, as those and similar companies have certain projects that they do very well. However, you may find yourself with better quality printing at a lower price if you look beyond these names. In short run printing, on the other hand, your unit cost begins to come down drastically as you print more books.

Short Run Allows for Customization

One of the reasons that the larger companies can offer low prices on very low quantities is that they offer only a limited amount of options for your book. However, many authors need more control over their final printed product. Because we work with both sheet-fed, offset printing and cutting edge digital printing, we can produce nearly any size and style book you want for your project, along with any special features like pockets, printed end sheets and much more.

We Provide Personalized Customer Service

If you are still deciding exactly what type of book you need the options can quickly seem overwhelming. Part of the advantage of working with a company like Colorwise is we are available to personally answer any questions you have. A favorite saying around the Colorwise office is “We answer the phone!” While that may seem strange at first glance, it can be difficult to get in touch with larger companies. We know – customers have called and told us. And we answered. So from the time you begin planning your book until the final project is in your hands, we’re here to answer any questions you have. If you call during business hours you’ll have a real person answering your call – no automated menus.

Real Examples

We could go on forever about how you may be better off working with a smaller printer like Colorwise for your Kickstarter project, but we know real numbers are more important to you. Because of that, we urge you to compare us to the bigger guys. We created a custom quote form that allows you to enter all details of your project, and get a quote on up to three quantities at once. Need additional details, or additional quantities? No problem, you also can give us a call at 888-664-8166. For comparison purposes, we also urge you to hold us up against quotes from Blurb and Lulu, which you can find here and here. As just one example – to show you what kind of savings are possible – we recently ran the numbers on 250 full-color, 100-page hardcover photo books. Even with our higher quality paper, Colorwise came in well over $2,000 less than the least expensive option from those two companies.

Kickstarter & Self-Publishers, For the Win

In short, we love that Kickstarter allows so many authors the opportunity to self publish their books, and we also love being involved in this process as the book printer. We can make sure that you will always know what your pricing will be and can rest assured that your book will be the highest quality. Additionally, we’ll be there every step of the way to make sure you get the exact project you set out to make and that your contributors (and future readers) deserve!  ]]>