0UGD504 - Researching Industry Production

The publication was aimed to target a younger demographic between the ages of 15-35. This meant the book had to be cheap to produce and subsequently have a cheap shelf price. I wanted to keep the sales price down to below £10 per copy as personally I would not spend more than that amount on this book. 

I looked into the cost of print runs online on the website 'Blurb', which outlines costs of dofferent print runs in different publication formats including photobooks, trade books and magazines. 

Selecting the photobook option and choosing the dimensions which were closest to my publication I selected softcover format as the book will be a perfect bound and I wanted the design to be flexible and lightweight. 

Discounts are applied to the prices below depending on the size of each print run. For  50+ books it would be a 25% discount. With my publication being part of a 200 copy print run, slightly more discount may be available. 

On standard semi matt 118gsm paper (similar to the matte 120gsm in the college's print room) The cost would be £13.99 per publication. With the 25% discount it goes to £10.50 with possibly more discount available for bigger numbers. 

On premium, matte or lustre paper at 145gm the price is £16.65 wihtout the discount and £13.32 with. 

Neither of these prices would be viable if I was producing the actual book for the actual price I wanted to retail it at as I would make a loss on both quotes. 

This is where I then looked into whether or not the book should be offset printed or digitally printed. 

The differences between digital and offset printing are quality, quantity, and printing costs. Offset printing has a different printing method, offering higher quality ink for both color and black-and-white interiors. It can also offer a wider range of book spec options, from spot finishes, to fold-out pages, to unusual trim sizes, and a wider range of paper weights. Offset printing costs more to set up, but typically has a better per-book cost when you print in large quantities (500 books or more).

Which is ideal if you: 

• need inventory for events like book signings
• sell books through public speaking or trade shows
• financed your project through crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter
• are publishing a children’s book and you’d like the opportunity to have it in a bookstores

On the other hand, if you:

• want to start with a small inventory of books
• don’t want to invest as much upfront
• don’t use many images or require special features

Then digital printing may be better for you. 

After reading this it was hard to decide which form of printing would be more suitble for my publication as I wanted it to be a 200 copy run to be in keeping with the limited edition selling point, however at the same time the publication contained lots of high quality images and vibrant colours. 

I then research into 'limited edition' print runs and soon realised that 500 books still constituted as a limited print run, so would still make the book appealing as a first edition. 

Foiling is also cheap to produce on a larger scale so would not effect the price of the finished book too much when done in bulk. 

https://www.millcitypress.net/author-learning-center/what-type-of-printing-is-right-for-me