The more books you print, the less each book costs.

Why does quantity affect the price of each book?

One of the major costs of printing is setup. Setting up a book for print costs the same for a print run of 100 books as it does for a print run of 1000 books. Setup costs include such things as turning pdf  files into press-ready files, as well as preparation of the presses. These are not tasks for the self-publisher, but are done by the commercial printer, service bureau, or graphics house.

The most cost-efficient printing is done when you print a minimum of 1,000 copies of a book. This is because once you reach 1,000 copies, you usually have covered the setup costs and thereafter are mainly paying for just paper and ink. That is why the per-unit cost of a book goes down the more books you print. More about small versus large print runs.

If you decide to go with digital printing, which is produced by a xerographic method rather than by a printing press, you can order much fewer copies. However, the price per book copy is still higher than doing a larger run on a standard press.

If you want to make money from your publishing venture and are willing to work at marketing your book, we recommend offset or web printing. If you are just testing critical reaction to your book and you want 200 or fewer copies or do not want to actively sell the book, then digital is the way to go. Be careful to avoid publishers whose fees are based on the cover price you plan to charge. You will lose money with fees of this sort, no matter how many books you sell. Make sure the price you are quoted is based only on the number of books you want printed.