Printing Australia

Deciding how many books to print is one of the toughest decisions a publisher has to make. Guess too high and you've got lots of unsold product. Guess too low and you'll be stuck going back for costly reprints - as well as perhaps dealing with a supply lag and some unhappy consumers. So what's the secret formula?

I've worked for nearly 15 years in the book printing industry, and I still don't have a perfect answer for this question. However, I would definitely recommend being cautious about printing too many books. It's much more common to see someone end up with too many books than not enough.

So start with your worst-case scenario. How many books are you convinced you will sell even if things don't work out as well as you hope? How many books do you think you can sell in your REALISTIC best-case scenario? (Not the "Oprah chose my book for her book club" scenario.)

Now pick a quantity in-between those two numbers, but probably closer to the lower number. You'll find it's much less expensive to do reprints than it is to be stuck with a garage full of unsold books. Plus, you'll feel more successful having gone through your first print run.

Will you use a traditional offset printer or a digital printing press? The quantity you choose will make that part of the decision easy.

If printing fewer than 1,000 books, you'll probably be better off with a digital printer. On a digital press there really isn't a huge cost savings based on quantity. So it's definitely better to start with a lower quantity and come back for reprints later.

An offset press is better suited for quantities of at least 1,000. In this case, there can be some heavy quantity discounts. If you're still debating on your quantity, comparing the cost per book numbers between quantities may help make your decision easier. In any case, be sure to ask your printer for quotes for a number of different quantities. Hey, if Oprah does call, at least you'll be ready!

So to recap: Don't stretch your budget too thin by reaching for the stars with a huge print run to start. Stick with smaller quantities until you can definitively prove the market is there with your book sales. If you stick to your marketing plan and continually build on your sales, you'll be able to jump up to larger book printing quantities soon enough.

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