Short-Run Book Printing for Self-Publishers

When you self-publish via platforms like KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon’s publishing arm), you utilise print-on-demand technology (POD), which means your book will only be printed once someone orders it. While this is super convenient and gives you a global platform on which to sell your books, it doesn’t come cheap. While a KDP account is free to set up and doesn’t involve any additional legwork on your part once the book files have been successfully uploaded, you typically sacrifice 70% of the retail price to cover printing and delivery. For this reason, it’s worth considering having some copies printed upfront. Called ‘short-run book printing’, this will give you some personal copies to sell direct to friends and family, supply to bookstores or sell at events. The advantage of short-run book printing is that your return on each copy sold will be higher. The disadvantage is that you will be paying in advance for the books and taking on the responsibility of selling them to cover your costs. But done well, you can make a decent profit in the process.

Most of the authors I work with opt for a short run alongside selling their book via KDP and Amazon. This gives them the best of both worlds, as it means they can distribute their printed books directly to their target market while taking advantage of Amazon’s UK-wide and global reach.

I offer competitively priced, high-quality short-run book printing services, covering both hardbacks and paperbacks, with a minimum order requirement of 25 books. Orders are typically processed and delivered within 10 working days. Prices vary depending on how many copies you would like printed, the size of your book and whether you want colour or black and white for the interior. However, to give you an idea of the cost of printing a 200-page black and white novel (198mm x 129mm) on quality paper (Holmen cream, 70 gsm) please see the chart below – prices include delivery. If you are interested in this service, get in touch to discuss your project and receive a personalised quote.

Please note:

To sell your books outside of the KDP platform, you will need to purchase an ISBN.

Files will need to be supplied in the correct format for print. Please contact me for further details.