Quote:
Originally Posted by JMikeD
That's why I specified hardcover for the $9.99. I have no information on paperback costs for major publishers, and only this one data point for a small publisher. I have yet to see someone come up with credible figures for printing and distribution cost for hardcovers and paperbacks. A lot of numbers are thrown around, but not from anyone I'd give credence to. So basically, we're making up numbers.  |
I worked for Prima Publishing back in the mid-90s. Back then, it was a standard rule that for HC, TPB and MMPB books, the retailer got 50% of the marked cover price (and any discounts they offered was taken from that part) for any book. If the publisher kept books in the warehouse and shipped direct to retailer, the publisher avoided paying a distribution center, but otherwise the distributor/fulfillment center got between 45-55% of the remainder for storage and shipping fees. That basically meant that for a book that went from publisher to distributor to retailer, the publisher got about 25% of retail cover price. From that came printing, marketing, art and editorial costs as well as authors' royalties and advances. The rest was pure profit! (About 5% of cover price.)
But if you want more realistic figures for printing costs I suggest you dummy up an estimate through BooksJustBooks. To give you an idea, I've just gone to their site to create a simple estimate for a 2,000 copy order of a 384-page novel, simple 4-color cover with the most basic paper and type on the interior. Here's what I got back for an estimate.
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General Information
* Book Title: Homebrew
Quantity & Page Count
Quantity (+/-5%): 2,000
Page Count 384
Show me options available for digital printing
Show me options available for offset printing
Book Options - Single Color Text - 5 x 8"
Quantity of Books
Please choose either digital printing options or offset printing options Binding: Perfect (paperback)
Cover (Ink): Four color plus layflat film lamination (4-0-0-4)
Cover (Paper): 10pt C1S
Text (Ink): One color (black)
Text (Paper): 50# white offset (540ppi)
Requesting Book Option Data
Offset Printing - Instant Price
Unit Cost: 2.56 This instant price is for reference only and can not be honored by BooksJustBooks.com unless it is turned into a Firm Quote.
Total Cost: 5,122.11
There is an additional $100 administrative fee on all print orders.
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Note that this company basically just prints your work and, if I understand correctly, warehouses for you. I think they'll also handle shipping if you ask for it - but that's extra, of course.
So for a 2,000 copy run of a mid-size TPB, the printing costs run about $2.56 each. BTW, switching to a 6"x9" TPB boosted per-copy costs to $2.70 and total cost to $5,406.69. So not much of an increase for a significantly larger page.
Derek