Can I print short run color children’s picture books? Yes, I could print them for you if I just wanted to take your money like many companies out there on the Internet, But, NO, I won’t print them for you, if your intention is to make any money marketing the books.

Digital black & white printing always revolved around books and book products. While in the early days of the digital docutech, it was actually more economical to print a book on a short run offset press, which changed to the point where short run digital book printing became the standard. On the other hand, the market for digital color printing was the commercial market, not the book market. It used to be virtually impossible to print a four color ad sheet on an offset press for less than $300-$400, and that was based on ganging eight different sheets together to offset the initial make-ready cost. With color digital printing it’s a bit different. There is a small setup plus a per sheet cost of about a dollar per sheet, for either 8 ½ x 11 or 11×17.

The first practical use for the color digital press in the book world was for short run covers. A color cover on a book of 100 or 200 copies is extremely difficult using an offset press. As with the ad sheets, the minimum is just under $1000 for a single cover. Even on a gang run they would cost a minimum of $500-$600(equal to two – 8 ½ x 11 ad sheets). On the other hand, you can run 100 covers on a digital press for about $125. When you break it down to a unit cost as we do in pricing books, an offset color cover would add $5-10 dollars to the unit cost making it nearly impossible to resell. The cost of a color cover using a digital press only adds about $1.25 to the cost of the book which generally works fine.

Where the problem occurs is when you try to print a whole book in color. A 32 page children’s book is technically 8 covers (each cover is 4 pages). At $1.20 or even $1 per 4 pages, your 32 page book is between $8-$10ea. When was the last time you saw a 32 page paperback children’s book sell for $8-10? And that would be you not making a nickel! It’s not going to happen. Unfortunately there are a few vanity publishers, like 1st Books (oops, they changed their name to Author’s something or another) on the Internet who will try to convince you that people will pay $15-$18 for a paperback book. I guess technically they are correct, although what they don’t tell you is the only ones who will pay that much for a paperback book are authors like you who will end up buying them for their family and friends on top of paying a huge setup cost.

Remember, you do not set the retail price, the market does. It’s up to you to make money at that market price. The “market price” for full-color paperback children’s book is low. Many books from the big guys like Scholastic or Modern sell for well under five dollars. Your printing and binding cost on 1000 paperback books is almost equal to their retail price. You ask, “How do they do it? The answer is simple. They print lots and lots of books. That 32 page 8X8 paperback book costs about a quarter each when you buy 75,000 books at a time. With a quarter in costs, you can set your retail price at $3 and make plenty of money. Most small publishers think they are making a major commitment printing a few thousand books. The math just doesn’t work. Even if you manage to get your book onto the stores bookshelf, which you won’t, do you think anyone is going to buy yours at $10+ when all the other books in the same category are selling for under $5? Would you buy your book?

The place a small publisher can compete is in the hardcover picture book arena. The reason for this is that in the hardcover children’s book market the small publisher and the larger publishers print more or less the same quantity which tends to level the playing field. It is pretty common place to see a children’s hardcover picture book selling for $15-$18. At that retail price, you can compete with only a few thousand books. That is why the only full-color children’s picture books offered by www.BooksJustBooks.com are hardcover. A minimum is set at 1,000 copies because that is the absolute minimum where your printing unit cost makes sense in relation to the retail price. To offer fewer copies would be just as much a waste of your money as offering your digital paperback copies at $8ea.

So in a nutshell, yes you can print full color children’s picture books, as long as they are in hardcover and you print at least 1000 copies.

Remember, at www.BooksJustBooks.com we are now printing most of our children’s picture books in the USA at typically Hong Kong pricing.

Need a cover designed or complete book layout? Try www.BudgetBookDesign.com . - Only $250 for original cover design. Complete text layout from $250.

If you have a question pertaining to the publishing production process, please feel free to contact me at ron@rjcom.com.

Last 5 posts by Ron Pramschufer

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