My experiences printing a small batch of books - Marcin Wichary

May. 13, 2024

My experiences printing a small batch of books - Marcin Wichary

Printing services I compared

I wanted to find a printing service that would allow you to get a small batch of 15 copies, preceded by a 1-copy proof print, relatively cheaply. I found these four:

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit our website.

A few others I learned of were too expensive (Lightning Press, Infinity Publishing, Best Book Printing), offered only paperback (CreateSpace), or seemed cumbersome (Lightning Source required a new account to be approved manually!?) If there are more that fit the bill, please let me know.

I ordered one copy of the book from each of the four services. Here’s how they compared.

Price

Printing prices were as follows (per one copy, excluding tax and shipping):

Blurb:
One copy: $15.75. Fifteen copies: $14.18.
BookBaby:
One copy: $19.00. Twenty-five copies: $17.83.
Note: BookBaby doesn’t allow you to get 2–24 copies, only one or 25+.
Lulu:
One copy: $14.65. Fifteen copies: same.
Nook Press:
One copy: $8.50. Fifteen copies: same.

Time and cost of delivery to California:

Blurb: 3–5 business days for print (I think… I inferred it), delivery options from economy for $3.99, to one-day for $21.99.
BookBaby: 7 business days for print, delivery options from economy for $15.49, to next-day for a staggering $56.90.
Lulu: 3–5 business days for print, delivery options from mail (2–6 business days) for $4.99, to express (1 business day) for $39.99.
Nook Press: 3 business days for print, delivery options from economy for $5.50, to 2–3 business days for $20.50.

The best deal: Clearly, Nook Press is the cheapest and fastest at the same time. The worst deal: BookBaby is the slowest and most expensive (both printing and shipping costs).

Options

I’m only listing options related to my project; many of the services have more possibilities including large dimensions, glossy paper, photo books, etc.

Blurb: 24–480 pages. Book size can be 6"×9", but also go down to 5"×8". You can choose a cheaper hardcover without a dust jacket (but with any colour image printed on it).

BookBaby: 24–1,000 pages. Book size can be 6"×9", but also go down to 5½"×8½", and even 4¼"x6¾". You can choose a cheaper hardcover without a dust jacket. There’s a choice between 50# and 60# paper. Colour is available even on natural/cream paper, but that raises the price.

Heao Printing are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together.

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Lulu: 24–800 pages. The linen cover can be in one of six colours: blue, black, red, green, gray, or tan. (I picked red.) Dust jacket can be gloss or matte, and you can emboss spine text for free in gold, white, or black. You can also order a cheaper hardcover without a dust jacket, but it only comes in white (and inexplicably, no cream paper as an option).

A few of the Lulu options. A lot of graying out happens as you switch between them.

Nook Press: 50–800 pages. Book size can be 6"×9", but also go down to 5½"×8½". You can choose a cheaper hardcover without a dust jacket (but with any colour image printed on it). Paper is 55#, so slightly better than 50#.

A few of Nook Press options

The best deal: For my needs, very hard to compare. Lulu has jacket colours, but can’t go smaller than 6"×9". BookBaby has more sizes and paper options, and the only service that offers colour.

Print sharpness

I was most impressed with BookBaby, with Lulu coming in a very close second. These two look like print.

Compared with them, both Blurb and Nook Press feel like (and possibly are?) inkjet. They’re not bad, per se, but also doesn’t have a great feeling of a real book.

Softcover Book Printing

Perfect-bound books are more commonly referred to as softcover books or paperbacks. They are a cost-effective alternative to hardcovers, and there is a wide range of paper sizes and paper types for covers and inside pages to choose from. For these reasons, perfect binding is a popular choice.

When you choose BestBook to print your softcover book, you can expect exceptional quality and durability. Our perfect-bound books have an attractive appearance with tight, square spines.

They feature hinge scores for greater usability and use either PUR or EVA glue, depending on the type of paper you choose. Film lamination, an optional feature, can further enhance the look, feel and durability of your books.

Perfect Binding provides the perfect balance between value, flexibility and turnaround time.

Want more information on Soft Cover Book Printing Factory? Feel free to contact us.

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