How Self-Publishing Companies Mark-Up Book Printing Costs

Mill City Press is the only self-publishing company that passes the pricing the printer gives us directly to our authors. By paying wholesale printing costs, Mill City Press authors are able to price their books competitively, increase their profits dramatically, and have the flexibility to offer discounts to their readers. 

Keep reading and you´ll understand how our commitment to pass wholesale printing costs to our authors will save you hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars.

Visit any other self-publishing company´s website and you´ll see what they tell authors it costs to print a book, usually in the form of how much of a discount the author receives when he or she orders copies of his or her own book.

On average, one 200 page, 5.5 x 8.5 paperback, with a laminated, full color cover costs a self-publishing company about $3.90 to print ($0.015 per page plus $0.90 per unit).

Below is a chart that shows you:

Publisher

Actual Print Cost of 200 page, 5.5 x 8.5. paperback

Cost at which Author can purchase books from Publisher

Printing profit Publisher makes per book printed

Profit Publisher makes when 200 books are printed.

Mill City Press

$3.90

$3.90

$0.00

$0.00

iUniverse

$3.90

$10.47*

$6.56

$864.00

Lulu.com

$3.90

$8.50**

$4.60

$470.00

Trafford

$3.90

$8.37***

$4.47

$794.00

Xlibris

$3.90

$11.99****

$8.09

$1,220.00

 

 

 

 

 

Since most self-publishing companies use the same book printers and pay the same amount to print a book, the cost to the author shouldn´t vary from publisher to publisher.  Right? Sadly, the chart above demonstrates otherwise.

Mill City Press is the only self-publishing company that doesn´t make a profit every time your book is printed.  By inflating print costs and taking royalties, most self-publishing companies ensure that the only one profiting from your book sales is the publisher.

Mill City Press believes that the author should be the one who profits from their book, not the publisher.

At Mill City Press, you pay the wholesale price that we pay. We pass the pricing the printer gives us directly to our authors. 

You can order as few as one book if you wish and still pay wholesale print costs. (On all orders after the initial one, we do charge a nominal administrative fee of $23 to cover our time to submit and track the order for you, but that´s it).

Publish Your Book Now Without Overpaying for Book Printing

 

-------------------------

* http://www.iuniverse.com/why-iUniverse/publishing-the-iUniverse-way/selling-your-book/author-discounts.aspx (45% of list price of book.  The figure is based on 30% off retail price of $14.95 for orders of 1-24 books. iUniverse authors pay $8.22 per book for orders of 200 books. iUniverse retail price for fiction is between $14.95 and $16.95 and can be set by author. For purposes of these calculations, we use the lowest list price and thus the lowest printing charges to authors.)
** http://www.lulu.com/en/help/index.php?Symbol=book_pricing. Note that this price is for a 6x9 trim, as the calculator did not include a 5.5x8.5 trim. Author pays $6.25 per book for 200 books.
*** http://www2.trafford.com/calc/Calc.htm. Author pays $8.37 per book for 1-49 books and $7.87 per book for 200 books.
**** http://www2.xlibris.com/bw_pricing_chart.html. Author pays $11.99 per book for 25-49 books and $10.00 per book for 200 books.
 

NOTE: The book printing fees above were current as of 5/2009. Publishers' book printing fees are subject to change at any time.