How much does it cost to have a book printed in large quantities? Let’s say I think I have the new great novel (or just 500 pages of my FR ranting) and I decide to publish it myself. How much would it cost to have 10,000 (or 100,000) 500 page hardcover books printed? How about paperbacks? I’ll deliver the print ready files in whatever format needed and I’ll bring the trucks to the loading docks. I’ll even wait until it fits into a normal printing schedule so it’s not a rush job. I just want to know how much the raw printed copies cost in mass production (not print on demand) quantities.
At 10,000 books in a print run, you have exceeded diminishing marginal returns, because you will only save another 25 or so cents per book, max, but you will have to pay a lot more for your warehouse space which charges you by the pallet “footprint.” Even a pallet with a few loose cases left on it, still costs you full pallet storage fees every month.
So your print runs must be balanced against your expected time to sell them all, versus your warehouse costs. So if you know you will dispose of 10,000 books in a short time, no problem. Or maybe you have an entire garage to dedicate to pallets of books. I know about that, too. I can tell you, a few pallets, and there goes your parking space.