Printing and distribution

Joann,

I'm not sure there is a good answer to this. It depends entirely on the publisher and the publisher's budget for the book. Some do small runs, some do larger ones.

It definitely depends on the publisher as well as their editorial board consensus about the audience, market, and saleability of a particular book. While there is no universal definitive number, the publisher has a pretty good idea of the initial distribution. Of course they are not likely to tell us what that is.

These folks are right - there's no definitive number. But you can be pretty sure it'll be a number large enough to cover their investment and make a few bucks if it sells out. Depending on the advance paid, promotional budget, printing and shipping costs etc. it may be as few as a couple of thousand copies or as many as 100,000+.

We also have to keep separate printing and distribution. A publisher may print 100,000 copies, but then only be able to distribute 50,000 because of a lack of interest or budget. The other 50,000 eventually get sold as remainders. If they are mass-market, they just get tossed.