Need a Print service not a Publisher

hmm, not an endorsement, but Lulu, LightningSource, cafepress, amazon...

You might wander around here a bit, or do a search for POD (print on demand). You might also check the sticky that CaoPaux made, near the top of this room. Might find a printer local to you.

How many books to do you want printed? If you want, say, 100, then I'd suggest CreateSpace or Lulu. I've really enjoyed the process with CreateSpace, personally.

I'll second the createspace suggestion.

A tangent to OP:

Do Createspace and Lulu work well for printing out a small number of copies (10 or fewer), without ISBNs? For giving bound copies to beta readers.

I think I've heard there's a way to get them printed up without "publishing" them - making them available for others to see. Anyone have experience with that?

juniper said:

A tangent to OP:

Do Createspace and Lulu work well for printing out a small number of copies (10 or fewer), without ISBNs? For giving bound copies to beta readers.

I think I've heard there's a way to get them printed up without "publishing" them - making them available for others to see. Anyone have experience with that?

Click to expand...

Not sure about Lulu, but createspace will automatically asign and ISBN if you don't have one. HOWEVER you can keep the book from being published by not approving the proof copies. You can order as many proof copies as you like, just don't ever approve them.

shaldna said:

Not sure about Lulu, but createspace will automatically asign and ISBN if you don't have one. HOWEVER you can keep the book from being published by not approving the proof copies. You can order as many proof copies as you like, just don't ever approve them.

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All the proof copies will have "Proof" in large letters on the last page.

You can, however, "publish" without enablng any of CreateSpace's distribution options, and then just purchase any number of author copies as you need them.

Oops. Yeah, I forgot Createspace. Knew I was missing somebody...

One I use

http://www.fineimage.us/

is a printer I've used for several years now. They will print without an ISBN, I believe the minimum number of copies is 20, they may do less, but you would be charged for the shipping (the groups I work with typically are ordering 50 or more at a time and there's no shipping charge.) The price per book is fairly competitive with Createspace's Pro Plan. They can provide an ISBN for $50 if you want one, and they can add it to the pdf cover you send to them. (Note: that's the price as of a few months age; you do have to leave space on your back cover for the ISBN to fit.)

They are in the US, I don't think they handle any out-of-country orders. (but they could).

If you can do your own formatting (pdf files as per Createspace or Lulu); including "proper" covers, you can just send it to them and get it printed. They can also do the formatting, but I've never used that service.

It is a small company, with personal service.

YMMV

Jean

Yes, Lulu will do that for you. You can set the book to private and you don't have to purchase an ISBN.

I haven't set up my distribution completely with my Createspace account and order as many copies as I like. I think you have to get an ISBN, though.

chevbrock said:

I haven't set up my distribution completely with my Createspace account and order as many copies as I like. I think you have to get an ISBN, though.

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You don't have to pay for the ISBN with Createspace. They provide one and do not charge extra.