Bookmasters or Lightening Source what is price difference?

I have used Lightning Source for years for all of my books and am very happy with them. The offer fast turnaround, quality products, and are easy to work with.

Unfortunately, with only the information you gave above, nobody can give you a price quote. It depends on several things, including page size, page count, the type of cover, how many color photographs, etc. Lightning Source has a price calculator on the website.

Nita...I would think you would go to each of the sites and check into the prices. There would be no way for us to know. Each book is different and I'm sure they have it all set for each type.

I don't know about those two printers but there's no reason you should be paying more than $3 a copy for a basic trade paperback.

nitaworm said:

Ok, got back an estimate

100 books, 6x9, paperback $897 ($8.97 per book) * you can have a small order - leave some books at their warehouse for book orders, and have some shipped to you for promotion...you pic the amount based on your budget. ** I am starting with 100 books, 50 mailed to me and 50 still onsite.
1500 books - $4300 (approx)
2500 books - $4899 (approx)

Then they have a setup fee of approx $497 for distribution services
and various other fees for storage of book, but its not too bad.

Click to expand...

Nitaworm,

Please tell me the $897 includes the $497 distribution fee for the 100 books!

LSI do a similar 6 x 9 paperback for about $4 per unit but their distribution and set up is far cheaper, like $100 and catalogs sent out to bookstores from printers don't sell books - sales reps from book distributors working for one or more publishers are the ones who get your books into stores!

The latest pricing I have from Lightning Source to ship to the publisher (you) is $0.90 plus $0.015 per page for a small paperback (up to 7.44"x9.25").
There is also volume price breaks of 5-25% for orders in excess of 50 copies.
You will also be required to buy a $30 proof copy when you set up your first title (not a bad idea really).

THe main hitch with Lightning Source is that they require that you have at least 3 ISBN's, so if this is going to be your only book ever then some of the other alternatives might be better.

You have to get an ISBN anyway if you're your own publisher. You can buy one. I think it's about $125. Or you can get ten for $275 or something. I don't remember anything about needing 3 to contract with LSI--I do have bouts of amnesia though! I'm not good with math and when I balanced everything out LSI was the best deal. They print 44 million books a year, so they do know what they're doing and the people were wonderful to me. Dunce that I was about the process even though I researched and read all the how-to books.

I was glad to have the proof copy since it was my first book. I changed the cover because when I saw the thing in real life, I saw how it could be better.

Sure CreateSpace is cheaper and so is Lulu but they are the publisher. Unless you get your own ISBN they have published your book. I wanted to be the publisher. I wanted to be serious. It wasn't a vanity book and...draw your own conclusions about that aspect.

Lucy D.

I would love a LightingSource quote.

If there is anyone who has a LSI account and is willing to run a few numbers for me, I'd be very happy. I have a 100-page full color, soft cover 8.5X11 book. I previously printed it with lulu, but did not have it published by them. I'm beginning to work on another book of about the same specs as well.

My current book sells primarily through local retail, but my next one will require a larger distribution base.

Thanks.

- Dave

Artphotos said:

I would love a LightingSource quote.

If there is anyone who has a LSI account and is willing to run a few numbers for me, I'd be very happy. I have a 100-page full color, soft cover 8.5X11 book. I previously printed it with lulu, but did not have it published by them. I'm beginning to work on another book of about the same specs as well.

My current book sells primarily through local retail, but my next one will require a larger distribution base.

Thanks.

- Dave

Click to expand...

Hi Dave .... why don't you just contact them and ask? YOu don't need to have an account to ask them about their offering.... They are quite cooperative and will gladly answer any questions you have. I sent my account rep a long and detailed list of questions and told him to explain it to me like I was a sixth-grader ..... He answered my questions to the letter and I could actually understand everything!! I'm sure you know their url, but just in case, here it is: http://www.lightningsource.com/

...as for the requirement of 3 ISBN's that was mentioned, when you submit your application they ask for 3 "sample" ISBN's ..... I think that want to see if you are serious about working with them in a publisher/distributor/printer relationship .... A serious publisher owns ISBN's .... I think that if you even submit only one ISBN then they would know you are serious. All they have to do is cross-check that ISBN, see that it is issued to the publisher that is requesting a distribution contract and then they continue the application process ...

Disclaimer: I'm at the south end of a bottle of Chardonnay so my opinions may or may not hold any water ! .....

Good Luck with whomever you choose .....

As stated above, when dealing with companies like Lightning Source, it's difficult to get a concrete price quote without knowing the page count, etc. I plan to use LS, and spoke with a really nice person by the name of Amber. She can be reached @ 1(615)213-4704.

Also, it is my understanding from Amber that they [LS] work with authors as well as publishing companies. You have to set yourself up as a sole proprietorship or "doing buiness as..."

Hope this helps.

Thanks Captain Jack.