How can I self-publish a photography book with professional printing and binding?

Question

I have thousands of photos for a book and can handle the design, layout, cover, and print-ready image preparation myself. What I need to understand is the production side: how to get a photography book professionally printed and bound, ideally with a dust jacket, at a reasonable cost.

I’m specifically interested in whether self-publishing is practical for a photo book if I want an initial run of roughly 1,000–5,000 copies and need the per-book printing cost to stay below about half of a $49.99 retail price.

user2692 · Answer

There are several methods for publishing such a book, which I'll mention below. Note that there is an excellent Wikipedia article that explains more. I should add, be very cautious with these services. You can make a real profit, but they can also just be a drain on resources, and keep you out of traditional publishing. You might try contacting some of them, with a print out of your proposed book that comes from a local print shop.

Print on Demand services

The general idea of these companies is that you submit the book to them, with their layout, and they will print a copy of the book to anyone who orders it. You can set your selling point, and they will split the profits with you (I forget the ratio, but...) Some of the services that fall under this category are:

"Vanity Press"

This seems like what you directly wanted from your question. These companies operate more like a traditional publisher, but they will require you to pay for their services and for an upfront number of copies to be printed. I haven't looked extensively at this category, but here's a few sites that seem to fit this mold. Take a look at the Wikipedia article for some more help.

How can I self-publish a photography book with professional printing and binding?

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