Category: Book printers

BookBaby is a full-service, print-on-demand (POD) publisher that specialize in both e-books and print books. You can solicit as much or as little help that you need from their staff. On the high end of services, they can edit your book, lay it out, design its cover, print it, market it and sell it online. On the low end of services, they will just print your book from a pdf file. The quality of their print books equals, and in some cases surpasses, offset printing, and an author can print as few as 25 books; offset printing only makes economic sense when printing at least 500 copies. POD publishers like BookBaby are a real service as they will print a single copy of one’s book, package it, mail it and process the transaction without any involvement of the author. BookBaby pays up to 50 percent royalties on printed books and up to 85 percent royalties on e-books sold through their service. BookBaby also partners with Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Ingram and others in marketing books. They have an easy-to-use online calculator for determining the cost of one’s book. Click on BookBaby for more information.

Mosaic is an iPhone/iPad app that let you make 20-page, 7×7-inch photo book from photos you have taken and edited on your i-device. The books have a black cloth binding, allow one photo per page, automatically generates a photo mosaic that appears in cutouts on the hard cover, and provide for minimum customization (such as page order and black or white pages). With shipping, each book costs $25.00. And, each book arrives in a few days in a very handsome slipcase. Search the App Store for “Mosaic.” Or, learn more at www.heymosaic.com.

Blurb lets you make photo books, ebooks, and text-heavy books using a Web-based application or a plug-in for either Adobe Lightroom or InDesign. Blurb also has a storefront where registered members can market their books, plus they provide tutorials to help new and experienced authors get the most out of their relationship with Blurb. Blurb has quantity pricing for short-run jobs. They also have a print-on-demand service for authors who wish to reduce their upfront printing costs. Check them out at: www.blurb.com

If you are an Apply Computer user, you can print beautiful photo books from either the iPhoto or Apperture application. Apple provides a number of good-looking book styles and individual page templates. There is limited customization possible, but the built-in styles and templates are very good. The price for each size of book is fixed for the first 20 pages, with an charge for each additional page, up to 100 pages.

MyPublisher is a custom printer specializing in photo books, cards and stationery, canvas prints, and photo calendars. MyPublisher offers a variety of ready-to-go book styles and page templates. After downloading a program, novice users can simply import a folder of photos and the software will automatically build your book. For those who want control, the software allows you to create your own page templates and make other stylistic tweaks. The pricing varies greatly because the company runs specials nearly every week. Some specials reduce product costs by as much as 75%. For those who like their products Made in America, it is important to note that all MyPublisher products are printed in the Elmsford, New York. One other thing: MyPublisher has an app that lets you create photo books using your iPad. Learn more at: www.mypublisher.com