Publishing a custom book starts with six decisions: hardcover or softcover, color or black and white, trim size, page count, design, and the number of copies. Your answers shape the cost of your book and the time it takes to produce. If you work through these questions before you call, we can put together your quote much faster.
What Goes into Publishing a Custom Book?
A custom book is made for one person, family, company, or organization and designed around its story. For more than three decades, we have published anniversary books, corporate histories, memoirs, cookbooks, coffee-table books, museum books, children’s books, and college and university histories, along with plenty of others. Our clients use custom books to celebrate milestones with anniversary books, preserve company and community histories, and gather family photos and stories for the next generation.
Publishing a custom book involves design, editing, printing, binding, and shipping. As a full-service book publisher, Orange Frazer Press handles each step for you. We can also take on research, writing, photography, proofreading, and indexing when a project calls for them. Before any of that begins, we need to understand the basic shape of your book.
6 Things to Consider Before Publishing a Custom Book
We build our quotes around the answers to the questions below. Rough answers are perfectly fine at this stage, and they help us give you a quote that fits the book you have in mind.
1. Hardcover or Softcover?
We can make either choice look classy and elegant. A hardcover (clothbound) book costs somewhat more than a softcover (paperback). It also takes a bit longer to manufacture because of the binding process. If you are working toward a firm date, such as a company anniversary, let us know early so we can plan your schedule around your binding choice.
2. Color or Black and White?
Color printing costs more, so it helps to think about the role your photos and images play. If the photos are the main focus of your book, you may want to choose color. If the photos are ancillary and the text tells the story, you probably want to opt for black and white.
3. What Size Should Your Book Be?
Our most economical standard sizes are 6x9, 7x10, 8.5x11, and 9x12, and we can produce other sizes as well. If your book has a lot of color photographs, one of the larger sizes gives each image more room on the page.
Please let us know whether you would like your book in a vertical or horizontal orientation. Unusual sizes, such as a square book, will be a bit more costly.
4. What Is Your Page Count or Word Count?
To determine the page count of your book, we need two things: the dimensions of the book (height x width) and the total word count of your manuscript. Once we have both, we will figure out the page count for you.
To find your word count in Microsoft Word, open the Review tab and click Word Count. In Google Docs, go to Tools and select Word count. If your manuscript is saved as separate files by chapter, check each file and add the totals together.
While you have your manuscript open, a quick note on file formats. We accept .doc, .docx, and .rtf files, and we ask that you not submit your manuscript as a PDF. If your book includes photos, keep them out of the text itself and save them as separate files in their original form. Organizing them in folders by chapter makes it easy for our team to place them.
5. Who Will Design Your Book?
Orange Frazer Press books are designed by our in-house team. Individuals, large corporations, and foundations come to us for this expertise, and it is what sets us apart from the rest of the pack. We don’t work from packages or templates. Every project that lands on our desk is a unique story to be told, and our page design, cover design, and jacket design are built around that story.
Exceptions occur when a project has its own highly experienced designer. If that describes your project, mention it when you reach out.
6. How Many Copies Should You Print?
We can print any quantity. Printing more copies raises the total cost, and the cost per book goes down as the quantity increases. To show you where those price breaks fall, we will quote you for three different quantities.
When choosing your numbers, think about how many copies you can sell on your own to people outside your circle of friends and family. It also helps to imagine what boxes of your books would look like sitting in your living room. The picture usually tempers the tendency to think too big.
How Custom Book Printing Choices Affect Your Quote
Each quote we prepare is tailored to the individual project. It includes fixed costs for design and editing, plus variable costs for printing, binding, and shipping. Your choices on binding, color, size, page count, and quantity all feed into the variable side, so a change to any of them will change your price.
A few other factors can affect the cost too, including formatting, photo adjusting, paper stock, and the shipping destination. The breadth of the project and any retail or marketing needs after publication can play a role as well. You can learn more about how we quote custom book projects on our pricing page.
What to Send When You Request a Quote
When you contact us for a quote, please include:
● Your answers to the six questions above
● The title of your manuscript
● Your preferred mailing address
● Your zip code, so we can calculate shipping costs
Please feel free to request a sample of our work
You can email us or call the office at 937-382-3196. One of our team members will reach out to get the ball rolling on your project.
Choosing the Right Custom Book Publisher
When you compare custom book publishers, ask what each one handles for you. Orange Frazer Press covers page design, cover or jacket design, pagination, printing, binding, and shipping, along with editing, copyediting, proofreading, and indexing. Our services also include e-book conversion, marketing, and e-commerce. With Orange Frazer’s ISBN, we can list your book on Amazon.com and make it available in our online store.
Our size allows us to give you personal, one-on-one attention through every step of the process. We have been publishing books in Wilmington, Ohio, for over thirty years, and our creative team brings more than eighty years of experience to every book project. We’re Midwesterners, and we like to think we’re nice, friendly people to work with. To see the kinds of books we make, browse our custom book samples.
Ready to Publish Your Custom Book?
Once you have answered these questions, we can work on getting a quote for you and move forward with publishing a custom book that is your very own. Fill out your information on our contact page, send us an email, or give the office a call, and we’ll take it from there.