• how you are intending to distribute your book
• what kind of financial resources you have available.

Litho printing requires a large capital outlay whereas digital printing requires very little. But litho printing has the advantage of lower unit costs which makes the book suitable for a wider range of distribution methods. Since the unit costs of digital printing are higher, distribution options are limited.

In order to fully understand the benefits of both, let's look at each method more closely:

Litho printing

Litho printing is the primary printing method used by major publishing houses. It is particularly suited to larger print runs as the unit costs tend to decrease as the print quantity increases. This is because the set-up costs of litho printing and binding are quite high and these costs need to be 'carried' by the quantity of books printed.

So let's look at a scenario where the setup costs of printing and binding are R3000 and the costs of paper, ink, printing and finishing are R15 per book.

If you print 1000 copies, the setup costs are R3 per book (R3000 divided by 1000 books).
The printing and finishing costs are R15 per book.
The total cost per book is therefore R3 + R15 = R18

Let's say that you now want to print 5000 copies. The setup costs drop to 60c per book (R3000 divided by 5000 books)
The printing and finishing costs remain R15 per book.
The total cost per book is therefore R0.60 + R15 = R15.60

From this you can see that the more you print, the cheaper the unit cost becomes. However, the more you print, the greater your capital outlay:

1000 books x R18 per book = R18 000
5000 books x R15.60 per book = R78 000

Most self-publishing authors do not have this kind of money lying around.

The other advantage of litho printing is that you have greater flexibility in terms of book size, paper choice and finishing options. It also tends to yield a much better presentation quality, although digital technology is fast-advancing on litho technology and in certain types of books, such as the average paperback, the layperson cannot tell the difference.

Digital printing

Digital printing has minimal, sometimes no, setup costs. With digital printing, the price of the book tends to be the same, whether you print 10 copies or 200 copies, depending on the printer that you use and whether they charge a setup fee or not. If they charge a setup fee, your unit costs will drop by a couple of rands each time you increase your print quantity by 100 books or so.

The unit costs of digital printing are higher than that of litho printing but the advantage is that you can print as few as one book! So whereas the unit cost of a litho-printed book is R18, the cost for digitally printing the book could be R35. But if you choose to print only 50 books at a time, your total investment is R1750. This is a lot easier on most authors' pockets.

Digital printing is especially suited to smaller runs intended for niche distribution, for instance, a motivational speaker who wants to sell books at his or her seminar; a company who wants to sell books containing expert information, to their customers; people who run courses; those wanting to produce family history books; authors writing on specialised topics aimed at very particular markets; and so on.

Printing route chosen based on choice of distribution method

Via bookstores (bricks and mortar)

If you decide that bookstore distribution is the way to go, and assuming you have the available financial resources (remember, you have to factor in your production costs as well) then litho printing is really the only option. This is because the retail discounts in the distribution chain are quite high. The bookstore will take an average of 40% of retail and the book marketer and distributor required to get the book into these stores will take approximately 25% of retail. That leaves only 35% of the retail price to pay your production and printing costs, any other miscellaneous costs, AND make a profit – hopefully one that works out higher than the average royalty. Authors make very little money going the bookstore route unless they're a Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling. The advantage of bookstores, however, is that they give the book increased exposure and the book is more easily accessible if someone happens to hear about it and wants to buy a copy.

Via online bookstores

Digital printing may still be an option for certain online bookstores, provided you approach them and do not use a book marketer to do this. Online stores will take anything from 30% to 45% of the retail price. Kalahari.net takes 45% of retail and you may still need to go through a major distributor who, in turn, will charge you monthly fees for warehousing and picking-and-packing your books when orders are forwarded from Kalahari.net. In this instance you can see that going the digital printing route may work out too expensive and not be a viable option.

Direct-to-customer

Selling directly to your target market means that you are not giving as much of your retail price away, so you can afford slightly higher unit costs. Unless you have done adequate market research, have a good marketing plan, and are convinced your book will sell well, digital printing would be the suitable route to go. Even with the higher production costs, you still have more likelihood of making greater profits than you would going the bookstore route, and without the huge financial risk!

Digital printing is also viable if you're approaching bookstores (physical and online) yourself. Although your profit margins will be lower due to the higher unit printing costs, you're not paying a book marketer/distributor, although you must realise that you will have to factor in the time to fulfil these functions yourself - and for most of us, time is money!

Digital printing is a great way to test the market! Many self-publishing authors who had good books and started off the digital printing route, were later approached by major publishers and offered publishing contracts.

The downside to digital printing is that the presentation and finishing options are still rather limited. It is important to choose a good digital printer. However, it is a perfectly good alternative to litho printing when it comes to your average paperback. Many publishers are choosing the digital route to keep previously out-of-print and niche titles in stock.

publisher.co.za has partnered with a digital printing company that charges no setup fees and offers excellent printing quality at very competitive rates. If you would like to order digital printing of your book online, click here.