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One of the first questions to answer once your book is written is: How many books should you print? This is really the million dollar question and where a lot of money is often made or lost. Print too many — you’ll be stuck with a huge inventory of unsellable product. Print too few — you’ll get stuck doing costly reprints.

While I can’t definitively answer this question for you, I can give you some valuable input based on years of helping people just like you get their books printed. One of the biggest mistakes I see is people being overly confident as far as how many books they will sell.

So start with your worst-case scenario. How many books are you convinced you will sell even if things don’t work out as well as you hope? How many books do you think you can sell in your REALISTIC best-case scenario? (Not the “Oprah chose my book for her book club” scenario.)

Look at your worst-case and best-case numbers. That should help you decided on the right quantity for your project. Definitely stick closer to your worst-case scenario number. Getting a reprint is much easier on your pocketbook than staring at boxes or pallets of books gathering dust for years to come.

Which type of printing press should you use? You’ll basically need to choose between a digital press or an offset press. (There are other types of printing presses, but these are the main two options.)

A digital printer is much more price-competitive for quantities under 1,000. Also, keep in mind that quantity discounts are not as great on a digital press. So if you’re already set on printing fewer than 1,000 books, definitely lean much closer to your worst-case scenario number. Printing 700 books is not going to cost that much less per book than printing 100 books. Thus, reprints don’t end up as expensive with a digital press.

An offset press is better suited for quantities of at least 1,000. In this case, there can be some heavy quantity discounts. If you’re still debating on your quantity, comparing the cost per book numbers between quantities may help make your decision easier. In any case, be sure to ask your printer for quotes for a number of different quantities. Hey, if Oprah does call, at least you’ll be ready!

So start with a smaller quantity and work your way up to the larger quantities. Keep your money in your pocket (not your printer’s). By slowly but steadily testing and working your market, you’ll eventually get to the point where you can justify those bigger print quantities.

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