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Publishers' FAQ > Production and Design > How do I get a cost estimate for printing?

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Put together your job specifications. Here are specs for a standard trade paperback book or journal with a four-color cover. The jargon is explained below.

Title	Independent Publishing, Explained
Publication date	January
Ship date required	November 15
Trim size	6x9
Quantity	2000 plus additional Ms
Page count	192
Prepress	Text—Disk supplied with 10 halftone scans (for placement only). 10 halftones to scan, size, and place. Cover—Film supplied.
Proofs	Full text blueline Cover blueline and matchprint
Printing	Text—black throughout, no bleeds, 10 halftones throughout. Cover—four-color process with matte lamination, bleeds.
Paper	Text—60# bright white Cover—10 pt C1S
Binding	Perfect
Freight	To New York, NY 10014
Options	1. Blow in supplied postcards 2. Deduction for supplied covers

Specs explained:

Title	Give your job a title
Publication date	The official publication date
Ship date required	The ship date you and your distributor need to get the books to your warehouse on time to hit any deadlines, such as author tour, big review, etc.
Trim size	The width and height of your publication in inches. In browsing a bookstore, you may note that many books are about the same size; this is because paper comes in certain standard sizes. Some printers will refuse to even bid on your job if it is an odd trim size. If you are contemplating a trim size that falls outside of the norm, talk to your printer. It may be worth it to sacrifice a half an inch in order to save a thousand dollars! If you want to do fancy things like French flaps (paperback books with folded flaps) or bookmarks that trim off, indicate that here.
Quantity	How many copies you require. You can ask for options, such as "quote for 1000 copies plus additional Cs (100s) or Ms (1000s)."
Page count	How many pages the interior of the book will be (or your best estimate). Try to make the page count a multiple of 32 or a multiple of 32 plus 16, 8, or 4. Having a few blank pages at the end is standard.
Prepress	Tell the printer in what form they will receive your project, whether that's film, camera-ready copy, or disk. Indicate if you want any prepress done, such as scanning of photos or other artwork. Break this explanation out by part of the book: text (also called copy, guts), cover, and (if necessary) jacket. "For placement only" indicates that the scans supplied on your disk are not the ones the printer should use in making the plates for your print job, but are only in place to show dimensions, placement, and cropping of the images.
Proofs	Indicate what kind of proofs you will require. Generally, you will want a blueline for everything, and you will want a matchprint for any 4-color work. If any portions are printed in PMS colors (not CMYK process), it's virtually impossible to get a true proof for the color, so the cheaper blueline is still probably your best bet.
Printing	Break this portion out by text, cover, and jacket. Note how many colors they will be printing, and specify the process. Regular full color printing is called "4-color process." Text is generally black or one color. If you want two or three colors, you generally specify which ones using the Pantone Matching System (you can supply a Pantone chip, if you'd like). If you require only specific sections of your text to be in color, note that here, in as much detail as possible; the page count of color sections (or signatures) should be 4, 8, 16, or 32. Tell the printer if there are any images, quantity, color, and whether they will be bunched together or throughout the book. Indicate what kind of finish you want on the cover (e.g., lamination, coating) Note whether there will be bleeds (i.e. whether you require printing all the way to the edge of the paper) and, if you are printing with Pantone colors, whether there will be trapping (i.e. colors touching each other). Note any special jobs, such as die cuts, embossing, etc.
Paper	Give the weight and finish for the paper you want; if you have a specific brand in mind, note that here though printers sometimes have a standard stock on hand, which may be cheaper. In the specs for Independent Publishing, Explained the cover stock is listed as "10 pt C1S," 10 pt indicating the weight and C1S meaning "coated one side." Color prints more crisply on coated paper, since it is less absorbent, which is why it's generally used for color work. In fact, if you want to print your color pages on uncoated paper, you should note that, for some printers will assume that you want coated stock. If you are printing a hardcover book, you should ask to see your printer's standard papers and cloths, which will get wrapped around the cardboard cover. The weight of paper for text is generally expressed in pounds rather than points, for example "60#" means sixty pounds (think about your telephone keypad and the # makes sense). It is assumed that the stock is white with a smooth finish; you need to specify if you want anything special. You should speak with your printer about their standard papers and get samples. You can request special papers (your printer can generally procure samples), such as acid free or recycled, but expect to pay more.
Binding	Indicate the kind of binding you want. If you want paperback, you generally say "perfect binding" though some printers actually do notch binding for paperbacks. For hard cover books, indicate whether you want a glue bind or sewn binding. Sewing, though more durable, is more expensive.
Freight	Many U.S. printers don't estimate freight costs, but if you are bidding a job with a foreign printer, knowing freight and customs charges are essential.
Options	Indicate any extras or options here, including blowing or binding in postcards, mailing (many magazine printers offer fulfillment services), shrinkwrapping. Hardcover books need a few extra components such as endpapers and headbands. You can also ask for additions or deductions for variations on your specs, such as deductions for supplying covers printed elsewhere (a nice option if you'd like to get color covers printed locally to enable a press check). This is a good place to indicate any costs that you'd like separated out from the rest of the quote, since quotes are often not broken out.

After you've got your specifications written out, put together a list of printers who can do your job and fax your quote out. CLMP's email lists are a great source for printer recommendations. Printers have different specialties, so make sure to pick ones that are appropriate for your job. You should ask for standard turnaround times and credit options.

Printers don't charge to quote a job, so don't be shy--get several and ask for re-bids if your job specifications change. Especially when you are just starting out, going with the cheapest bid is not always the best policy. Finding a kind and honest sales person and customer service person is a boon to the inexperienced, so work with someone you feel comfortable with. Enlist help and solicit advice--your designer is often a great resource as are other publishers.

Magazines that publish three or more issues a year may want to look into annual printing contracts (many printers offer them). A contract helps safeguard against inflationary price hikes--and the paper market can be very volatile. Contracts are probably only advisable for magazines with very systematic and timely production schedules; if you're always running several months late, a yearly contract isn't for you.