Comparison Shopping

Consider Open and Honest Pricing when you shop

Some printers give low-ball prices on the web, then add charges at invoice time - We Don't. The only extra costs (unless you change the specifications of your book) are

author alterations (changes you make after we send you proofs of your book),
sales tax if we deliver to you inside Maryland and you don't have a resale certificate
shipping

Of course, if you ask us to perform extra services, like designing your cover, formatting your text, or individually mailing your books, there are charges for that as well.

Our prices are competitive if you compare apples for apples. I know because I comparison shop other printers on the web. If you get what appears to be a great price, it would be worthwhile for you to take a moment to double-check your specifications and the printer's future add-ons.

Our prices are firm for 30 days and do not depend on unpredictable paper prices.

We don't nickel and dime you with extra add-ons. We don't have "administrative fees" in addition to the quoted price. We don't add on charges for mailing your proofs.

Finally, look at the delivered quantity. Many printers say they'll deliver plus or minus 10% of the quantity you want. That's fine, but note that this may increase your bill up to 10%. We give you the option of purchasing any overs from your production run at a reduced unit cost, but do not require that you buy any overs, unless noted to the contrary on the quote itself.

Consider Schedule when shopping

Our schedules are fast. We'll proof out your book in 2 days. For perfect bound books, our normal turnaround is 2 weeks from approval of proof. If you are pressed for time, we can generally finish your books more quickly; just ask. When time matters, compare with other printers' schedules of 3, 4, or more weeks for perfect bound books.

For full color or case bound books our turnaround runs 4-5 weeks. For books we print in Hong Kong, turnaround is 3-4 weeks before shipping; then ocean shipping takes about 4 weeks. Frequently the price is so attractive that you can afford for us to air freight a "starter kit" of books.

Consider Quality when shopping

Our quality is excellent. We print with real ink on real presses. At low quantities, the quote you get from another printer may be for digital printing.

Consider Customer Service when shopping

We are proud of our customer service, and we receive notes of praise practically every day for professionalism, integrity, and helpful service. My belief is that we should make your experience printing a book easy and smooth. We accomplish this by focusing on easy, smooth customer service and also by knowing what we're doing.

Consider Limitations on the files you can submit

Our requirements don't limit your specifications to a narrow range of sizes, quantities, or page counts. One reason we don't give "instant quotes" on our web site is that we don't want to limit your choices to a few possibilities chosen from a table.

We do work with Microsoft Products, including Word, Publisher, Power Point, and Excel. I wouldn't say we love them, but we've worked with them enough so we're good at it. Compare with printers who say "a file created in Microsoft anything is not usable as is" and adds fees of $100 to $250 for working with your files.

We do welcome PDF files, but we don't require them.

Our Competitive Edge

Read what we consider to be our competitive edge.

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