For centuries, publishers have wrestled with one simple but crucial question upon which their success often depends: How many copies should we print? On one hand, the fundamental economics of printing encourage publishers to produce as many copies as possible to achieve better economies of scale and lower per-unit costs. Meanwhile, the cost of unsold copies can also erode profit margins.

Publisher's Choice®, which has been a finalist in the Best Use of Digital Print category in the BPIF Excellence Awards, is a unique print-buying option that allows you, for the first time, to scale down print runs and have all the advantages of the print on demand model without incurring a cost penalty and without compromising quality.

Publisher's Choice® has had enormous benefits for our customers, no matter how large or small their business is. Some the largest publishers have have seen their warehouse inventory reduce by over 10% in the last two years and for our smaller publishers it has made the difference as to whether they stay in business or not! All of them are able to have books printed for a fixed unit manufacturing cost during their lifecycle which means that they can publish titles without the risk of stockpiling and money tied up in warehousing. Why not take a look at the Case Studies to see how Publisher's Choice® has benefitted their businesses?

Adopting Publisher's Choice® throws open the possibility of quickly increasing supply to meet demand on unexpectedly fast-moving titles, enabling you to fully exploit every sales opportunity. On the other hand, you could experiment with higher risk titles, try new authors or price books more competitively.

How does it work?

Publisher's Choice® titles are produced on our Nipson Varypress digital web press which prints superb quality black and white text or text with black and white line drawings. Books are printed in 16 page sections and binding is slotted for both paperbacks and hardbacks from folded and gathered sections. Books with black and white photographs throughout can be produced on our Xerox iGen press. Covers, which can be finished with matt or gloss lamination, are printed 4-colour CMYK process on our Xerox IGen3 digital press. Both paperback and hardbacks can be produced using Publisher's Choice®.

Regular users of the service can calculate estimates online via our Press2Book service which also gives them the facility to place new orders and reprints quckly and efficiently.

Digital or Litho - which is the right production route for me?

The combination of having both litho and digital printing presses allows us to offer a flexible and responsive service. Although we have an enviable reputation in the market-place for the high quality of books that we produce on our top of the range digital printing presses – almost comparable to litho printed books – digitally printed books will have a different look and feel to what you might expect from litho production. We are always happy to advise you on the best technology for your project and to send printed sample books before the start of your project to ensure that we will meet your expectations of the finished article.