Choosing the Right Printing Option for Where You Are
The Kidlit Creator’s Chronicle Issue #44
If you’ve started researching how to print your children’s book, there’s a good chance you’ve ended up with twelve tabs open in your browser and still feeling uncertain of the route you should choose.
Print-on-demand feels like the obvious option. It’s accessible, low risk, and doesn’t require you to commit upfront. So most authors go that route, often without much deliberation.
But then there’s the other side of the coin – the realisation that print-on-demand also comes with trade-offs. Higher per-book costs. Less control over print quality. Fewer opportunities when it comes to certain sales channels. And a sense that bulk printing might allow you to create the kind of book you originally envisioned.
This is where the decision can start to feel emotional.
Wanting a beautiful book is completely valid. Bulk printing can offer better consistency, more control, and a different level of finish. That does matter. But while the creative side plays a role, it isn’t the bottom line.
The choice between print-on-demand and bulk printing is still a business decision, and it should be based on how you plan to sell your book and what stage you’re at right now.
Once you understand what each option is designed to support, this decision becomes far clearer and less stressful.
What is Print-on-Demand vs. Bulk Printing?
First, a quick definition of each.
Print-on-demand (POD) means your book is printed one copy at a time, only after someone places an order. You upload your files, your book is listed for sale, and when a reader buys it, a single copy is printed and shipped to them.
You don’t hold stock. You don’t pay for printing upfront. And you don’t handle fulfilment yourself.
Bulk printing means your book is printed in advance, in a larger quantity. Those books are then stored somewhere, either with you or a fulfilment partner, and distributed manually or through a distributor when orders come in.
You pay for the print run upfront. You manage or outsource storage and shipping, and you set up how and where the books are sold.
Neither is really “better” than the other. They both have pros and cons, and where you are at in your journey is paramount to deciding which one is right for you.
What Each Printing Option Is Designed to Do
Once you understand what print-on-demand and bulk printing actually are, and the pros and cons of each, the decision becomes simpler. In short, they are designed to do different things.
Print-on-demand is designed to minimise upfront risk.
Print-on-demand tends to be the default choice for many authors because it’s safe and easy. You don’t pay for books until they’re ordered, you don’t store inventory, and you don’t have to predict demand. That convenience comes at a cost, though.
For a standard 32-page hardcover full-colour picture book, a typical POD print cost might be around $11–12 per copy, depending on trim size, paper, and provider. That means your margins are tighter, especially if you’re selling through retailers or offering standard discounts.
What POD gives you in return is flexibility:
- No upfront print bill
- No boxes of books to manage
- Easy file updates if something needs fixing
- A straightforward way to get a book into the world while you’re still testing
Bulk printing is designed to reduce per-book costs and give you more control.
Instead of printing one book at a time, you print hundreds or thousands at once (usually 500 minimum). Because of that, the cost per book drops significantly.
Using the same 32-page picture book example, a bulk print run might bring the per-book cost down to around $5–6 per copy, sometimes less at higher quantities. That makes a huge difference for your profit margins.
Bulk printing also gives you:
- More consistent colour and print quality (they use a different printing method called “offset printing”)
- Greater control over materials and finishes
- More flexibility in how and where books are sold
But it requires commitment and a plan. You pay upfront, you need a plan for storage and fulfilment, and you need to be confident about how those books will move.
So, POD reduces risk and makes publishing accessible. Bulk print runs gives you volume, better profit margins, and wider sales opportunities.
Once you understand that, it becomes much easier to see which one fits what you’re trying to do right now.
When Print-on-Demand Makes Sense, and When It Starts to Work Against You
Print-on-demand is usually the right choice early on.
Print-on-demand makes sense if:
- This is your first or second book, and you’re still learning how publishing works in practice
- You’re still figuring out how to sell copies of your book
- You want the ability to update files easily if something needs changing
- You don’t want boxes of books taking over your home, garage, or spare room
- You don’t have the budget for a bulk print run yet
At this stage, POD has less barriers, keeps costs predictable, and lets you publish without having to make big decisions too early. Where it becomes non-ideal is when those conditions change, but authors keep using POD.
These Children’s Book Mastery Author Coaching member picture books were printed on demand by IngramSpark: Bibi Saves the Honey Bees by Judith Ewa, The Magical Hair Bows by Terrie Lynn Birney, A Song in Her Heart by Kathy Dye. (All illustrated by GetYourBookIllustrations)
Print-on-demand starts to become a problem when:
- You need consistent, high-quality colour printing, which matters a lot for picture books
- You want bookshops or other retailers to stock your book more widely
- Your per-book print costs are squeezing margins to the point where pricing becomes difficult
- You’re selling in volume, such as at events, school visits, or bulk orders
At that point, print-on-demand stops being a good fit. Print-on-demand is designed for specific stages, not all of them.
Bulk Printing: When It’s Smart, and When It’s Dangerous
Bulk printing can be a very strong move. It can also be an expensive mistake. The difference almost always comes down to planning.
Bulk printing tends to be a smart choice when:
- You have a clear plan for how books will be sold, not just a hope that they will
- You’re seeing consistent sales, regardless of where those sales are happening
- You’re selling directly to schools, events, organisations, or through bulk orders
- You understand your numbers, including print costs, pricing, and margins
- You’re ready to scale what’s already working, rather than experiment
Offset printed books by MCRL.
In these situations, bulk printing improves margins, supports higher volume sales, and gives you more control over the final product.
Where problems arise is when bulk printing is used too early, or for the wrong reasons.
Bulk printing becomes risky when:
- You’re printing “just in case” or hoping for the best
- You don’t actually know where the books will go once they arrive
- You’re doing it because it feels like the next step, rather than because it’s needed
- You’re copying what someone else did, without understanding their context or results
This is often where authors get stuck with boxes of books and no clear path forward, because they moved ahead without a sales strategy to support the print run.
Bulk printing works best when it’s tied to a plan (and is very risky without one!).
For authors who are ready for bulk printing, I recommend MCRL Printing.
A Simple Way to Decide
While it can be somewhat anxiety-inducing, this decision doesn’t need to be complicated.
Ask yourself a few straightforward questions:
- Do I already know where my sales will come from?
- Can I (fairly comfortably)afford the upfront cost of a print run?
- Am I still working out how to make sales, or am I scaling what’s already working?
Your answers will usually point in one direction quite clearly.
If you’re still testing, learning how to sell, or keeping risk low, print-on-demand is likely the right fit.
If you’re seeing consistent sales, understand your numbers, and are ready to support volume and margins, bulk printing makes sense.
Neither option locks you in forever (just have a plan to sell the bulk printed books!).
Choose the one that works for what you’re trying to do right now.
When the Comfortable Choice Stops Being the Right One
The most common printing mistake isn’t choosing the wrong option. It’s sticking with the comfortable one after it stops making sense.
Print-on-demand is usually the right place to start. Bulk printing can be the right move later. Problems tend to arise when a decision made for one stage simply carries on into the next.
It’s important to revisit this choice every so often as your situation changes.
Take a moment to think about where you are right now.
Not where you hope to be or where someone else is, but what’s actually happening with your book. You don’t need to decide anything immediately, but notice whether the option you’re using still fits the job it’s meant to do. It might be time to start looking at moving onto the next stage.
If you’re open to it, hit reply and tell me which printing option you’re using right now, and whether it still feels like the right fit. (You don’t need to justify it or have a plan figured out.) I’m simply curious what stage you’re at, and what questions are starting to come up for you!
Next week, we’ll look at distribution, because where and how your book can realistically be sold is often the deciding factor in whether print-on-demand or bulk printing makes sense in the first place.
