Standard cost for bookbinding
Folks,
I’m a newbie in letterpress, so my apology if this is a silly question or if this is the wrong forum to ask.
One of the projects I would like to do is a small book or chapbook. At the moment I’m trying to calculate the cost involved, such as the cost of book-paper, cover paper, etc. Eventually I would like to have the book sewn and case-bound (hardcover).
Since I’m more interested in printing than in bookbinding, I would like to print the pages/leafs myself and then get someone else to do the binding. So far I can calculate roughly the cost of printing, but I have no idea of the cost of bookbinding.
- Is there a “standard” or market price for hand-sewn case-bound books? (eg. edition of 50 books of 9x6 inch in size). Or is this simply negotiated with the bookbinder.
- Should I approach bookbinding companies, or should I approach individual bookbinders/book-artists?
- Is it cheaper if I supply all the materials (boards, spine cloth, etc), or should I let the bookbinder supply the materials (excluding the cover paper)?
- Any recommendations for bookbinders or book-artists in the greater Boston area?
Any other suggestions/ recommendations/ do-and-do-not’s from experienced folks would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Kelly McMahon of May Day Studio in VT is great and I know she’s taken on this kind of project before.
If you are looking for a custom bindery on the west coast try taurusbookbindery.com which takes on this sort of custom binding work for a bid on your RFP. I am not affiliated with them, but they do run a lovely bookbinding museum here that I have visited.
Based on your description of the job and the pricing shown on the taurus website, copies with hard binding in cloth cover would be around $50/ea for quantities in excess of 10 copies…
Thanks Albertine & Alan — much appreciate your comments/suggestions.