Compare Our Pricing

Printing Short Runs or POD? Compare to SPB!

Today, I quoted a print-on-demand book with a small page count that was slightly HIGHER in cost (500 copies output on a high-end copier, for POD), versus printing 2,000 copies high-quality books on a printing press in Asia. That was before adding the additional cost to ship to the client from the printer. Printers in the US almost never add shipping to quote, whereas Star Print Brokers always tries to quot DDP, Delivered Duty Paid, adding shipping, duty and delivery to door. We want to give our authors and publishers all the expected costs. We don’t like surprises, and figure our clients don’t either! 

Before you decide to print 500 copies of a book, check with Star Print Brokers. In this scarario, we can give our client 2,000 books instead of 500, and for LESS!  This is not always the case, as cost depends on the book’s page count, specifications, and delivery point. But, get a quote to compare to see for yourself!

The only advantage was a little less time, (about two to three weeks) to print 500 in the USA versus 2,000 copies in Asia. How much more profit would you make if you could sell an extra 1,500 copies?

We stand behind the books we print in Asia, as we represent clients, not printers. Contact us today!

Reasons to choose Star Print Brokers to print your books

We frequently have conversations with authors and publishers about why they should choose Star Print Brokers to print their books. The response below to a publisher sums it up:

Hi Sam,

After reviewing your specifications and current costs, I think you are paying way much for the books you are printing locally. Star Print Brokers prints high-quality coffee table books in Asia, among many other projects. Our cost, DDP, includes delivery, with duty paid, to your door. We will take longer to print than if you print locally, because of the 9-11 days ocean travel, but the trade off is lower cost as well as high-quality. Our minimum is 2,000 copies for a soft cover book, and 1,000 copies for a hardcover book. But, if you are printing more than one title at the same time, we can likely print 1,000 soft cover copies too.

We are printing brokers, and we provide quality books printed on press and low pricing. You will pay no more for our services. Printers want our business as we bring them volume. We troubleshoot files and advise clients of issues that could become a problem in printing.

Star Print Brokers stands behind the books we print. That is HUGE. All printers will tell you they do great work, and will tell you they stand behind their work. But we do what we say, and have proven it, repeatedly. Can you find lower costs? Probably, but there are often horror stories that are associated with super low pricing. I always tell our clients, “What good is it to print 2,000 books if only 1,000 are in condition to sell?”

We represent our clients, not printers. If something goes wrong, we fight for our clients. Fortunately, things seldom go wrong, because we’ve already tested and approved the printers we work with; something our clients don’t have to experiment with as it is usually costly! Most printers have their own interests at heart, not those of the author or publisher. We will represent you.

We can design your books too, or work with your designer. We can design book text and covers, press CDs and DVDs, and convert your books into eBooks.

We are in Seattle, but deliver books to clients all over the world. We incorporated Star Print Brokers, Inc. in Washington State in 1999.  SPB is an A+ Member BBB Online. Please see our website for books we printed and testimonials.

Let’s take the first step by providing a quote based on your specifications!  Use our quote form or call us at (425) 603-1777.

Best,

Nancy Starkman, Star Print Brokers

The Future of Publishing

The Future of Publishing (video) at http://youtu.be/Weq_sHxghcg

If you have not yet seen this video, watch it and pass it on. Also, don’t watch just the first half, or you will be disappointed.  Stay with it until the end. Very uplifting!

InDesign or Quark?

Quark has been acquired by a private equity firm. The link to the article is at TechCrunch.com. “30-Year Old Publishing Software Maker Quark Acquired by Private Equity Firm”. What will be it’s future? Will a new company acquire Quark and revitalize it into something new and improved? Could it become better than InDesign for book layout and design? The questions will go unanswerd for now.

I’ve used both Adobe InDesign (starting with Aldus PageMaker — so many years ago) and Quark. I have found InDesign to be far superior when it comes to building a book.  Most of the files submitted to us for book printing are created in InDesign, so judging from our corner of the world, InDesign is the choice for now.

It will be interesting to learn what will ultimately happen to Quark. It was once quite a powerhouse, and I am sure many people still use it. Will it be suported in the short term? We feel we have to keep an open mind, and see if this brand we we revitalized under new ownership.

Results of Website Redesign — Astounding!

Okay, I’ll admit it, we are bragging! We just got our monthly report from Google AdWords. Since we launched the new website redesign in July, the number of impressions has increased nearly TEN fold from the usual averages in the monthly reports! The number of click throughs has QUADRUPLED!

We’ve brought in several new titles that you will be reading about in our newsletters the months to come. Authors and publishers — keep them coming — we love new projects!

We are so very proud of our website. Drop us an email and let us know if you like it too, or have any suggestions for improvement.

Please sign up for our monthly newsletter. There is a form at the bottom of each page. We protect your privacy.

Let the Blog Begin!

If you are new to Star Print Brokers, welcome!  Star Print Brokers is not new, but we have just begun blogging with this post. SPB was incorporated in January 1999 by Nancy Ostling Starkman (that would be me) and Edward Starkman. I have a background in graphic design, print and major account sales (reaching back to a decade I rather not mention). I began my career as art director and newspaper publisher in my family’s businesses in California. I worked at two color houses which provided additional color expertise beyond that of the average graphic designer. I have national / major account advertising experience too, for several different newspaper chains; national, regional and local. Edward worked on Wall Street as an airline analyst for about 15 years. He  worked for several well-known firms and was interviewed on the major network and cable televison news shows in the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. Edward and I decided we would like to work together in our own business. We pooled our skills, education and experience to found Star Print Brokers, Inc.

Books are a different beast than most printed materials. You really have to know what you are doing to design a book, print it, get the color right, bind it properly, and ship books so they arrive safely. If you are like most people, you may think it is a simple task. Just contact a printer and they will handle it all, right? … And that’s where the fun begins! If you have a great printer, and everything works well for you … wonderful. But, if you are like the majority of authors and small publishers (you may have heard the horror stories), you have not been so lucky, especially when it comes to photography books, art books, coffee table and large format books. That is our specialty!

What good is it to print 3,000 books if you can only sell 1,000 because of quality issues? We always stand behind the books we print at Star Print Brokers. We have references to prove it. We guide our clients so that their book is set-up properly to print on press and acheive the results they assume they will get with any printer. One cannot make assumptions in this business! We choose the right printer for your style book. When the rare occasion arises that something goes wrong, we take care of our clients. We represent clients, not printers, so we have only the client’s interests at heart!

We work with our clients to manufacture the finest printed and bound books they envision. If you do not need the highest quality, we can guide you through the process of cost-cutting measures. We will help you have reasonable expectations of what to expect that is in line with the finished book shipped to your door. There are so many things we do in addition to great book printing and design at reasonable costs. We would love to provide you with a no obligation quote for you first, or next title! Contact us today!