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Print run

Also called run, number of copies, short run

All the copies of a book printed at one time, from the same setting. An edition can have several successive print runs: a first printing, then a second. On a quote, it is the number of copies ordered.

In practice

Have two or three print runs priced in the same quote request: what is prepared only once, the plates and the make-ready in offset, is spread over every copy, and that is how you will see what each extra copy costs. Count the copies that will not be sold, too, those for legal deposit, for review copies, for the author, and plan where the cartons will be stored. The run also decides the process: short, digital; long, offset.

Further reading

Choosing the paper for your book: high-bulk, offset or coated?

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