Before taking your manuscript to Kinkos (or any copy shop) you must understand that printing and publishing are two different things. To “publish” a book, you need to buy an ISBN number and bar code. Once you have that, you can take your book to any printer and have it bound, with the ISBN number and bar code printed on the cover.
Kinkos acts as a Print on Demand printer. The look of the finished product is cheaper, but you get to keep all the control and all the profits. With other POD printers, you have to buy your books from them at 40% of the retail price. You also have to buy back the rights to print your book if you ever want to print it anywhere else. With Kinkos, you pay less for the printing, and you keep all the rights and control of your book and profits.
Kinkos is a good way to give your book a trial run and see how many copies you can sell. If it takes off, you can try courting royalty publishers or hiring another book printing company.
There are 3 methods for having Kinkos print your book.
1. Walk in – Bring in your files on thumb drive or CD.
2. On Line – Go to the Kinkos website and select “print online” and “start a new print job”. You will be prompted to upload your files and select paper, printing and binding options.
3. File, Print Fedex Kinkos – Kinkos now has a downloadable piece of software that will add a virtual printer to your computer. Once you install it, it will put an icon on your Office toolbars. You can click the icon to launch the “File, Print Fedex Kinkos” program. Alternatively, you can simply select “print” from any application. When the print dialogue box comes up, you will have the option to choose the “File, Print Fedex Kinkos” printer. You will be prompted to select your binding and printing options. You will be able to preview and pay for your job before it is printed. You have the option to pick it up or have it shipped to you via Fedex.
This option is really great for selling ebooks to people who would rather have a printed volume. You can offer your customer the option of having you send the book to a Kinkos near them.
Kinkos offers a range of binding options. The binding types offered are: book, booklet, coil, comb, wire, tape, and strip.
If you want to learn more about how to publish a book at Kinkos, they are usually pretty helpful. One of the great advantages of doing it this way is that they will usually give you tips when you run into problems with layout.
Kinkos is especially great if you are on a shoestring budget or if you just want a handful of copies of your book for family and friends.
