Short-run self-publishing

May 6, 2011 3:19 PM

I want to get a small run of copies (around 10) of my dissertation printed and bound as mementos. I'm going to give some to my family and friends after graduation. What's a good and cheap way to get this done?

I'm using LaTeX and already have the PDF the way I want it. I need full-color printing. Are sites like Lulu and Blurb good options for this? I would love to hear any personal experiences.

posted by demiurge to Writing & Language (7 answers total)

This seems an easy route.
posted by AlliKat75 at 3:27 PM on May 6, 2011

I've had a few books printed up by Blurb. I was happy with them as Christmas photo albums (photos of our family from the previous year). The paper (even the "premium" option) seemed a little thin to me, but unless your discipline is design / illustration, I think it'll serve your needs well.
posted by Alt F4 at 3:56 PM on May 6, 2011

Your department secretary should have a list of vendors that the department and previous students seemed to like. Your school might even have a 'Media' department that can take care of stuff like this.

I had my MSc thesis hardbound with colour plates for about $20 each.
posted by porpoise at 4:07 PM on May 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've used Lulu before and was pretty happy. It wasn't super cheap, but the quality was good, the process was easy, and they shipped my stuff really securely. No bent corners etc. I should mention that the last time I used their services was more than two years ago. Hopefully they'll only have gotten better. Either way, they sound like a good option for what you're doing.
posted by TangoCharlie at 5:35 PM on May 6, 2011

The performance group I'm involved with just had a book (hardcover, mass market-sized, about 160 pages, with a glossy full-color jacket, for a print run of 4) printed by Blurb for about $22/each. We had an amazing graphic designer who knew how to prepare a book for production, which definitely helped, but the final outcome was gorgeous. For what it's worth, we were mimicking a major literary publishing house's book design for works by a specific author, and our copycat book turned out indistinguishable beside copies of his other (non-imaginary) works. I don't know the technical details, but this is just to say we were really satisfied with Blurb--though part of that may be thanks to having a designer who knew her way around book design and also around Blurb..
posted by soviet sleepover at 5:44 PM on May 6, 2011

Most universities require that you submit your dissertation to pro-quest, at which point you can order them at an author discount. This may not be the most cost effective option, but I'm guessing it's pretty close. Custom color printing and binding does get pretty expensive, and I'm guessing pro-quest has the resources to print dissertations cheaply because that's what they specialize in. Since you're going to submit to pro-quest anyway, you might as well consider it as an option and get a price quote. Plus going with pro-quest means you get that official looking ugly academic thing gong for you, so that your copies look like a real dissertation.
posted by yeolcoatl at 7:01 PM on May 6, 2011

I got some extra copies of my dissertation at Staples for about $25 each (hard cover, only b&w). I would bring your own paper though, the standard paper they use is pretty crappy.
posted by Nolechick11 at 7:52 PM on May 6, 2011