Here's how we calculate the printing cost of a 300-page black ink paperback sold in the US market: $0.85 (fixed cost) + (300 [page count] * $0.012 [cost per page]) = $4.45 (printing cost). The fixed cost includes materials, postage, and production costs required to produce a book. The $0.85 covers the printer's charge for setting type and creating the printed book cover. Book printing is a mass-production industry that uses high-speed equipment and large quantities of books as input to produce output at a rate of hundreds or even thousands per hour. The basic processes used by book printers include letterpress, flexography, and digital printing. Book manufacturers often use more than one process within a single book. For example, a book that is letterpressed on the front and back covers as well as the inside front board will use up three runs of type with each run being set separately from the others. Books are usually printed in blocks of 10,000 copies or more. Smaller runs may be requested by publishers or customers who want to have a limited number of copies produced. Sometimes a book will be printed in parts and assembled by the customer - this is called "bind-on-demand". Prices vary greatly depending on the size of the print run and how fancy you want your book to look.