Then you probably know more about printers than I do because I’m not a print broker. If I came across abruptly, I apologize. The subject is complicated, and many new forum members don’t realize everything involved.
At 300–350 copies, it’s a short-run job, so you’re probably looking at digital printing unless you specifically want offset, but I’m sure you already know that.
48-Hour Books is a company specializing in self-published books, so yeah, they’ve got a routine set up for speed and cost that depends on keeping the options limited. They sub out all their offset work. I think these print-on-demand companies have put quite a few traditional book printers out of business. In addition, outsourcing book printing to east Asia has taken its toll.
Anyway, I’ve got to think there’s a good printing company in the Denver or Fort Collins area, but I’m unfamiliar with them. I live in Salt Lake, and if I were facing the same problem as you, and given my preference to work with local printers, I’d get bids from Hudson Printing and Paragon Press here in town.
Hudson is a large commercial printer, and I’ve used them for dozens of things — from high-quality, long-run glossy magazines to booklets and brochures. Their quality has always been excellent, and their bids competitive. They do both offset and digital work. However, I’ve never had them print a book, but I know they do print them. They might sub out hard case binding; I’m not sure. Given what I’ve come to expect of them, I’d be confident about trusting the quality.
Paragon Press is a smaller printer, but since I started in this business 40 years ago, they’ve been the go-to printer for high-quality work, including books. However, they’re rarely the lowest bidder, so I haven’t used them as often as I might have liked. I have no reservations about their quality, though. They’d be my first choice if the job demanded something unusual or of an artisan nature, such as tipped-in photos mounted into a debossed cover or adding a sewn-in ribbon page marker.
