In article writes:

Right now I'm looking at $19.95 (OK, $20) for about 90 pages and a CD,
wire bound, less than 1/2" thick, weight unknown (but shipping
included).
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The latest technology for low-budget publishing is P.O.D. (aka "Publish On
Demand"), which is essentially a very high-quality laser printer/binding
machine, that can spit out many hundreds (if not thousands) of softbound
books an hour.

That's what I'm looking at, but I'm looking at a supplier that's
minimum bother for me, Cafe Press. Their pricing structure is very
straightforward, they handle all the order processing and shipping,
and provide a web page I can "advertise" for direct ordering. All I
have to do is sit back and wait for the armored trucks to line up in
front of my driveway.

You can get a lot of good info on POD from this website:

http://www.booksandtales.com/pod/

I'd guess that a book like you describe could probably be produced for about
$10 a copy (depending on binding), assuming it was B&W, plus another buck for
the CD, but you'd have to hire some people to shove the CD into the book.

I'll take a look at your source. A quick peek shows a complex web page
with lots of alternatives but the reasons for the web page's author's
favorite choices don't seem to have anything to do with what I'm
doing.

From Cafe Press, it's 4.5 cents per page and $4.50 for wire binding (I
like that for this sort of book - it will lie flat when opened). They
don't have a stock price for a CD-in-the-book and said they'd research
it - I was thinking of just one of those sticky-back CD envelopes
stuck to the inside of the front or back cover. Their price for a CD
with box, label, and simple paper inserts is $5. So worst case I'm
looking at $14-15, maybe less. I'd like to get the CD for a buck or
two. I don't think that making $5 a copy is unreasonable for a limited
production item like this.


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