There are a lot of data points on the web for these costs, here's one example: http://journal.bookfinder.com/2009/03/breakdown-of-book-costs.html http://journal

There are a lot of data points on the web for these costs, here's one example: http://journal.bookfinder.com/2009/03/breakdown-of-book-costs.html http://journal.bookfinder.com/2009/03/breakdown-of-book-cost... So, for a mass-market hardback book, printing costs represent about 10% of the list price, less than just about any other component. Certainly, eliminating the printing costs alone would not knock a dramatic amount off of the consumer price of the book, assuming, that is, that book pricing is based on a "cost-plus" model, which it clearly is not.