Who are the best book printers in South Africa?

Hey there, you’re here looking for recommendations for the best (trusted, reliable and cost-effective) book printing companies for your self-published book right? Let me help you.

My name is Dave, and I’ve helped hundreds of authors publish their books since starting my book publishing business back in 2012. This includes the printing of paperback and hardcover editions, once the book has been through our team’s rigorous editing, layout and design stages.  Here’s the current list of printers I’ve worked with and trust, not just for their reasonable printing costs, but also their attention to detail and strong customer service too.  ⭐

This is a “Living” List

To get the obvious out of the way, this list is neither a complete nor an exhaustive list of all South African book printers, merely a list of companies I’ve worked with or alongside at some point and feel confident in their ability to deliver on their promises. There’s no point in listing book printers who are destined to disappoint you. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

I’ll aim to update this article, adding or removing names as the need arises. Also, if I can see that this article is actually helping you guys 😊

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My List of the Best Book Printers in South Africa

1. Print on Demand | Website | Printers located in Cape Town
2. Inside Data | Website | Printers located in Cape Town, Johannesburg
3. Novus Holdings | Website | Printers located in Cape Town
4. SA Paperback | Website | Printers located in Johannesburg
5. Tandym | Website | Printers located in Cape Town
6. Pinetown Printers | Website | Printers located in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

* All these printers can comfortably ship books country-wide, from Alberton to Zeerust.

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// I wrote this next bit for you, if you wanted to know how to get the most from your interaction with your preferred printing partners.

Common Book Printing Mistakes

Here’s a summary of the most commons mistakes I see new authors making printing books. ⛔

1. Choosing the cheapest. If you choose to print your book at the neighbourhood printers based only on a low price, you’re gonna have a bad time. Rather, pay a little more and approach a trusted, professional printer.
2. Printing your book directly from MS Word. Rather, pay a professional for typesetting (layout) services using professional and paid-for software. (Adobe InDesign, is a popular choice for publishers.)
3. Covers that are designed using Canva. Rather, pay a pro to design you something that looks both lekker AND is commercially viable. See our cover examples here.
4. Avoiding editing. This often results in a book riddled with mistakes that your night with Grammarly never detected.

What Should I Have Ready ?

Here’s what I recommend you have ready before knocking on the door of your preferred printers.

1. Your book interior. PDF format.

Exporting to PDF from Word is not an ideal solution. I recommend your interior PDF is rather exported from software meant for professional book publishing. Printing directly from a Word document or even a PDF exported directly from Word leaves a very specific styling “after-taste” that simply shouts “Cheap!”

2. Your book cover. PDF format.

Whilst sufficient to design a sample of your cover, used to guide the professional cover designer I know you hired, I recommend you rather you avoid covers created wholly from free or low-cost platforms such as Canva. Whilst initially easy to design, fine-tuning the spine width and adding crop marks to a Canva-created-cover is not a fun or productive way to spend your day.

3. Know your target book size. A5 for example.

Your book’s interior PDF file needs to be designed in your preferred book size. You can’t only consider a book’s trim size once you arrive at the printer’s door. Sizing actually starts with the layout of and design of your cover and interior.

See Amazon KDP supported print sizes here.

Other Important Questions to Answer 💡

• Is your paperback going to be printed with colour or B&W ink? (Aim for B&W if possible, to save money.)
• Are you printing on white or cream paper? (Cream recommended for fiction, white for academic or other NF.)
• How thick would you like your interior paper to be? (Thicker feels better. *Cough*.)
• Would you want your cover to have a matte or glossy finish?

Local Isn’t (Always) Lekker

Just because a business CAN print your book, it doesn’t mean they SHOULD.

Pretty please, avoid the temptation to pop to the neighbourhood printers with your Word manuscript. Instead, look for larger printers with book printing and bookbinding as their core focus. Local neighbourhood print store franchises such as Postnet, Wizards, Minute Man and Jetline can print books however this does not mean that they’ll do a quality job.

Choosing your printer based solely on a low printing quote will likely result in a book where the pages fall out, form “dog ears” or pages with ink stains. You have been warned.

Ask For a Sample Copy

One of the best forms of protection I can give you before printing is to ask the printers for a (paid-for) sample copy of your printed book before placing the order for more. This’ll help you spot mistakes with the printing that can quickly corrected, before the remainder of the order is completed. This’ll cost you a little more however will protect you against receiving a box of books that looks kak. 💩

Printing is not Publishing

After many years publishing books and thousands of conversations with prospective authors, I have realised that many conflate the printing of the book, with the publishing of the book. An author wanders into their local Postnet print store and walks out with a box of printed paperback books, proudly posting online that they are now a published author. False.

A book that has been published should have gone through a few important steps before ending up at the printers. Here they are.

• Editing of the words by one or more people, unrelated to the author.
• Professional cover design. (Not Canva.)
• Professional interior layout. (Not from MS Word.)
• Distribution, selling your book from physical or digital storefronts such as Amazon KDP.

An author who jumps from MS Word directly to the final step of printing copies is not “publishing a book” merely printing a rough draft.

The why, what and how of publishing your own book

Did I Do Good?

I really hope this helped you! Feel free to let me know in the comments if you know of any trusted, quality printers you think I have missed?

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PS. Article written by a well-caffeinated human 😊

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Further Reading Resources

The why, what and how of publishing your own book (LinkedIn article)

South African specific book publishing questions

Ideas on fundraising to print or publish your book

Want to know more about how Amazon KDP works?