Yes. Ex Why Zed, a short run printer based in Colchester, Essex, prints single copies of books, zines and booklets and sends them anywhere in the UK by tracked courier, free. A single 32 page A5 zine costs £63, a 100 page A5 paperback £78 and a 100 page A5 hardback £191.
You can order as few as one, and books, booklets and zines carry no VAT. A second copy usually adds only a few pounds, because nearly all of the cost of one copy is setting up the job.
What does one copy cost?
Here is what one, two, five and ten copies cost on our instant calculator for eight common formats. In short: a stapled A5 zine is £63, an A5 paperback of 100 pages costs £78 (or £73 with twice the pages), and a square hardback picture book is £184.
| Format | 1 copy | 2 copies | 5 copies | 10 copies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A5 zine or booklet 32 pages, stapled | £63 | £64 £32 each | £67 £13.40 each | £91 £9.10 each |
| A4 booklet or magazine 32 pages, stapled | £63 | £64 £32 each | £71 £14.20 each | £85 £8.50 each |
| A5 paperback 100 pages, perfect bound | £78 | £79 £39.50 each | £98 £19.60 each | £141 £14.10 each |
| A5 paperback 200 pages, perfect bound | £73 | £84 £42 each | £144 £28.80 each | £172 £17.20 each |
| Square paperback, 210 × 210mm 40 pages, perfect bound | £78 | £79 £39.50 each | £88 £17.60 each | £95 £9.50 each |
| A4 paperback or photobook 60 pages, perfect bound | £78 | £79 £39.50 each | £98 £19.60 each | £124 £12.40 each |
| Square hardback, 210 × 210mm 32 pages | £184 | £188 £94 each | £199 £39.80 each | £219 £21.90 each |
| A5 hardback 100 pages | £191 | £195 £97.50 each | £207 £41.40 each | £228 £22.80 each |
The calculator handles any quantity up to 20, in every size, page count and binding it lists, and shows the total as you click. Its stapled option stops at 52 pages. For 56 to 72 pages, a custom size or a bigger run, send us a quote request and we’ll answer that working day.
Why does a second copy cost so little?
Most of the price of a single copy is the cost of setting the job up, and that cost is the same for one copy or ten. Each extra copy only adds its own paper, ink and binding. That’s why a 32 page A5 zine is £63 for one and £64 for two, and why our 100 page A5 hardback goes from £191 to just £195.
So if anyone else might want a copy (a parent, a partner, the person the book is about) order two now. Printing one today and more next month means paying for the set up twice. In one quote this autumn, a single copy followed later by nine more came to £250, against £164 for all ten printed together.
How do I order a single copy?
- Price itChoose your size, binding, page count and paper on the instant calculator. It covers 1 to 20 copies and shows the total straight away.
- Send us a PDFExport your book as a PDF and send it with your order. WeTransfer works well for big files.
- We check your fileA real person looks at the page size, bleed, image resolution and page order, free of charge, and tells you if anything needs changing before we print.
- We print and post itOnce you approve the artwork, a stapled book needs 3 working days, a paperback 5 and a hardback 7. Tracked UK delivery is free.
Want to see it all before you start? Our film follows a book through the five stages, from a finished file to the box on your doormat, and the Print Journey page has a guide for each stage.
What file do I need to send for one copy?
The same file you’d send for a thousand copies: a PDF at your finished page size, with 3mm of extra picture around every edge. That extra strip is called bleed, and it gets trimmed off, so anything meant to run to the edge of the page has to reach into it.
Plenty of first time customers design in Canva, Word or Apple Pages, and that works. Set the page to your finished size plus 3mm on each side before you start, then export a PDF for print. Step by step help for each program is in our free Artwork Hub.
Count pages, not sheets. One sheet of paper carries two pages, front and back, so a 40 page PDF prints on 20 leaves. Torn between two bindings? Our binding guide puts staples, glued spines and hardback cases next to each other.
Can I print just one hardback?
Yes. We print single hardbacks with at least 28 inside pages, up to A4 size. One costs £184 for a 32 page square book (210 × 210mm) and £191 for a 100 page A5 book, delivered in the UK.
Allow 7 working days from artwork approval, because we can’t make a hardback in 24 hours. If it’s a keepsake for one person and a paperback would do, the saving is big: the same 100 page A5 book in paperback is £78. Our hardback printing page shows covers, endpapers and finishes for bigger runs.
Is one copy the same as a proof copy?
No, and the difference matters if you plan to print more later. Order one finished copy by itself and it’s a normal order at the calculator price above. A proof is something we print at cost, only alongside a bigger run, so you can hold your book before the rest goes to press.
- Flat sheets, £25. A few of your pages printed flat and unbound, posted to you in the UK. The cheapest way to check colour and paper.
- A bound proof. A stapled proof costs about £44, a perfect bound one £58 to £82 and a hardback £120 to £180.
A proof is a check, not a colour match, and its cost sits on top of the run rather than coming off it. If you only want to feel the paper first, start with our free paper samples.
Is print on demand cheaper than one copy from us?
Sometimes, and we’d rather say so. For a plain text novel, print on demand can work out cheaper per copy. Our model is different: we print short runs, so we don’t print and post single copies to your buyers each time an order comes in.
Where we earn our keep is illustrated books, photobooks, zines and hardbacks, a real person checking your file, and runs of a few copies up to a few thousand. When you’re ready for more, our book printing, zine printing and photobook printing pages show real jobs and prices.
Who prints single copies at Ex Why Zed?
Ex Why Zed is an independent printer of books, zines, booklets and photobooks in Colchester, Essex. We’ve printed for authors, artists and families since 2006, and Harriet and Mike answer the phones and the emails themselves.
One copy is ordinary work for us. Of the 200 customer conversations we had between 29 September and 8 October 2026, more than a third were about a single copy, a test copy or ten copies or fewer. Many were personal: a family memoir, a wedding keepsake, a grandchild’s picture book, a memorial book.
Quick questions
Do you have a minimum order?
No minimum at all. Order a single copy if that’s all you need, and the instant calculator prices anything up to 20 copies without a form.
Are the prices per copy or for the whole order?
For the whole order, delivered. Ten A5 zines at £91 means you pay £91 in total, which works out at £9.10 a copy.
Do I have to order 5, 10 or 25 copies?
No. Order the number you actually need. The calculator takes whatever number you type, up to 20, and we quote anything above that.
Does the cover count in my page total?
For stapled books and paperbacks, yes. The cover is four pages (front, inside front, inside back and back), so a 32 page book is the cover plus 28 inside pages. Hardbacks are different: count the inside pages only, leaving out the cover and endpapers, and you need at least 28.
Will you check my spelling?
No. We make sure the file will print properly, but we don’t proofread the words, so give it one last read before you send it.
How long does one copy take?
From the day you sign off your artwork, it’s three working days for a stapled book, five for a paperback and seven for a hardback. Courier time comes on top.
Is delivery included?
Yes, within the UK. Your copy goes by tracked courier to one address at no extra charge. Overseas we charge what the courier charges us, and the destination country may add import fees.
Do I pay VAT on one copy?
No. Books, booklets and zines are zero rated. Notebooks and journals with blank or lined pages are the exception, at 20%.
Will black and white inside pages save me money?
On a long book it can. One 232 page hardback came down from £236 to £172 when the inside went black only. On a short book the saving is often small, so ask us to price both.
Can you print a different personalised book for each of my customers?
No. We print runs of the same book, not one unique copy per order, so a unique version for every buyer isn’t something we can do.
Ready to price your copy?
The instant calculator totals any order of up to 20 copies in a few clicks. Need more, or a spec it doesn’t list? Tell us what you’re making and you’ll hear back that working day, usually sooner.
