Toner/Ink

Toner is a printer’s blood, and the most difficult substance to procure. If you are wondering what toner is, as I did when I first heard of it, then allow me to explain. There are two types of printer I concern myself with: Laser and Ink printers. If anyone does the math, they will find that printing in bulk is much cheaper with a laser print, which is fuelled by toner, rather than ink. When I first started printing book, I was using an ink printer. In ink alone, I was paying upwards of $10 per book. That, plus other materials, put me well over $10, which was the return I was making for each book. Bottom line, I was losing money over time, after having spent a great deal already on equipment. The message I’m trying to get across here is, if you intend to print more than ten books or so, you had best be using a lazar printer.

Getting a lazar printer is only half the battle when it comes to your toner costs. After doing my research, I learned that new toner cartridges were very…very expensive. I was saving money, but still paying upwards of $6 per book in toner. It was then I was challenged to do better. The task I was given was as follows: print books for under $2 each. Mind you, my first book was only 45,422 words long, but $2 still seemed impossible. That is why you must learn a few tricks, which I will do my best to outline.

The first, and most important means of saving money on toner, is to not buy a new cartridge every time, like your damned printer or computer will recommend. Understand that there are many other people who have already gone through this, and have found ways to help people save money. I am referring to toner and ink refilling stores. They are surprisingly hard to find in my area, but maybe this is not the case for most. The closest I could find was 1.5 hours away, but believe it or not, it was cheaper to have them refill it, and take two trips for each refill (counting gas and such). These people, unlike places like Staples, are truly on your side, simply because they depend on you being informed about your options. Staples depends on you seeing no other way. If you find such a place that does refills, ask questions about your printer model, the cartridge, the toner, anything you think may be useful. In this regard, knowledge is truly power (in the form of savings and creativity.)

Now, there is another step you can take with the toner refills, but I honestly don’t know how practical it is for most people. Maybe I just got lucky, and made just the right contact/friend, but still it is something you should defiantly consider. That it: refilling the toner cartridges yourself. The process is decently simply, and something you could learn online if needed. The first thing you need to do is talk to the toner-refilling people you can find. They understand the process and may be willing to teach you (as they did me.) Now that I do it myself at home, the only thing I need from them is toner (which they order from a manufacturer and can simply sell on to you), still in the bottle. It is a powder, and an explosive one at that, so know what you are doing. By doing it all myself (yet another learning process) I have made toner much more affordable. I will paint a picture for you. I use a SAMSUNG (more on which printers models you should use later!) Paying to get a new cartridge costs $89 plus tax (and gas money, mind you. Always consider everything.) To get it refilled, the cost dropped to $67 plus much less tax. Simply buying the toner and doing it myself…$25. As you can see, learning the process of refilling (A few hours of trial and error at most with some printed instructions) is a very beneficial investment.

The last bit of advice I can think of is the font in which your book is printed. This is where things get fun (for me anyway.) Open your Microsoft Word document (or whichever other program you use, in the case of Heretics) and highlight all text. You can go to the colour settings and decrease the darkness of your words. This is a matter of comfort. Some writers won’t want to decrease the darkness of their work in the name of aesthetics, and I completely understand that position. Even if you are very insistent with keeping it as dark as possible, you can do 90% darkness and not notice a difference (besides the fact that you will be able to print a few more copies than usual.) I myself put my books at 65% darkness, and the words are still more than readable. You may want to play around with font as well. Some fonts naturally use less toner, may it be because of space economy or preset darkness.

These are all things to consider. If you have any other ideas or questions, please contact me or leave a comment. Being economic with your toner supply is a necessity.