The number of copies of a book printed at one time, which signals how much a publisher is betting on your book's success.
A print run is the total number of copies of a book produced in a single printing cycle. In traditional publishing, the size of your initial print run is one of the clearest signals of how much confidence your publisher has in your book. A debut literary novel might get a print run of 5,000 to 10,000 copies, while a big-name thriller could start at 100,000 or more. If the first print run sells well, the publisher orders additional print runs. If it doesn't, those unsold copies get returned or remaindered, and your career takes a hit.
Print run size affects everything downstream in traditional publishing. A larger print run means more copies in more bookstores, which means more visibility, which means more sales. It also affects your advance negotiations, marketing budget, and whether your publisher views your book as a lead title or a quiet release. For self-published authors, print-on-demand technology has largely replaced traditional print runs, but understanding the concept helps you grasp why traditional publishing economics work the way they do.
The first print run was just 500 copies, with 300 going to libraries. Those first-edition copies are now worth tens of thousands of dollars each, which tells you just how little Bloomsbury expected from the book initially.
HarperCollins ordered an initial print run of 2 million copies, one of the largest in publishing history. The massive print run reflected both the cultural significance of Lee's name and the enormous pre-order demand.
Little, Brown initially printed 300,000 copies for Tartt's long-awaited third novel, a huge bet on a literary fiction title. The Pulitzer Prize vindicated that gamble.
Research the initial print runs of five debut novels in your genre that were published in the last five years. Look for interviews where authors or publishers mention numbers. Write down the range you find and what seems to correlate with larger runs (existing platform, comp title success, pre-order numbers). This gives you a realistic picture of what to expect.