The idea
Your book stays yours. Entirely.
The TBG Print Shop turns a finished manuscript into a real, printed book, without you having to wrestle with self-publishing platforms yourself. You bring the writing; we do the setting up, the file wrangling and the dealing-with-printers.
What we are not is your publisher. You are. We take no rights in your work, no royalty, no share of what you sell, and no say in what you do next with it. You buy your copies at what they cost us to print and post — we do not add a margin — and everything after that is yours: the book, the sales, the money, the decisions.
It grew out of publishing TBG's own books, like I Can't Cook. The same print-on-demand approach that put that on shelves is now being opened up, so other people's writing can travel the same road.
What you can publish
If it's written, it can be printed.
Books & novels
Full-length fiction and non-fiction, novellas, memoir — a finished manuscript made into a proper paperback.
Poetry & short works
Collections, chapbooks, essays and zines — smaller works that still deserve to exist as a real, printed object.
Guides & personal projects
Workbooks, handbooks, family histories, one-off keepsakes — writing meant for a specific few, or for the world.
How it works
From manuscript to printed book.
01
Submit your work
Send us your manuscript and what you have in mind. We'll talk through what it needs and what's involved.
02
We prepare it
Your work is set up for print — interior and cover made ready — and we check the files against the printer's requirements before anyone spends money.
03
You see the price first
We quote you what it costs to print and post, with nothing added. You pay that, and only then does anything go to the printer.
04
Your copies arrive
Printed to order and posted to you — nothing warehoused, nothing wasted. What you do with them from there is entirely your business.
Also coming
The art side of the shop.
Alongside publishing, the Print Shop will grow a separate strand for TBG's own art and craft work — prints, originals, and resin pieces. That part is being built once the publishing side is running, and will live here too when it's ready.
What it costs
At cost, and you can check the maths.
The Print Shop does not take a margin, a royalty, or a cut of anything you sell. You pay what the printing and the postage cost, and that is the whole price. So rather than ask you to take that on trust, here is the calculator we use ourselves.
What would my book cost?
Black-and-white paperback, posted anywhere in Australia. A5, US Trade and Digest all cost exactly the same, so the size is your choice to make on how the book should feel, not on what it costs.
A few real examples:
| Example | Pages | Copies | Total | Each |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A chapbook, one copy | 64 | 1 | $20.16 | $20.16 |
| A poetry collection, ten copies | 96 | 10 | $99.89 | $9.99 |
| A short book, twenty-five copies | 200 | 25 | $331.65 | $13.27 |
| A novel, one copy | 300 | 1 | $30.16 | $30.16 |
Every figure measured against the printer's live pricing, not estimated. No GST applies. Prices move from time to time; a quote we send you holds for 30 days.
The details
Good to know.
- Status
- In active development — the pipeline is still being built, but early submissions are open now.
- What it is
- A production service. We get your writing printed properly; we don't publish it, and we don't sell it.
- Who publishes it
- You do. The book is yours, and your name — not ours — is the publisher of it.
- Rights
- We claim none. Not to the writing, not to the artwork, not to anything you do with either afterwards.
- Cost
- You pay what printing and postage cost, with no margin added. No GST applies.
- Printing
- Print-on-demand — each copy is printed to order, with no minimum run and nothing warehoused.
- An ISBN
- Optional, and yours to obtain if you want one. You don't need one for author copies or selling directly — only for shops and libraries. We'll point you at how.
- Terms
- A short plain-English agreement, sent before anything is committed. No surprises in it.
- Where it sits
- Part of Forge — TBG's Fuelling movement — with the making rooted in Fuller.
Submit your work
Tell us what you'd like published.
Submissions are open early, while the Print Shop is still being built — so send yours now and we'll be in touch as things come together. Nothing is committed until the terms are agreed with you.