Twain Book Presses Printer's Flexibility

The runaway success of “Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1” was something of a surprise. Dexter, MI-based printer Thomson-Shore Inc.’s first bid on a job to produce the autobiography of the long-dead American literary icon was for 1,500 volumes. Then the University of California Press, publisher of the book, upped the number to 4,500...then to 7,500.

Now, Thomson-Shore has printed more than 250,000 Mark Twain books, said President Kevin Spall, and likely will produce about 500,000 before the multimillion-dollar contract runs its course.

A few weeks before Christmas, the book is on back-order at online and bricks-and-mortar stores