Books about Artist Making Books
DIY: The Rise of Lofi Culture, by Amy Spencer: https://www.amazon.com/DIY-Lo-Fi-Culture-Amy-Spencer/dp/0714531618 -Less about art books, and more of a good history of zines.
What Problems Can Artist Publishers Solve, from Half Letter Press: https://halfletterpress.com/what-problems-can-artist-publishers-solve/ -Half Letter Press/Temporary services are pretty prolific, constantly making books, and both really approachable and nice. Below there is an old school forum they started with lots of advice on books and community.
Publishing as Art Practice, Sternberg Press/MIT: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/publishing-artistic-practice
Publishing Manifestos, MIT Press: http://www.buypichler.com/books/publishing-manifestos -This and the previous book are both edited by Michalis Pichler. He is very well known in the contemporary book art world. He runs the german art book fair (miss read), makes books, and is a pretty prolific editor of artist books about books.
Art Book and Zine Fairs:
This is a forum for Risograph printing but they list various Art Book Fairs internationally. Look through the past list for previous fairs that interest you and follow them on social media or sign up for their email lists to know when their calls for tablers open up.
https://artistpublisher.temporaryservices.org/index.php
This is a new forum for artist publishers but they have an ongoing list of Zine and Art Book Fairs happening nationally. There is a section of the forum dedicated to printing advice.
Zine fairs are typically more DIY and held at libraries and other small spaces. Art Book Fairs typically are run by art bookstores or art galleries and carry higher dollar books and artist multiples. Doing a Zine fair is a great way to meet new artists, buy books, and do trades. For more art book and zine advice see my book: https://www.shortteditions.com/product/how-to-art-book-fair
Printing:
The biggest issue you are going to face right now is that the cost of paper has consistently gone up in price over the last year which in turn is really driving up the cost of making books.
I've found Uprinting and GotPrint to be more reliable then other online digital printers for full color printing. Uprinting will also do a 8.5 x 5.5 book in Landscape format, which most of the other online printers don’t do. I’ve also used both for flyers and covers in the past and found them to be reliable.
Usually with these printers they will reprint if the error is theirs or give you a credit. I’ve found that this has helped offset costs.
I would avoid Overnight Prints. Their quality has consistently gone down hill.
I’ve learned the hard way about making sure your photos are CMYK, and I would suggest spending more on the cover or paper quality, over having a higher number of prints. When I do use these printers now, I typically do low print runs of 100-200 or less.
I will also now just use them for printing covers.
If you want to print Riso, I'd recommend Risolve Studio, (though there prices can be high sometimes) but I would also check and see if there is a local Riso press you could work with. Or buy your own machine.