Print on demand is an option, as pointed out by Bruce. I choose not to go that way for several reasons. It works great for inexpensive paperbacks but cuts into profit margin because it's ultimately more expensive. You have to set it up with the right company and they get their cut plus the printing cost.
Printing cost to fairly simple. The items that affect price the most are the cover, quality of paper, the number of books printed and the number of pages. Some printers charge on increments of 16 pages. It has to do with their printing method. I stayed away from that because it's a pain in the layout and why pay for blank pages.
My book has a leather cover. Very expensive. Going with a standard hard cover and dust jacket is much cheaper but the dust jacket is a pain in the neck so I didn't go that way. Of course, going with a standard soft cover is even cheaper. I think my printer calls it's a "Perfect Cover" or something like that. Paper weight is also a factor. Photo quality also influences price but overall your paper selection doesn't increase/defeated price that much.
Like my book, yours would have a very specific market. Amazon would probably not be the best place to sell. My book is a limited edition of 500. Once the collector community learned it was out there, 100 books were sold in a matter of weeks. Once all of the diehards get their copies, sales do slow down.
If you can do all of the work and deliver it print ready on a high quality flash drive, the printing cost is not that bad. Most folks I talked to who had published these types of books always just paid to have a certain number printed and avoided the on demand method.
The biggest cost is your time. It took me two years to do it working on and off. I figured my time was free anyway. That said, I don't think you'll change careers after doing it. I don't think there is a lot of money in the book writing business generally.
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