Publish Student Authors

For 12 years, my middle school students have completed the Publishing Project, wherein they write their own original stories, poems, etc., we send them off to a student publishing company, and they come back as hardcover books. Every year, my students light up like it's Christmas morning when their books arrive in the mail, and we celebrate by visiting the neighboring elementary schools and sharing our published books with the younger students. The cost for these books has always been $1 per student, but last year, the publishing company jacked it up to $10 per student. I desperately want to keep this tradition going, but I do not want to ask the students' families, many of whom are struggling, to cough up this kind of money, nor can I afford to foot the bill for 200 students myself, as a public school teacher. The project begins in January, and I am determined to find a way to fund it. Any help would be deeply appreciated.