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Writing and Publishing, Part 26:
Becoming your own publisher:
Design and Manufacturing Techniques;
Binding and Page Size:
In a previous essay, I made the point that book design and layout
are functions of the publishing house. By that I mean that the
publishing house is responsible for these functions. However,
they are not always performed in house. There are a large number
of independent shops around which specialize in prepress work.
Using an outside shop will, of course, add to the cost of your
book. It could be money well spent if you are uncertain of the
processes involved. Many of the better book manufacturers can
provide lists of these shops which they have found to be reliable.
Regardless of who does the work, the procedure and decisions will be similar. I will assume the book has been written and the decision to publish has been made. Following that, there will be a number of decisions and activities. I will lay them out in the order which I tend to follow.
My first decisions will usually be about the binding options and page size. There are several binding choices and the kind of book we have will influence our choice. If we have a how-to type of book, we will want it to lay flat. The user will want both hands free to do the work. There are four choices that I know of. Spiral bound with a wire coil will work, but I think it looks tacky. Comb bound is similar to spiral bound, but it uses a plastic comb. You will see some cookbooks done in these two method.
My preference for a soft cover book will be something called lay-flat or OtaBind. This looks like an ordinary paperback book, but it is bound so that it will lay flat when opened. If we decide to go to a hard cover for our how-to book, there will be no lay flat problem. Unless the book is poorly made, hardbound books do tend to lay flat when opened.
For any other kind of book, the decision will be hardcover or soft cover. Soft cover is usually called paperback. Which of these we choose, will depend on how valuable we think the book will be to the reader. Most people who buy paperbacks will be reluctant to lay out three times as much for a hard cover edition. How many times have you heard the phrase, "I'll wait for the paperback edition"? Hardcover books are usually for collectors. My first four books were soft cover books. My most recent book, "The Anatomy of a PC" was a how-to book and I decided that it justified a hard binding.
While I am considering binding techniques, I will also be thinking about the page size of the book. In theory, the pages can be any size. In reality, the options are limited by issues of economy. Book manufacturers have worked out the layout problems on large sheets or rolls of paper. From that, they can give us a set of options which will economize paper use. These are called trim sizes and may vary slightly for different manufacturers. The actual sizes will depend on the equipment used. Here are a pretty normal set of choices for page size.
4 &1/4" X 7". This is the normal, mass-market
paperback size.
5 & 1/2" X 8 & 1/2". This size is also used
in many paperback books.
These first two sizes are not often used in hardcover books.
6" X 9". This is standard for many hardcover books and
for many paperbacks. It is the size favored for the airport and
gift shop trade where books are displayed face out, in racks.
My first four books were paperbacks in this size.
7" X 10". This is a coffee table, how-to size. You will
see some illustrated books in this trim size. It's a bit large
for a cosy, curl-up, reading book.
8 & 1/2" X 11" This is the size I would favor for
how-to and other heavily illustrated books. My book, "Anatomy
of a PC" was in this trim size.
You will see many other sizes of books at your local bookstore. As I said, any size is possible. The cost goes up with nonstandard sizes, but some publishers are willing to add that to the cover price if it makes their book unique. For myself, I will stay with the trade standards for now.
With a manuscript in hand, and trim size known I will have a very good idea of the page count. Here is the point where we know enough about the book to think of the manufacturing process. We have enough information to ask for bids on the book. The sooner you contact the book manufacturer, the better. They cannot help you until they know you are there.
We don't have to decide on the number of copies to get bids. We will simply ask for bids on a range of quantities. As to the cover, I will assume what is called four color process. It's a color printing technique which we will get to later.
Here is a request for a quote which could be used for one of my books.
July 13, 1998
Please quote prices on our proposed book:
Title: The Big Booger
Quantities: 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, additional 1000's
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pages: 304
Text: Wesoomi Publishing will furnish PageMaker 6.5 files,
Postscript files, and PDF files on a CD-ROM disk. The text contains
no bleeds. The text contains 50 Tiff, graphic files.
Ink, Black throughout.
Stock, 60 # Lakewood white or equivalent.
Proofs, complete bluelines.
Cover: Wesoomi Publishing will furnish PageMaker 6.5 files,
vendor must produce the color separation files for process printing.
Stock, 10 pt C1S or equivalent.
Finish, Non curl laminate.
Graphics, 2 tiff color photos, 1 EPS logo (2 instances of the
logo), and one bar code.
Ink, four color process.
Proofs, complete bluelines.
Binding: Perfect bound.
In addition, please estimate shipping costs to Ortonville, MI.
Please call with questions: William E. Steinman, (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
There are a few terms in this request which may be unfamiliar to some. We can get into the details, if necessary, later. For now I well simply give brief descriptions.
A bleed is a situation where the graphic or color runs off of the edge of a page. You will usually see this on covers. It assures that there will be no unwanted border effect.
60 # Lakewood white or equivalent. This is a type of paper offered by the particular book manufacturer. The manufacturers usually buy paper under contract from their suppliers. They will offer these to you as first choices. Selecting one of their papers, rather than special order papers, will avoid delays and cost issues.
There are three important qualities of paper which you will want to consider. The weight (in our example, 60 #) will determine the pages per inch of paper. This, in turn, determines the spine bulk (thickness) of the book. The opacity will determine the see through effect. We don't want printing on the next page to be visible on the page we are reading. Brightness is simply how white the paper is. For most graphics, bright white paper is best. For text, brightness is not quite as important.
Bluelines are proofs which the manufacturer will supply if specified. These are made in different ways depending on the process involved. Since the introduction of the Portable Document Format (PDF) and computer to plate (CTP) printing, proofs have diminished in importance. For most purposes, we can proof our work before we deliver the files. I will not require proofs on my next book. I put proofs in this request just to show the possibility. I was very nervous on my first book and demanded proofs. It was well I did for I had made some errors which were corrected before the book went to press.
Color separation and four color process are printing methods for color work. We will get into this when we deal with book covers.
Cover stock is specified in point thickness. 10 point is standard for paperbacks.
Cover finish can be done in several ways. I usually specify non curl laminate for paperbacks. This is really a plastic film which is bonded to the cover after it is printed. It protects the cover from normal handling damage. Some manufacturers use other laminate which will cause the cover to curl after a time. The cost savings does not justify the bad effect.
Tiff and EPS are file types for graphics files.
Perfect bound is the way most paperback books are bound. It is a technique whereby the cover is glued onto the pages of the book.
Next time, I will get into the discussion of how we actually
lay out the book for the printer.
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