Now — more than ever — authors have the tools to economically produce and distribute their work. Now you can test the market for your book and put your money into marketing and advertising rather than printing and storing books by the thousands.
Janice has worked with a wide variety of printers on more than one hundred books (hard cover, paperback, coil binding, layflat binding, and four-color) and will prepare your book to the printer's specifications and provide you with a PDF file saved to CD.
Specifications
Note: We recommend the following specifications when you are asking for bids on book printing:
paperback books: 10 pt C1S cover stock, four-color process cover with glossy layflat lamination.
hard cover books: 80# litholabel, four-color dust jacket with glossy laminate, one hit of die on spine only, matching endsheets (or Rainbow endsheets if colored is desired). Standard B Grade cloth over case (or Kivar 7 over case). Adhesive binding (or Smyth sewn binding if the book must stand up to repeated wear).
For text paper, request 60# white offset or 55# natural. 50# white or 50# creme is also available.
Remember to ask for a spine size based on the estimated page count of your book. To estimate the page count of your book, divide the word count of your manuscript by 250 and round up to the nearest number divisible by 8. You can also ask the printer to quote the printing at the most economical "signature" (i.e. page count).
If you desire a matte finish on your cover or dust jacket, rather than a glossy finish, you should have the books individually shrinkwrapped.
Request a matchprint of the cover and digital proofs or bluelines on the text pages.
Be certain to get a shipping estimate, and specify if the shipment is to be to a warehouse, business, or residence, and if a lift gate is needed.
How long should printing take? 3 to 4 weeks for paperbacks and 8 weeks for hardcover. Reprints should take 3 weeks.