Book printing and binding 101 – for self-publishing

Book printing and binding 101 for self-publishers.

Before making decisions, it is best to understand the options.

Book printing and binding is complex, but because of our expertise, we can answer all your questions. If there are terms that you don’t understand, please see our glossary, as well as book binding images.

Book printing and binding 101 … set-up color correctly, review and choose binding styles, and decide on custom options.

Book printing and binding for the best results!

Star Print Brokers prints on press because we offer the finest book printing and binding. We print books on commercial printing presses. Because we print on press, our minimum is 1,000 hardcover or 2,000 soft cover books.

A common misconception is that all printers are pretty much the same, because they vary greatly. We only work with the best and always provide the highest quality book printing and binding.

This means that self-publishers can charge a higher retail price, and sell more books. When the books we’ve printed are reviewed, the unsolicited comments often include comments about the beautiful quality. We provide high-quality books.

We print in signatures. That means printing a number of pages on one side of a sheet, and the same number on the back side.

Printing on press is the only method to create a high-quality book printing and binding.

Print on-demand services – POD providers are abundant. The results are often not the best quality. But, you can print a few books at a time. We only print high-quality, so POD is avoided. There are essentially two ways to produce on-demand books. One is to output the books. The books are, in fact, output from a device similar to a high capacity desktop printer, only larger. Sometimes they are output with toner on paper which will smear. Some equipment prints with ink, but the pages are still output a page at a time, and then bound. Inkjet is worse than toner on paper because it is sprayed on through a nozzle.

Always get your own ISBN. Pay for it yourself, as you are the publisher, not anyone else! We are authorized agents, or go to ISBN.org. We will take care of the best book printing and binding.

Secure Book printing and binding, and many custom options.

Star Print Brokers hardcover books – Our bindings are secure and we offer many custom options not offer by POD. After printing, all of the signatures are grouped together to form a text block. Also, we provide many options in colors and textures for cloth, linen, or even leather cover wrap. We can, of course, print the cover. Try French fold dust jackets as well as the standard dust jacket. Unlike POD, the typeface on the front cover can also be used on the spine. You don’t have to settle for plain block letters that don’t match! Endpapers can be printed in a PMS or process color. It’s only the best book printing and binding for self-publishers!

Star Print Brokers soft cover books – Similar to hardcover books, the signatures are gathered to form a text block. The cover is printed separately and embossing or foil stamping can be added. Authors can add French flaps which is something POD does not often offer, and we offer Smyth sewn signatures too. Depending on the paper weight and page count, when the book gets to be thick, we include Smyth sewn signatures in the quote. Pages never fall out of our books! Again, we’re the best in book printing and binding.

More about print on-demand books.

Print On-Demand service for hardcover books – On-demand books that are bound in a hardcover are quite noticeably inferior to any hardcover book we bind. Not only is our quality superior, but we provided many more options not available with on-demand, and we provide only the best book printing and binding.

Print On-Demand service for soft cover books – Large format photography books are often 12 x 12 or larger. We can hand bind if needed! We also offer French flaps, spot varnish and well as flood varnish, and the finest quality acid-free paper. If you are a novelist and have no critical color in your book, then on-demand soft cover books are not a bad why to go! But, it you can use 2,000 books, our unit cost will be less.

Distribution.

If you use an on-demand service, do you actually get your book into brick-and-mortar bookstores, or just have access to those bookstores? We have a secret for you. If you have your own ISBN and barcode, you already have access to brick-and-mortar bookstores. You are in the database already.

Star Print Brokers strives to provide the highest quality book printing and binding. We stand behind the books we print.

In conclusion, there is a lot more to book printing and binding. This is just an overview. We also print board books and Wire-O books. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Call (844) 603-1777 toll-free, or (425) 603-1777 in the Seattle area. You can request a quote today!