Book shipping after printing and binding
Authors are anxious about book shipping, to deliver books quickly.
Book shipping follows a process. First, we print, and that means we are printing signatures on press. You might ask, “What is a signature?”
Printing on offset sheet-fed press.
When books print on commercial printing presses, a number of pages print on a large sheet at the same time. Depending on the dimensions of each page, the page count is usually in multiples of four. You could have a 16-page signature with 8 pages printing on one side, and 8 pages on the reverse side. That is a signature.
Then, the signatures are grouped together to form the text block. And don’t worry, we handle the imposition of pages. Authors and designers do not have to worry about that! We also are not ready yet for book shipping!
In the bindery.
The book interior text block are then bound. Actually, the binding process can also happen on press, if the printer has that equipment and capability on their presses. However, a lot happens in bindery.
The bindery is where all the goodies are applied. Often, the author may choose options that need to be done by hand. Our vendors in Asia are especially set-up for these custom details.
Custom made cartons for books.
And you thought we bought boxes in standard dimensions! USA printers and print on-demand providers will buy standard size cartons, much of the time. However, our partners in Asia custom manufacture boxes to fit the dimensions of your book.
We plan on no more than 40 pounds in any one carton. The number of books varies in a carton not only because of size, but also the number of pages and thickness of the stock. Yes, we focus on details.
In cartons on pallets, not just on the pallet.
Note that most printers in China simply load the books onto pallets and shrink wrap the lot in place. They are not in cartons, let alone, custom manufactured cartons for your particular book dimensions. Remember, we print with our select printers in Asia, but not China. We print with only the best printers that we’ve used for many years.
It’s not so much the country as it is the printer.
Also note that printing with one country in particular does not means that you will get great quality books. After all, if you were to pick any one printer, it does not mean that they are even good printers, or all that experienced. We know how to the select the best, and our printers have done many projects for us and we offer many options. We can send you a sample book … but first, please request a quote so that we can send a sample with similar specifications.
Pallets, manifests, labels … oh my! This is part of book shipping.
The cartons are then loaded on pallets and the entire pallet is shrink wrapped.
If you print 1,000 32-page children’s books, they will fit easily on one pallet. We’ve also delivered full container loads. That’s an entire cargo container load on a semi-truck! In fact, we’ve delivered two container loads at a time to a client with repeat business. We print quality in large and small quantities. Our minimum on press (ink on paper, not POD toner) is 1,000 hardcover, 1,000 board books, or 2,000 softcovers.
A manifest is created. Split shipping is no problem, but please tell us before the books print. We are printing the book’s information on the cartons, and making labels when shipping directly to Amazon, or your distributor.
But, before book shipping …
Before you have book shipping to your location, when they are ready to leave the warehouse, we send you five advance copies. Read about it at 5 Advance Copies.
