Book Jacket – Standard Style Dust Jacket.
A book jacket is a loose paper wrapping for a hard case or perfect bound book. Also called a dust jacket, it has inside front cover and inside back cover flaps. The jacket and flaps usually contain promotional information. You may want to add a summary of the book on one flap. An author biography is often placed on the other flap.
A book jacket protects the cover of the book. It is folded around the cover. It is not glued down to the boards.
The jacket is printed on a commercial printing press, just as the text of a book is printed. Then, a lamination is applied to the jacket. The lamination can be gloss or matte, depending on the style of the book or the author’s preference. The cost is the same for either matte or gloss lamination.
Add embellishments to a Book Jacket for added value
Delivering a higher quality book to readers means that self-publishers can charge a higher retail price. Perhaps a dust jacket may cost the self-publisher and extra 15 cents or a dollar a book. It is important to not only consider the cost of the optional items, but also how much more a self-publisher can charge for a book.
Perhaps an item costs 15 cents per book more. But, you charge one dollar more per book. You can actually make 85 cents more per book in this scenario. The self-publisher or author has to decide if it is worth it. Will still stay competitively priced in the marketplace? Usually, it will, and the extra item adds value.
We can also add a spot varnish, spot UV, or even a silk UV printed over the lamination on the jacket. For instance, you can have just one image, an area or type (the title) stand out with a spot varnish. Spot varnish limits the area that is printed. A flood varnish covers the entire area. Jackets can also be embossed, having raised type. You can even add foil stamping in a variety of colors. We usually have both matte and gloss finishes for foils.
We provide an individualized book jacket template adjusted for your book
Sometimes self-publishers search for a template for book jackets. Book dimensions, spine width, page count, and paper thickness vary. That is why we cannot post a dust jacket template. But, you can prepare a preliminary file yourself in InDesign, as long as you are prepared to modify it before printing. Star Print Brokers will supply a specific template in millimeters, for the dust jacket style you choose.
Also see French Fold Jacket.
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