Format Options for Your Book

Your book may not even look like a book!

Your choices start with paper or non-paper. Of all the non-paper options available today, including e-books and web publishing, CD-ROM and DVD give you the most versatile and the graphic way to present many types of technical or highly visual content for training or entertainment. Training and motivational materials are often presented in slides with video sergments and posted online for 24/7 availability online.

E-books or online books still haven't made much of a dent in the publishing world. Viewing a lot of text on screen is just too hard on the eyes except for the most highly motivated reader. We are happy to format and produce a book as an e-book or a web book at the author's request because the pre-publishing work of editing and design is essentially the same regardless of the final format, but in most cases we don't urge authors to choose purely electronic means for publishing a book.

Audio book

The fastest growing sector of publishing today is for audio books. You can make your new book or one that has already been published into an attractive, professionally produced audio book with only a small investment.

Depending on how diverse and important your readers are to you, you may wish to provide your book's content as a printed book as well as a CD or DVD, an online live or archived event, and an e-book. Each of these formats has associated benefits and challenges. Your publishing consultant should be able to help you make the best decision for your book's format.

Book options

Here are some options to consider if you choose to produce a book printed on paper. Griffith Publishing can assist you in producing your book in any of the above formats. Keep in mind, however, that probably 95 percent of books by self-publishing authors fall in the first category, below.

1. Paperback book with perfect binding and
eefull-color cover
2. Book with hard cover and full-color dust jacket
3. Short book or pamphlet with saddle stitching
ee(staples)
4. Book with plastic or metal spiral binding

Hard cover or paperback

The price of producing a hard cover book is $2 to $3 more per book than it is for a paperback book. A hard cover book can be bound with the paper cover glued or laminated to the cover. This technique is used with many textbooks and children's books and costs about the same as a hard cover book with a dust jacket. Hard cover binding is generally not available for fewer than 1,000 copies, and prices don't decline significantly until you can order 5,000 or more books.

Most book printers will not attempt to produce a "perfect" bound (square back) book that has fewer than 64 pages. This is because the book has to have sufficient bulk for "square-backed" binding and to provide a "spine" that is wide enough for the title and author's name.

Stapled books are not highly regarded by librarians and even less so by bookstore personnel because they do not have a spine with the title on it and do not stack or merge readily with the other books. The staples can loosen and cause minor damage as well.

Trim sizes and other choices

In the US most books are 5 x 7, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 6 x 9, 7 x 10, or 8 1/2 by 11 with the binding on the "tall" side. The category of books known as "trade" or "quality paperback" are almost always 5 1/2 x 8 1/2. Books bound on the "short" side are known as "oblong" books and cost about 10 percent more.

Other options include embossing, matte finish, textured cover, vellum overlays, rounded corners, die cutting, varnish, high-gloss, printing on colored paper, CD-ROM enclosure, and many more. Every option costs, so be sure it adds enough value to justify that additional expenditure. And get all of your prices in advance before you make your decision.