Authors spend a great deal of time and energy writing their books, but for many self-published authors, the final hurdle (designing and printing your book) can be an afterthought…and an overwhelming one.
Most self-published authors opt for an e-book, allowing them to bridge the gap between the would-be author and the self-published reality. however, with physical book sales still far outpacing e-books, authors who print their books will enjoy a significant advantage over their digital competitors.
You are reading: How to print your own books
There’s no need to be nervous about turning your manuscript into a physical book. With a few tips from print designer grace fussell, creative director of indesignskills.com, you can get your book ready for professional printing and have store-ready copies of your book in no time.
let’s print!
This guide on how to print your book contains:
- find the perfect match for your pod
- use a local print specialist
- consider using a designer
- choose a size make it right
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- compose the inside pages before designing your cover
- know your cover options
- ask for paper samples
- ask your printer for the (correct!) width of the spine
- consider quantity and cost per unit
- request a proof
- a quick way to design professional books
psst… indesignskills has just released the Self-Publishing Starter Kit, which aims to help self-publishers create their own professional standard print books. The pack includes a variety of Adobe InDesign book templates for covers and inside pages, in a variety of standard sizes and with seven stylish cover options.
The Self-Publishing Starter Kit also comes complete with instructions for exporting your book as a reflowable or fixed-layout epub (electronic book), ready for upload to retailers such as the apple store, kindle store, kobo and google play.
Save 20% on the kit with promo code selfpublish20. simply enter your code at checkout.
tip 1: find your perfect pod (print on demand)
Print on demand (POD) has revolutionised the book industry, with digital technology enabling printers to offer smaller batches of copies at a lower price point. This has been particularly beneficial for ambitious self-publishers, who are able to take advantage of better-value printing.
The quality of capsule books is generally excellent and improving all the time – most of the books you see in stores have been printed using digital printing rather than traditional lithographic printing.
Nowadays, you can find a growing range of companies online that offer pod services for authors. lulu, blurb, and bookbaby offer easy-to-use book printing services and provide design templates for covers and inside pages.
tip 2: use a local printing specialist
While online POD services are low-cost and easy to use, first-time authors can benefit from the reassurance and expertise of a one-on-one service. A local print specialist can offer you a more personalised printing experience, able to offer advice, paper samples (see Tip 7, below) and discuss your needs in person.
There are many friendly local printers who would love to talk about your project and share their recommendations. They will also be able to advise you on suitable paper and provide proof copies (which are usually free) for you to review together with them.
Printers can also provide technical assistance, helping you get your art files ready for printing. if you’re not sure about something, don’t be afraid to ask; More often than not, your friendly neighborhood printer will be more than happy to share his or her expertise, helping you achieve the best result for your book.
Some printers don’t offer book printing services, so google for local book printing or binding specialists.
tip 3: consider hiring a designer
Think about a big publishing house and the departments within it. Editors, marketers, designers and distributors all have their own specialist roles. Self-publishers can quickly find themselves bogged down in trying to balance all of these roles at once, and the quality of your print book can suffer as a result.
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Admitting that you need a little help from an expert in some areas is not defeatist; it can help you focus on the things you’re best at and feel most confident with (for example, writing and editing your book!).
A graphic designer with a background in editorial design can help you bring your ideas about cover design, typography, and color palettes to life, while also bringing a fresh look and your own design expertise to the table.
Alternatively, if you have access to Adobe InDesign, you can achieve professional results using a pre-built template, without the hefty designer fees. try indesignskills self-publish starter kit for the discounted price of $39.99 with coupon code selfpublish20 and get store-quality design for the cover and pages insides of your book quickly and easily.
tip 4: choose a size that is suitable
Printed books come in a vast variety of sizes, but there are still widely used ‘standard’ sizes that are chosen by publishers for several reasons. Firstly, books that are roughly the same size are easier to store, transport and stack on bookshelves in-store. Book genres and categories often have their own preferred sizes, which are recognised as appropriate by the target audience.
for example, a small paperback book size (4.25 x 6.87 inches) is perfect for airport fiction. it fits perfectly in a back pocket and is cheap to print and buy. Hardcover books, which are more expensive to print, tend to be larger than paperbacks and are often displayed face-forward on store shelves. the large size is used so readers can recognize the book as premium fiction, and hardcovers often feature particularly eye-catching cover designs to maximize their display potential.
When it comes to choosing the right size for your own book, it pays to do your research. look for examples of other books that are similar to yours in terms of category (fiction or non-fiction) and genre (thriller, sports biography, etc.) and pull out the ruler. the chosen book is likely to match one of a limited number of standard sizes. discover the complete list of standard sizes here.
if you’re using a pod or printing service, they can also help you find the perfect size, with many sites recommending commonly used sizes, such as digest or trade, at the beginning of the process.
tip 5: write the inside pages before designing your cover
Designing the perfect cover for your book is one of the most exciting parts of the self-publishing journey, but while you may be brimming with creative ideas, it’s always best to start with the design of the inside pages first. Why? The number of pages inside your book will dictate the width of the spine, and you’re unlikely to know the final page count until the book has been typeset.
While this doesn’t stop you from coming up with ideas for your cover, it’s helpful to know if you’ll be designing with a narrow or wide spine in mind, which can affect the feel of a cover design. You’ll also need to know the exact width of the spine (see Tip 8 below) before finalizing your cover design.
Another reason to write the inside pages first? typesetting pages can be time-consuming (which is why it’s always helpful to know a professional designer or typographer). You’ll need time to make decisions about fonts, the size of your type, the width of your margins, as well as chapters and sections.
once your inner pages are ready, you should also contact an editor (or a diligent friend) to have them read the composed pages, looking for any errors in spelling, chapter and page numbering, or any missing instances of italics or bold. text.
tip 6: know your coverage options
Once you have your inside pages typeset and ready, you can start to think about pulling together a cover design for your book. You might have a strong idea in mind of a concept, or perhaps you’re grappling with a number of different ideas. In need of inspiration? The Book Cover Archive is a fantastic resource of beautiful book cover designs.
If design isn’t your strong point, a specialist graphic designer or book cover designer can help you brainstorm your ideas, as well as provide a professional approach to typography, image choice and palette. of its cover.
The format of your cover, i.e. is it softcover (paperback)or hardcover (hardcover), will inform the overall appearance of the design, so Think carefully about the ideal cover look you’d like to achieve and consider whether a paperback or hardcover format will be a better fit.
Paperbacks are cheaper to print and can have the same style as more expensive hardcovers, but the cover design will need to be more impactful and bold to attract attention. The spine design of a paperback can be surprisingly important, as they are often stacked out on store shelves, so consider how you can maximize color, type, or graphics in this small area.
While hard covers are more expensive to print, which traditionally puts them beyond the budgets of many self-publishers, more pod services now offer these types of covers at a lower price per unit. Keep in mind that the expense can increase even more if you opt for a separate dust jacket, which wraps around the entire cover and includes flaps that tuck inside the front and back cover. however, some self-published authors will find that the visual impact of a luxurious hardcover is well worth the added cost.
tip 7: ask for paper samples
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Print designers can get pretty nerdy about paper. While authors don’t need to become paper geeks overnight, it’s important to have at least some idea about the type of paper you’d like to use in your print book.
The two key things to know are that paper is available in different weights (measured in gsm, grams per square meter) and can be coated or uncoated.
The weight of the paper will affect the feel of your book’s pages (anything too thin will feel cheap and flimsy). uncoated paper has a more natural finish, while coated paper comes in a variety of finishes, such as matte, semi-gloss, gloss, or pearl. Heavier, coated papers are typically used for printing covers and dust jackets, and while gloss coats can make colors appear sharper and more vivid, matte coats can give covers a more contemporary look.
With so many paper options, it’s almost impossible to make a decision without seeing and touching the samples. your print provider will be happy to provide paper samples on request… so don’t hesitate to ask.
tip 8: ask your printer for the (correct!) width of the spine
There are plenty of spine calculators available online which take the page count and approximate paper weight of your inside pages into account to generate a spine width. While these are useful for giving you a rough idea of the width of your book’s spine, they shouldn’t be used for your final calculation.
once you’ve written the inside pages and decided on the type of paper you’ll use for the press run, ask your printer to provide you with the correct spine width. the printer always knows best.
Now you can set your cover design to the correct spine width, safe in the knowledge that there will be no unexpected hiccups after printing.
tip 9: consider quantity and cost per unit
We’ve already touched on the fact that POD (print on demand) services are increasingly offering great value and quality for self-publishers, but even online POD sites will usually offer a cheaper cost-per-unit for larger print runs. For example, Lulu offers a lower cost-per-unit for bulk orders (which they quantify as 100 copies). IngramSpark and Blurb also offer discounts on higher-volume orders.
Printers generally prefer bulk orders because this means they can charge for more copies and still set up only one print run. so if you think you might consider printing a few more copies to save more overall, it’s worth asking your printer about their quantity levels.
tip 10: request a test
You’ve checked (and double-checked, triple-checked…) the PDFs for your inside pages and cover, you’ve sent the files to the printer and you’re feeling ready to get this book finally printed!
wait. There’s nothing more disheartening than getting a box of books delivered to your door, only to discover there’s a now-very-obvious misspelling in the blurb or the color of the cover doesn’t look right.
always, always, always request a proof of your book. this preprint copy is usually provided free of charge, and from it you can assess the technical quality of the print, as well as look for any typos you may have missed.
If something isn’t right on the first test, don’t be afraid to ask for a second one. this is his book, the result of months, if not years, of hard work. once you are completely satisfied with the proof copy, sign it and give the printer the go-ahead.
Now you can sit back, enjoy a well-deserved rest, and wait for your beautiful printed books to be delivered!
a quick way to design professional books
Self-published authors don’t benefit from the luxury of in-house design departments, but that doesn’t mean a self-published book can’t look as professional as one produced by a publisher. With the goal of bridging the gap between desktop publishing and professional book design, the team at indesignskills created the Desktop Publishing Starter Kit.
Drawing on her decade of editorial design experience, lead designer grace fussell has created a set of indesign templates that enable self-publishers to create the book design of their dreams.
exclusive to desktop publishing school, you can download the kit at the discounted price of $39.99. save 20% on the kit today with promo code selfpublish20. simply enter your code at checkout.
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