In 2021, hardcover book sales rose by 10.3%.
It’s a great time to be printing and publishing books. With the current rise in popularity of self-publishing, new authors have a better chance than ever to make their dreams happen.
But with self-publishing also comes the need to learn a lot of new things. One of those things being how to get a hardcover book printed.
Hardcover books are durable and present a higher quality finish than softcover books. But how are you supposed to know what needs to happen in order to print one?
In this post, we’ll go over exactly what you need to do when getting ready for hardcover book printing.
Keep reading to learn more.
How to Get Hardcover Books Printed
To get a hardcover book printed the first step is to handle any paperwork related to it. This will usually include purchasing an ISBN for the book and copyrighting the material, as well as finding a printing company.
Once that side of things is taken care of, you can move on to the design and formatting of the book.
Trim Size
The trim size of a book refers to the height and width of the pages. The choice you make for the trim size will impact the other aspects of the book significantly. If your pages are larger then they can fit more words, meaning fewer pages in total. It will also impact the design of the cover as well as the cost of printing.
The standard trim size for a hardcover book is between 6×9 inches and 8.5×11 inches.
Cover
Once you have chosen the trim size for your book you can work on a cover. While it’s possible to design your own cover, it’s best to hire a professional who will better know how different aspects will translate once printed.
There are specifications for the size and resolution of the image for your cover. These need to be met or it may appear blurry when printed.
The cover should match the content of your book, but it also needs to be eye-catching in some way. This is one of the biggest pieces of marketing you will have for your book since people truly do tend to judge a book by its cover.
Formatting
When you submit your work for book printing you will turn in two files, one for the cover image and one for the interior file, usually in the form of a PDF. Before you turn it in you need to be sure that this file meets the industry standards for things like font size and page layout.
You can also decide if you want any decorative pages, such as the first page of a chapter. Your formatting needs to be as close to perfect as possible for it to look how you want on the printed page.
Design
Finally, you will need to make decisions about the design of your book. This includes things such as what color interior paper you want, pure white or an off-white, do you want any design on the cover under the dust jacket, and do you want cloth binding.
Are You Ready to Print a Hardcover Book?
Hardcover printing is a great way to be sure that your books will be both durable and elegant-looking. There are a lot of choices to be made but once they are you will get to print and finally hold your hardcover book.
If you have a book that you’re ready to print, we can help! Request a quote today.
