As technologies evolve and options increase, it’s getting more difficult to figure out exactly which printing (or rather, dissemination) method is best for your book. Having an expert on your side before you take this important step can make a world of difference.

There are presently three ways to get your book into the hands of consumers: Offset printing (ink on paper); digital printing and print-on-demand (ink or toner on paper); and e-books (nothing on paper). The best choice depends on how you sell books, who your target audience is, and how they (not  you) prefer to read.

(1) Offset Printing (ink on paper): this method offers the lowest unit price possible when manufacturing books. To achieve the savings though, it’s necessary to print 1,000 to 3,000 books and arrange for storage until they are sold. Once the only method of book printing, today this choice makes the most sense for anyone who knows they will sell a large quantity of books in about a year. (If your time frame is longer than that, the cost of storage and the time value of money begins to erode the savings.) For example, authors who sell books at the back of the room during presentations, authors who have signed up with a distributor, or authors who have a substantial number of pre-publication orders waiting will benefit most from offset printing. The quality of ink on paper printing (assuming you have chosen a competent printer) is excellent. There are virtually no limitations on the type of design that can be accurately reproduced using this method.

(2) Digital Printing and Print-on-Demand: Here’s where the terminology gets a little muddy. Digital printing can mean ink-on-paper printing in small quantities, or it can mean toner-on-paper printing in small or one-at-a-time quantities. Printers don’t often explain the difference, so it’s important to ask which method is represented on any quote you receive. Either way, these methods cost more per unit than offset printing, but the publisher can order books in smaller quantities or even one at a time as they are sold. If cash-conservation is your primary concern, these methods are worth considering. The ground is always shifting on price, but generally speaking, 500-700 digital books cost the same as 1,000 offset books, so once a steady stream of sales is established, another look at offset printing is warranted. The quality of toner-based digital books is almost indistinguishable from ink-on-paper books…if your book is the typical black and white interior with a color cover. Full color photo books are best printed with ink on paper. If you plan to print with toner, be sure your designer knows this up front. Solid black text will reproduce well, but large areas of  light-gray (such as sidebar boxes) may not print evenly and should be avoided if possible.

(3) E-books: You thought you were confused before? Well, join the club. The field of e-books is changing so rapidly that it’s difficult for everyone to keep up. With about a dozen file formats and just as many devices on the market (some that will be extinct in as little as 18 months), what should an author do? Don’t listen to the buzz…listen to your readers. At present, e-books are about 2.5% of all book sales, and this figure is expected to rise to 5% by 2014. A surprising statistic, given all the attention devoted to e-books. For this reason, it doesn’t make much sense to release a book ONLY in e-book format, no matter how much the perceived savings may be. No business that hopes to survive can lock out 95% of its potential market. One way to make your book available in all the e-book formats is to post  your title on Smashwords.com. They will convert your book to all of the common e-book formats for free and take a small commission on every book sold. Apple just signed an agreement with Smashwords to offer their books on the iPad, which is just icing on the cake. After all, it’s not very useful to have an e-book file without a sales outlet. Unfortunately, Smashwords doesn’t protect e-books. Their point of view is that DRM (digital rights management) reduces sales. This may be true, but if you’re concerned about piracy, then it may be better to work with e-book conversion services who can make sure your book is only readable to those who actually buy it.

Our advice: For most new self-publishers, the way forward is to keep abreast of new technology while remembering that old habits die hard. Most people still like to curl up on the sofa with a book, even if they do sometimes read on electronic devices when they are on the go. Releasing your book in print and e-formats will satisfy everyone. When your e-book begins to outsell  your print book,  you can always stop printing.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

Essentially, this means that anyone who publishes through Lightning Source can now make their books available for on-site printing at any Espresso outlet or kiosk. Here’s the full story:

http://www.lightningsource.com/NewsItem.aspx?id=CST122

And here’s a video of the machine at work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIq0VqF0MnA&feature=related

This could revolutionize book selling. It won’t help to make a publisher’s book better known…that task is, and has always will be, the responsibility of the publisher, but it will speed up the purchase process. Instead of asking a bookstore to special order a book, and waiting for it to arrive, and possibly changing their mind before it arrives, a customer will now be able to wait 5 minutes while the book is printed on-site, either in a store or at a kiosk.

Having had quite a bit of experience with typesetting systems and chemical processors, I know that running the Espresso machine won’t be as easy as they make it sound…at least not yet. Unlike brief product demonstrations at trade shows, in the real world there will be mechanical failures, paper jams, supply shortages and the like. Employees will be needed to take care of all of these things and also ensure quality control of the end product. Perhaps this means there won’t be cost savings at all, because it will take more than one technician to oversee  the necessary extended business hours at retail locations (days, nights, and weekends). Still, the EBM offers the opportunity to change book selling in dramatic ways.

Maybe in time the machines will increase in speed and efficiency to the point that we’ll be able to purchase books at a drive-thru window. Maybe, in time,  publishers will place orders on the web and direct the order to the EBM nearest the buyer, eliminating book storage and shipping altogether. Perhaps publisher websites will include a link for this purpose so that buyers can place the order themselves.

It should be fun to watch the competition between Espresso and Kindle, and see whether paper or electronic books win the day. Perhaps like radio and television before them, neither technology will win, and Espresso, Kindle and bookstores will happily coexist, offering ever greater choices for consumers.

It seems the book business will now change whether it wants to or not. Many of us, both inside and outside of the business, might say it’s about time.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Is your cover free of the Top 10 Cover Design Mistakes? Get a comprehensive 10-point evaluation  at http://covers.1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

As technologies evolve and options increase, it’s getting more complicated to figure out exactly which printing method is the best one for your book. Having an expert on your side before you take this important step can make a world of difference.

Each book printer will respond to a request for a quote in its own way, and it’s not always easy to compare apples to apples. Because printing companies are often overwhelmed with requests for quotes, it’s not uncommon for them to forget to include an item that you requested. When this happens, a quote can look less expensive, and you may not find out until it’s too late that the final product is not what you expected.

Then, there’s the issue of perceived experience. A printer will immediately determine your level of experience (or inexperience) on the first call. If you don’t know what questions to ask, you might fall prey to unscrupulous printers who don’t bother to explain the quality differences between toner-based printing and ink-on-paper printing, or the difference between adhesive case binding versus Smyth-sewn binding on hardcover books. These are just two of many possible examples.

At 1106 Design, we’ve rescued several clients at the last moment, when we found they had chosen the wrong printing method for their book. Not too long ago, we layed out a book filled with black and white photos. The client decided to find a printer on his own, rather than ask for our help. We recommended ink-on-paper printing, but just before the book went to press, we discovered he had chosen a toner-based printer.

Now, toner-based printing (often referred to as POD printing) is fine in many cases, especially for books that contain only text and for publishers who want to order a small number of books to test the market. But toner-based printing is not the recommended way to reproduce photos.

Oh, I know others will disagree, and some have written books on how to tweak the grayscale settings in Photoshop to get good results from toner on paper, but their arguments miss the point…or more precisely, they miss the dot…the “halftone” dot.

If you look at any photo in a newspaper or book under a magnifying glass, you’ll see they don’t consist of continuous gray tones, but rather a pattern of black dots called a halftone. These dots trick our eye into seeing gray tones, even though only black ink or toner is used to create them. The more dots in a given area, the darker the tone. The more halftone dots per inch, the greater the range of gray tones that can be reproduced, and the smoother the photo will appear.

Because toner must physically adhere to the surface of the paper, the size of the halftone screen used is usually around 100 dots per inch. With ink-on-paper printing, the ink soaks into the paper. It doesn’t have to stick, and so it’s possible to use much denser halftone screens, starting with 150 dots per inch and going all the way up to several hundred dots per inch for high-end art books.

We explained these issues to our client, who was still determined to find his own printer. The next time around, he did find a good offset (ink-on-paper) book manufacturer, but unfortunately, he worked through a printing broker. Had he worked with us from the beginning, he likely would have paid a lower price, and received the correct advice the first time.

In any business, it’s important to “know what you don’t know.”  It’s just good business, not a sign of weakness, to call on experts for support in areas where your own experience is just beginning to build.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

At a recent Arizona Book Publishing Association dinner, representatives from four offset book printers shared their knowledge of the printing process, offered the vendor’s perspective on choosing a book manufacturer, and emphasized the benefits of early communication with your printer.  The comments below are formatted as bullet points and are in no particular order, because there were four speakers. Here’s what they had to say:

• Planning your project upfront will prevent many production problems later on. To avoid delays and unplanned-for costs, your book should be designed with your printer’s requirements in mind. It’s much easier (and less expensive) to submit your job with the correct file formats, halftone adjustments, fonts, trim sizes, bleeds, and more than to ask your printer’s pre-press department to fix problems at the last moment and delay production.
• Printers consider it a major annoyance when they receive a quote request that is also sent to 50 other printers. It tells them right away that this quote is from a person new to the industry, who probably assumes that all printers are alike, and who will make a decision based on price alone. There are many variables from printer to printer on any job and even if you did get 50 responses—which you probably won’t—it would be impossible to compare them.
• Paper is one of your largest costs and it’s a good idea to choose one of the printer’s “house” stocks for greatest economy. Everyone should talk to their printing representative early and often to ensure a smooth book-printing experience.
• Regarding the “business” side of printing, the signed quote is a contract and it’s important to review and understand every detail of the agreement before signing up. For example, if your quote is based on “trouble-free” files, then you can expect extra charges if your files require intervention to print properly. No printer will begin a job without a signed bid. Hiring an experienced book designer is the best way to avoid problems on press.
• The brand of cover cloth you choose for a case-bound book can make a big difference in the price, so it’s important to pay attention to this detail on your quote. (Rainbow cloth vs. Arrestox B can result in a $1,000 difference on 2,000 books.)
• It’s  extremely important to review your printer’s proof very carefully. Every printer considers this proof the “bible,” and once you sign off on it, this is what you will get, even if you overlooked something or it’s the printer’s mistake.
• Turnaround time should be discussed with your printing representative well in advance of submitting your job. If you need books by a certain date, it is your responsibility to inform the printer so your job can be scheduled accordingly. You’ll pay extra for rush service.
• The issue of “overs and unders” is often misunderstood. A printing press cannot be “stopped on a dime” like a copier. About 5–10% more books than ordered must be printed to allow for “make-ready” on press and for spoilage in the bindery. If these “overs” are not spoiled, printers offer them to the customer at a discount price. “Unders” are deducted from your final invoice.
• It’s important to specify “residential” or “loading dock” delivery when you request a quote, as residential delivery costs more. Most book manufacturers negotiate large discounts with freight companies and don’t mark up this service, so you won’t save money by arranging for your own freight.
• Like any business, printers reserve their best prices and terms for repeat customers. Establishing a positive long-term relationship with your printer pays you back in dollars as well as in peace of mind.
• Book printers recommend that publishers work with an experienced book designer who understands the peculiarities of book design. Graphic designers who don’t have book design experience can create an “over-designed” book that can be costly and sometimes even impossible to print. Even though Word files can be converted to PDF and printed, Word does not compose type as well as a page layout program, so this is not the recommended way to go.
• So how do you “qualify” a book printer? The first step is to understand that book printing is a custom operation, not a commodity. Each book is unique and each book manufacturer is unique in terms of equipment, customer service and capabilities. It’s important to match the book with the manufacturer.
  Just as customers select vendors through the quoting process, printers select their customers through pricing. If you don’t know what you’re talking about when you request a quote, the printer will immediately know that you’re likely to be a “high maintenance” customer and will price the job accordingly. Working through an experienced book designer who speaks the language of printing will benefit you in the long run, because the printer knows he will receive correctly-prepared files.
• So how do you become a desirable customer? Do your homework before you ask for quotes. Rather than shotgun a quote to 50 printers you know nothing about, ask your peers who they recommend for book printing. Choose a few printers to research thoroughly. Ask for an equipment list to make sure your book fits their capabilities. Ask for references. Check with Dunn and Bradstreet to make sure the company is healthy. Visit the plant. Is it clean and organized? Meet with your Customer Service Representative, who is your advocate in the plant. Do you feel this person truly cares about your book?
• Once those tasks are completed, you should ask for a quote only from those printers who are qualified and who make you feel most comfortable. Knowing that the printer will “be there” for you throughout the process will give meaning to the numbers you receive. Following this procedure will also let your printer know that you are a serious customer, and every printer wants serious, repeat customers.
• After your book is printed, conduct an evaluation and discuss any problems that may have occurred with your representative to learn how they can be avoided in the future.
• Most of all, remember that all printers want to do a good job and want you to succeed, because your success is their success. Everyone should think of a printer representative as a “free consultant” who will gladly help you through the intricacies of the book manufacturing process.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design