Rocks and Oil, The Memoirs of Paul L. Keyes was one of those type of projects. The project was spearheaded by Scott Damshroder, founder of the book design firm Big Ransom Studios in Georgetown, TX. Although we are both busy working on quite a few hot projects right now, when things simmer down, Scott has agreed to guest host a blog article providing some further in depth information on the origination and various aspects of this fine edition.

Producing projects like this requires an enormous amount of attention to detail and team work. Over a period of months, we worked together with designer, printer, our bindery and an outside specialty finisher to complete the final product.

Here’s a few shots of some of the production techniques deployed on this fine edition:

Front Cover of book with dust jacket applied

Front cover view of the burnished bonded leather
which was imported from Italy

Full view of the burnishing which covered back, front and spine of the hard cover

Closeup view of the detail and distinctive dimensionality created by the burnishing technique used

Printed world map end sheets used on front and back

6 page foldout spreads were interspersed into 6 locations in the text of the book

A white Head and Tail band was used to complement the beige tone of the Italian bonded leather

My hat’s off to Big Ransom Studios for such a fine job on the design, concept and production of this fine edition. Look for more details here from Scott in the near future in relation to this impressive production!

First off– is keep in mind my assumptions here are for SHORT RUN LENGTH Hard Cover Books that are typically digitally printed! If you are intending on producing a book in larger quantities on offset printing equipment, different assumptions may apply.

Here is the typical question I am normally asked:

What type of binding is most cost effective?

Cost effectiveness is surely one thing to consider, especially if you are selling your book. When choosing the most cost effective hard cover binding though, you also want to keep in mind that you want the binding to properly serve the expected usage. Pay close attention to how other books in the market you may be competing against are constructed. From a binder’s perspective, a lot of this decision here depends on the thickness of the book, and the paper style, along with the overall dimensions of the page size.

EVA (traditional hot-melt adhesive glue) Case Binding
This would represent generally the lowest cost method for a book which is between 1/4″ and 2.0″ thickness on uncoated paper stocks and between size ranges of 4 x 5″ up to 11.5″ x 11.5″ EVA hot melt adhesive is what is normally referred to as “perfect binding”.  We can use this method for hard cover binding and even though it is perhaps the lowest cost option, the percentage of books we do this method for is very small.

Reinforced Side Sewn Binding
Reinforced Side Sewn binding is produced by sewing through the SIDE of of a stack of single sheets or gathered signatures. This is ideal for thin hard cover books such as Children’s Books, Yearbooks and Photobooks. Maximum thickness for this method of binding is around 3/8″. Standard End sheet choices are White or Natural. Printed end sheets can be produced at additional cost.

Side Sewn Binding is an approved Library Binding method. As you can see in the picture at right, books are securely bound, but will not lay flat.

PUR Adhesive Case Binding

PUR tends to run about the same price range per book as a side sewn book, but will handle a thicker book block and a wide array of paper styles. Our PUR binding capability works from thickness of 4 mm up to 2.5″ thickness on sizes from 4 x 5″ to 12 x 12″

PUR stands for Poly-Urethane-Reactive. It is the strongest bookbinding adhesive on the market. PUR Adhesive has only been in bookbinding since about 1989, and the first test in North America was run with a homemade application system. Since its introduction, PUR use has increased dramatically. In 1995, there were reportedly 28 PUR users; by the end of 2002, this number had increased to more than 50 in North America. PUR is unique in that it will bond to lacquer and UV-cured coatings, films such as Mylar, as well as paper.PUR Binding, also known as POLY URETHANE REACTIVE differs from traditional Hot Melt Adhesive style of binding , which is typically based on EVA glue or (ethyl vinyl acetate). P.U.R. Binding exhibits considerably stronger adhesion with high gloss coated or synthetic papers. Any type of book requiring more rugged usage such as a student work book, yearbook, textbook, music book, etc. is a great candidate for PUR Binding.

Double Fan Adhesive Binding
This method is inherently more expensive per unit that EVA, Side Sewn or PUR methods due to it takes 3 operators on the machine vs only 1 or two for the other methods.
This method works best on uncoated paper stocks and is not advised for gloss or matt coated text or cover stocks. Using Double Fan Adhesive Binding (DFAB), we can bind books from 1/4″ thickness up to 2.88″ thickness. The pages of the book will lay open nicely on each and every spread of the book. This is often referred to as a “Smyth alternative” The advantage of a Double Fan Adhesive book is also the ability to produce a rounded spine, which is not possible with EVA, Side Sewn or PUR binding methods.

Unlike Perfect binding in which the book block is clamped against the binding edge and the spine passed over a glue roller that applies either an EVA or PUR hot melt, in the Double-Fan Adhesive Binding process, a specially formulated cold emulsion Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA) adhesive is applied between the pages while fan-gluing each individual sheet – first one side, then the other – to provide extra strength and greater durability. Also, unlike perfect bound books,stresses are distributed over a wider surface area penetrated by adhesive. There are no stresses produced when the adhesive joint is flexed because the adhesive is no more rigid than the adherand. Failure of most paper will usually occur before failure of bond.

Double fan method uses PVA (Polyvinyl Acetate) – a flexible, white glue, used for double fan adhesive binding and for case making. PVA is approved by the Library Binding Institute (LBI) as a certified Library Binding adhesive. Works best with uncoated papers or publication grade lighter weight coated magazine stock.

This method of binding is very widely used for genealogy/family history style books and higher quality biographies and editions with a rounded spine.

Smyth Sewn
Smyth Sewn is considered the upper tier of quality and craftsmanship, yet is not as widely used in short run length digital printing due to the production technicalities I describe below. Smyth sewn books take longer to produce and from a cost per unit standpoint will be one of the more expensive options, and often cost prohibitive if done in smaller quantity print runs.

With Smyth sewn binding, the thread is driven “through the fold” of a 16 page signature. As you can see in the photo above, Smyth sewn books lay flat very nicely and are widely used for coffee table style art and children’s books. When a press run is in higher (offset) quantity, publishers and book manufacturers look to this method as their first choice. An offset press with a 40″ width can deliver 8.5 x 11″ size 16 page signatures. When using digital printing, Smyth Sewing will usually not be the first choice because digital presses are better for delivering single sheet collated book blocks rather than signatures. Some extra collation work is required to “nest” 4 page signatures into 16 page signatures required for Smyth sewing. There are different types of Smyth sewn machines – from manual, to semi- automatic and fully automated. Our Smyth Sewn machine is a semi-automatic style, which is good for shorter run lengths

Oversewing
Oversewing represents a final possible choice and is one of the most labor intensive methods, taking a very long time to produce a book vs some of our other methods above. Here is a link showing some further information on our oversewing of books and technical details: CLICK HERE.

Although this is one of the more oldest fashioned methods of book binding we produce, Oversewing is still requested amongst publishers of genealogies, family histories, scientific lab books and some comic book collectors we do special binding for. It is a very durable binding, using thread in a similar fashion to side sewing but can accommodate books which are thicker than .375″ and on up to about 2.5″ thickness. This method of binding also does allow us to produce a rounded spine edge if requested.

That’s it for this week’s post. Hope you have found this information to be helpful. If you have read through all the way to this point, you are both a saint and a hero! In my next post here, I will discuss Cover Material Options and the scale of reasonable options from lowest cost up to most expensive choices. As always, your questions and comments are welcome.

(C) Copyright 2013 Martin Pugh All Rights Reserved
Edition Binding/Book Production Guidelines Part 1: Binding Options

An assortment of books pictured here both by self publishers and various traditional publishers

Self publishing is such a hot topic of discussion these days, that if you follow headlines in social media, it starts to become a bit overwhelming.The number of self-published books produced annually in the U.S. has nearly tripled, growing 287 percent since 2006, and now tallies more than 235,000 print and “e” titles, according to a new analysis of data from Bowker® Books In Print and Bowker® Identifier Services

Is it all so easy? Is it always profitable? Is it a better deal to self publish than go the traditional route of seeking a contract through a book publisher? (My answers in order are not too hard, definitely not and it depends….)

Mary Beth Smith of Alphagraphics invited me to be part of a self publishing workshop last month in Dallas. They had a great turnout and the program was really well planned. One of the stand out take-aways I can recall she spoke about was the first question you should ask yourself when deciding whether or not to self publish your work:

“Are you going to sell your book?”
This is the crucial question to determining the production elements, the overall book design, the potential print run and how you will go about promoting the book. After all, if you are not going to worry about selling your book, then perhaps you don’t need to worry about spending too much on the editing and design of the book…..certainly you won’t need to get an ISBN # if you are just passing out a few copies of your memoirs to friends and family. But if you want to go beyond that, there are many things you need to carefully consider.

“Self Publishing” does not always mean going about it all by your self. There are many good “coaches” and author service type companies out there that can guide you through the maze of a book production while still allowing you to retain all rights to your book.

I had another meeting the following week after Dallas with a new publisher in Minnesota who works with authors, writers and self publishers in areas ranging from traditional book publishing to interactive media. According to some of the statistics he quoted: only 8% of self published books sell more than 100 copies within one year of publication and only 3% of self published books sell more than 50 copies more than that after over one year of publication. So in other words, only a very small percentage of self published books are commercially successful to any great degree. He also mentioned that 81% of the entire population feels as they have a book inside them and a very large percentage of them will act upon this through the attempt of self publishing. As he mentions, these days–it is pretty easy to get a book printed, but it is much harder to sell it!

As to traditional book publishing it’s no easy game either: statistics show that of all the titles published annually by the established commercial publishers, only about three out of ten are financial successes.

Having been in the business for awhile, I have had the opportunity to see the gamut: Bestseller success for a few titles, moderate sales for many and dismal failures for many others. Here’s a few of the trends I have seen among the best ones:

* Successful book projects have a well mapped out plan for editing, design and promotion- all in advance of any work being done. Whether this involves one person or an entire publishing team–the plan is key. You have likely heard the phrase: …..“Failing to plan is planning to fail”
* Editing, cover and interior book design as well as indexing are very important and should be budgeted for and proper time allotted. Don’t leave these tasks to amateurs if you don’t have the skill set your self.
* When planning the marketing and promotion of the book, ask the printer/binder to see if they can produce an advance sample so that you can weigh the book. It’s very important to know (in advance) how you will ship individual copies and if by changing the size of the book ever so slightly, will it save production and/or shipping costs?
* A successful book project usually has a very clearly defined target audience. Books that don’t have that- or try to cover too many topics within one book, usually suffer. The title of the book should clearly convey this.

While many self published books are produced as inexpensively as possible, in a soft cover format, there are certain genres where a hardcover book is an excellent choice. Children’s books, coffee table books, memoirs and historicals, scientific and medical reference books to name a few. I have worked on many a self published title in these genres for our customers and always welcome the chance to be of assistance should you have any questions in advance of your production. Working a project backwards through the bindery production aspects first can often filter out potentially hazardous choices you would make and we can correct them before occurring. Spending some time in advance discussions with designers and printers is always useful.

That’s all for this week’s post. Hope you have found this information helpful. If you are going to self publish, chances are no one will be able to talk you out of doing it! Just use some of the information in this post to approach the project with your eyes wide open. My next post is going to cover a few of the ways you can make wise production choices to keep your unit cost of book production within reason.

Some related posts you might find useful:
Tips for Self Publishers Choosing a Book Designer
Book Designer Spotlight: Abbate Design
The Importance of Indexing Your Book by Nancy Humphreys

(C) Copyright 2013 Martin Pugh All Rights Reserved
Martin Pugh | 1-800-869-0420 | mpugh@houchenbindery.com

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Because of the wonderful response to the project, Eric has upped the ante with a specially designed clamshell case for donors of $200.00 or more. The hand crafted clamshell case will be covered in the same Black Eurobond Flanders leather as the bound book itself.

Here’s a glimpse at a photoshop prototype provided by the craftsman who will be hand producing these exquisite clamshells.

The Toy Maker’s Magnum Opus Act 1 photo mock up of the custom made clamshell case

Please check out this Kickstarter project here, while there is still time to get in on what truly will be a very special collectors edition!

Do you have an idea for a book production and want to launch a Kickstarter campaign? Let me know how we can help be of assistance with the production aspects of the project!

Last month, Houchen Bindery Ltd. was visited by Emily Nohr and staff from the Omaha World Herald. She runs a regular in depth article called Made in the Midlands, and had a very nice feature on our company.

Read the article here.

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]]> http://editionbinding.com/houchen-bindery-ltd-featured-in-the-news/feed/ 0 http://editionbinding.com/march-is-small-press-month/ http://editionbinding.com/march-is-small-press-month/#comments Sat, 02 Mar 2013 07:27:19 +0000 http://editionbinding.com/?p=2062 I was aware in the past 12-13 years, March was typically dedicated in certain literary circles as SMALL PRESS MONTH. I went to check out www.smallpress.org only to find out it appears to have been overtaken by a Chinese website I could not decipher. Oops…Ni Hao Ma! (that’s “Hello” in Chinese). I also follow www.goodreads.com where Sarah Johnson mentions it appears to have lost funding or interest, nevertheless she will forge on with spotlights throughout the month on Small Press topics.

A Small Press by definition could possibly be a self publishing company, a “micro-publisher” or just a publishing company that does not produce titles in large volumes, but more so for a niche audience. Some of the famous small press’s have a very large backlist of titles in print.

We get to see several of these types of projects at Houchen BIndery Ltd. where our focus is on short run length, hardcover and soft cover book binding. While I appreciate receiving direct calls from independent authors wanting us to work with them, we are truly focus on providing the tail end of the book production service–binding. So I often find myself in need of referring these folks to the services of a freelance book designer, and editor, indexer, or printers. who can assist them in the areas of book development that they may need help with. Here’s a previous blog article about some of the freelance designers I network with.

It all seems appropriate as I head down to Dallas on March 6th to participate in a workshop on Self Publishing hosted by Mary Beth Smith of Alphagraphics. Alphagraphics of North Dallas/Park Cities is making a conscious marketing effort into the area of Self Publishing down in it’s local market, and I see that it is a good fit and a growth market. They are providing individual authors consultation services from design through production and marketing support. I look forward to being part of their workshop. Mary Beth has a widespread following through her LinkedIN organization “Girls Who Print”, but is also blogging now at dallaspublishingblogspot.com.

In our own backyard, another firm called Concierge Marketing in Omaha NE, is run by Lisa Pelto. Lisa and staff have for many years now been working with independent authors and micro-publishers providing a variety of services ranging from business planning, book design, production services all the way through book marketing and fulfillment. Do-it-yourself publishing can be daunting. Rather than being left high and dry on the digital desert by going it alone, the services she provides can be enormously important to the success of your project. I have worked with Lisa on a few projects and can vouch for the value of their service. Check out her blog where she is writing an article every day this month related to Independent Author/Small Press topics. I have also invited Lisa to guest blog here and am hopeful you will be seeing something from her here soon.

Another area of focus for me this year is in networking with individuals and groups that want to produce a project through a KickStarter campaign. I spoke about one such project 2 posts ago, and as of today Eric Gross of The Hands On Workshop’s: Toy Maker’s Magnum Opus Act One is now as of tonight, 62% funded with 4 weeks left to go. I look forward to working with many other projects in the coming months. I have a few other “friends in the business” who will be funneling projects our way to help work with on the finishing/binding aspects of their projects. As I wrote about previously, a KickStarter campaign can be a great way to fund a project while limiting your risk of investment. I have seen that successful campaigns are usually those for people who already have a good following and well executed plan. Don’t expect to come out of nowhere and get funded. In Eric’s case, he has been working on this significant series for many years, developed a strong following and the KickStart is more or less the icing on the cake to help complete a phenomenal project. Parts 2 and 3 of his grand undertaking will be following shortly thereafter.

As a book binder, when I am out on the factory floor, it hardly feels like we are at the tail end of a project that may have taken years to culminate. It feels like like we are right in the middle of the action! But I do know that we are but a small (but extremely important) part of a long chain that needs to communicate clearly all the way across to ensure success. So no matter what part of the book publishing process you may be involved with, feel free to pick up the phone and give me a call. I welcome the opportunity to be part of your success.

Get My FREE E-BOOK on BOOKBINDING!
Would you like to know more about the various techniques we use to bind books? I created this e-guide to help educate new and existing customers on our procedures. If you would like to receive a Free copy of my E-Book on bookbinding, please email me at: mpugh@houchenbindery.com. Martin Pugh 1-800-869-0420

I asked Mary Beth to provide a little bit about the work shop. Her comments are here:

Mary Beth Smith

For over 20 years, our AlphaGraphics center in Dallas has been working with customers who want to self-publish books. The books our customers write and publish cover a wide range of genre and topics. We’ve published everything from small saddle stitch booklets to leather-bound textbooks. Over the last 5 years, we’ve seen such a surge in interest that we broadened our services to include design, layout, marketing, e-books, specialty binding, promotions, websites, online ordering and distribution.
We decided to focus on this as a specialty when we began hearing from customers who had suffered painful experiences attempting to self-publish with online companies. We were pretty surprised to see how much money people were charged, yet still had no books to sell. We knew we had a better approach, since our pricing structure is based on actually helping authors have books they can sell at a profit. While we know their books are important to them, we consciously choose to focus on the practical side of treating their writing aspirations as a business. We want them to be successful, and we know it won’t happen without some businesslike approaches.
We find that people appreciate our localized approach. They’re able to come in and talk with us. Being able to see hard copy proofs, evaluate the stock, and make revisions really matters when it’s YOUR book that we’re going to print. We’ve developed strong relationships with supporting resources in order to support whatever goals the author has for the book. It seems to be paying off, because we get referrals from every book we complete, and they workshop sold out in two days. I was able to upgrade our space, and opened up 20 more seats, but they’re going to go fast! I’ll be updating readers on the speakers and topics on a blog I’ve set up: DallasPublishing.blogspot.com

By the way…there are still a few seats left for our
FREE self-publishing workshop on March 6.
Click HERE to go to the online registration form.

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Well last night I caught up with Eric Gross of The Hands On Workshop and he sent me links to his new KickStarter campaign: The Toy Maker’s Magnum Opus ~ Act 1. This is one of those type of projects I was referring to in last week’s article. Compelling production value galore in this project! Here is a glimpse at a few of the production techniques that will be used on the edition. I notice since last night, they are already 20% funded. I will be making my own contribution to this one right away. There are several levels of sponsorship.

The Toy Maker’s Magnum Opus ~Act 1

2 closeup views of the scalloped edge end sheets being used on this fine edition

Please click on the photos or links above here that will take to the full story on this Kickstarter Campaign. Your contribution to this project can help make this project become a reality. I know for certain that both the Artist and the Bindery will smile upon you if you do!

“The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory.”
-Aldo Gucci

Long ago, most forms of book printing became commodotized.
I went through what I call the McDonaldization of the industry in the 90′s and I don’t care for it now any more than I did then. Quality became a non issue, (everyone had good quality), price became a bartering chip and delivery was whatever the buyer demanded. Profit margins diminished to nothing and that is not good for the book printing business. Finding profitable niches in the book printing business today is more critical than ever before. If a printer is merely giving away press time to keep from laying off employees and keeping the lights on, and if no one is making enough profit to re-invest and allow for upgrades, it becomes a downward spiral. With gross profit margins in 1 color book printing evaporating to a state of non-existence, some companies are now finding potential promise in producing short-run length, digitally printed 4 color interior books, and other more compelling offerings.

I recently met with a very sharp executive of a major printing conglomerate who shared with me his take on how to find areas of industry where value added pricing could be achieved. “Look for areas with a high amount of fear surrounding the guarantee of delivery for a certain product”, he explained. The higher the Fear (Risk), the more potential value can be added to the price of the product or service. He was most certainly right. His company has developed some unique strategies of this type in some specialized markets, and is doing so in the publishing field now too. He was quite bullish on the future of print.

If you stop to think about it, there are many niches for this type of printing service in industries such as healthcare, financial industries, corporate annual reports, newspaper ad inserts, election ballets, and the list goes on.

A linen finish Book Cloth adds a distinctive feel as you hold this book in your hands

How about for books and self publishing?
Some time sensitive and emotion driven examples could include: short run length funeral books, wedding books, graduation books, a book coinciding with the retirement of a key company executive, just to name a few. How about photobooks made on site at events like X Games competitions, a vacation cruise or rock concerts? Wouldn’t you pay a little something extra to capture that memory at that moment? There is your chance for adding the extra value that no one will complain about!

Black Silk Moire end sheets

But to avoid the commoditization of the appearance of the book, you also need to work with a qualified book binder. Welcome to my world! Want to add some value to the sale of your book binding project? Throw a little luxury into your look with a fine book cloth or leather. Exotic cover options coupled with special end papers, head and tail bands, debossing and mounted photos, foil stamping, ribbon markers and elastic bands and now we’re talking! Those are the types of techniques that make a product memorable, compelling and valued. A friend of mine in the UK calls it “the compelling, tangible feel of luxury print”. I love that phrase.

full color printed end sheets for a fine art coffee table edition

Let’s take the time to do something memorable!
Let’s face it, there is a huge difference between a photobook you’ll get from Walgreens, produced in one hour vs. a well crafted cloth or leather bound book given the special attention it deserves through some of the companies we produce books for. There is high value in the latter and nothing but a short lifespan followed by quick death in a trash can for the former. Sure, those 1 hour photobooks may be time sensitive to a point, but having them done more nicely has some value doesn’t it?

Debossed cover with tip on photo over Luminaire Cloth

Handmade paper used to make the end sheets of this fine edition book of poetry

So when people tell you (as a printer), your price is too high. I’d beg the question of their choice for shoes, their clothes, what they drive, where they live, their life partner and so on. We don’t always go for the cheap for those things…so why does it have to be this way for Print? I would say that more often than not, it is because the printer did not offer enough of a reason to choose on anything other than price!

Would you like my free E-Book on Bookbinding?
Who is this for?
Printing companies, book publishers, book designers, photobook companies, yearbook producers, photographers, photo labs, societies and organizations producing genealogy & family history books, anyone involved in related print finishing or print project management fields, libraries and schools involved in need of book binding services. This is a free (.pdf format) e-book, no strings attached, no secret booby prize or surveys. Send me your full name, company, telephone and email, put “Send me the Free E-BOOK” in the subject line and I will forward you a copy as soon as I possibly can.

I will not pester or SPAM you or share your name with any other company. I will from time to time update this manual and as I do so I will email you with updates. You can opt out at any time if you no longer wish to receive an occasional update. If you ever have questions or care to talk about books and bookbinding…well I’m here for you. I’ll be happy to be your guide!

Email me here: mpugh@houchenbindery.com

If this topic was of interest, you might also want to check out this:

“How To Stop Print Buyers Choosing On Price”
By Matthew Parker

Advantage 9
Advantage is an acrylic-coated paper that combines strength and moisture resistance with a kid leather embossed surface that decorates beautifully.

Adv.9 880 Cranberry

Adv.9 885 Maroon

Adv. 9 840 Hunter

Adv.9 870 Navy

Adv.9 865 Sapphire

Adv.9 815 Chocolate

Adv.9 899 Black

Adv.9 Black Matte 800

Verona Cloth
Verona Cloths are a Rayon book cloth which is the standard of excellence in Europe. With its paper backing, bright vibrant colors and natural fabric appearance, Verona is an excellent choice.

Lemon Appeal 516

Coal Black 599

Orange Blast 509

Ablaze 680

Summer Pool 566

Blue Jay 519

Lime Explosion 517

Plum 513

Smoke-645

Gun Metal 543

Bisque 504

White-601

Oatmeal-624

Leather Choices
The high quality Bonded leathers are manufactured to a consistent thickness for ease of use in the bindery. Their rich, elegant look that make them the ideal cover choice for wedding albums and photobooks and more!

Black 205

Brown 204

Burgundy 201

Forest 202

Navy 203

Luminaire
Finely woven cloth with a pearlized finish, Luminaire adds a sophisticated elegance to any project. Perfect for luxury packaging, yearbooks, special editions, menus, binders or any project craving a unique sophistication.

Luminaire 42602 Parrot Blue

Luminaire 31202 Champagne

Luminaire 15004 Pearl Drop

Luminaire 14551 Mink Coat

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