Anyone can be a book publisher today.A great many desktop publishers

actually do generate books they willwish to have bound. A review of oursales for 1996 showed that some 30% ofsales were made to independent pub-lishers, not library customers. This didnot happen by accident. We have takena strong marketing approach to attractsuch new business. When dealing witha first time publisher, we have learnedthat a good deal of flexibility, patience,and the development of retail salesskills are necessary.

Book production is a very technicalbusiness. Most of the general publichas little knowledge of what isrequired to produce a book purchasedat the local bookstore. Few have anyknowledge of book design or wouldgrasp that there may be a vast differ-ence between the concept of cameraready copy and copy that is ready toprint. Fewer still have any idea of howdecisions they make about printingwill affect various binding options.

If, by lucky accident, a new, inde-pendent publisher should find some-one with enough time and book designknowledge to help them achieve theirgoals they are very fortunate. If not,they may make any number of costlymistakes.

Having been involved in the busi-ness of bookbinding for some 30 years Ifeel just barely confident enough tooffer some rudimentary advice aboutbook design and book structure to abeginner. The first bit of advice I offer isthat I wont have all the answers foryou. The information I am offering isgleaned from practical experience andis geared toward desktop publisherswho are seeking hardcover bindingsolutions. It is advice that is often given

over the phone or in person to some-one inquiring about our bookbindingservice by asking the broad question,How much does it cost to bind abook? or Can you bind this disk?

The questions most often asked fallinto three main categories.

Paper Printing formats Binding

PAPERThe paper chosen for any printing

project may be the most crucial deci-sion to make. Decisions about paperwill not only affect the printing but willaffect how a book may be bound.Because of this, there is a heavy con-centration on the subject.

Handmade PaperPrior to 1830, all paper was made

by hand from plant fiber such as cot-ton, linen, flax, straw, hemp, or kozo.Plant fibers were torn or, if in the formof rags, cut up. These shreds are thenbeaten into pulp fibers and placed intoa vat of water allowing the fibers tofloat to the surface. A screen that iswoven tightly enough to catch pulpfibers but open enough to allow waterto escape is dipped into the vat. As thescreen is raised the fibers trapped ontop formed the sheet of paper.

In hand papermaking, the size ofthe screen is determined by the size ofthe sheet needed for any particularpapermaking project and the strengthof the papermaker to lift the screenfrom the water. Hand papermaking ishard, laborious work with very littlemechanical assistance. As such, one ofthe beauties of handmade paper is thatthere is no discernible, machine-made,grain direction to its fibers.

Machine Made PaperThe demand for paper, even today

remains unsatisfied. In the early 1800spaper was in very short supply.Machinery for making paper wasdeveloped to satisfy growing demand.The most successful and prolific ofthese machines is known as theFoudrinier papermaking machine. TheFourdrinier is a great, long, ponderous,steaming piece of machinery that DardHunter once described as dragonlike. Fourdriniers are capable of pro-ducing continuous streams of paper,over 300 inches wide, at more than2000 feet a minute!

As the still liquid paper is spit fromthe Fourdrinier machine in one forcefuldirection, the pulp fibers line up paral-lel to each other in the long directionthey are being driven, much like waterdroplets streaming from a garden hose.

As paper comes off a Fourdriniermachine, it travels through a series ofboth horizontal and vertical rollers. It isstretched, dried and rewound. It is thencolored and coated with agents such asclay, chalk, caesin, and various resins.Finally, it travels to a calendar or finish-ing machine that puts artificial texturesinto the paper.

Common Book Paper ClassificationsIn general, paper used for books

comes in either text weight or coverweight. Text weight paper (used for theprinted pages of the text) comes in fourmain weights: 50-pound, 60-pound, 70-pound, and 80-pound.

Cover weight paper (used for print-ing paperback book covers, magazinecovers, etc.) is approximately threetimes thicker or heavier than textweight paper of the same poundage.

FROM A BINDERS POINT OF VIEW:SOME ADVICE FOR INDEPENDENT, DESKTOP PUBLISHERSGregor R. Campbell : : Campbell-Logan Bindery : : Minneapolis

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Standard cover weight paper comes in65-pound, 70-pound, 80-pound, andsometimes 100-pound weights. Therewould be, however, approximately onethird the number of sheets of 70-poundcover stock in a carton as there wouldbe in a carton of 70-pound text weightpaper.

Both text and cover weight paperscome in coated and uncoated versionsfor various uses.

Grain directionMachine made paper, like wood,

has a grain direction which should betaken into account when choosingpaper for a book. If the paper grain isnot parallel to the spine, the bookspages will not turn easily or lie flat.Folding a sheet of paper across thegrain will break approximately 50% ofthe paper fibers, weakening the sheetsubstantially. Additionally, cross-grainpaper is strangely hydroscopic. It willabsorb moisture from adhesives at amuch faster rate, causing cocklingand warpage.

Grain direction of paper is almostalways with the longest dimensionsThe paper merchants catalog desig-nates grain direction with a smallunderline below the number (such as25 x 38 inches).

Paper SizesIn the US, paper that is sheeted for

the printing trade, either text weight orcover weight, comes in standard sizes.Standard sizes for text weight paper ininches are 25 x 38, 35 x 40, and 38x 50.Standard sizes for cover weight paperare 23 x 35, 25 x 38, 26 x 40 and 35 x 45.

PRINTING FORMATBook SizesCommon book sizes relate to a

printers best yield or (cut) from thesemaster sheets of paper. Thus 81/2 x 11, 7 x 10, 6 x 9, and 51/2 x 81/2 inches aretraditional sizes of many books. Lately,due to photocopiers and other emerg-ing printing technologies, the 51/2 x 81/2

inch size has become much more com-mon, as you can print two pages at atime on a standard 81/2 x 11 sheet ofpaper.

Book DesignWhen pages are printed on both

sides there is the possibility of show-through or bleed-through problems.This is the dark shadow from type oran illustration that shows through fromthe reverse side of the sheet. This iscaused by the fact that the paper is notopaque enough to mask out the image.

Ideally, printing that is done onboth sides of the page should backup or have its shadow hidden byprinting that is done on the reverse oropposite side of the page. This preventsshow-through and gives a crisp, cleanlook to the page.

If show-through problems persistwe advise against the natural inclina-tion of choosing a heavier weightpaper for the text, especially coverstock! Heavier paper will only resistopening and easy reading. Try choos-ing a text weight paper of another colorsuch as off-white or light gray.

After decisions about paper havebeen made, the next most importantconsideration should be what typefaceand what size type to use. Obviously, itis best to use a size of type that is easyto read. For text generated by wordprocessor or computer these sizeswould normally be 10 point, 12 point,and 14 point.

We would urge you to resist thetemptation to reduce the size of thetypeface by photocopy reduction. Thiswill only make the text more difficult toread. It is preferable to add additionalpages if required.

I encourage you to read more aboutbook design. The best book I have readon the subject is Adrian Wilsons TheDesign of Books (ISBN 0-87905-019-5). Inhis book, Wilson lists another dozen orso references for those who are trulyserious about wanting to learn more.

TypefacesThankfully, for the desktop pub-

lisher, computer type has come a longway from the days when typefaceswere limited to what was easily dis-played on a computer screen. There arenow thousands of typefaces to choosefrom. Each one has its own character.While hundreds of books have beenwritten about type and book design,the choice of which face to use is mostoften made by either a typefaces avail-ability or personal preference.

Typefaces fall into two main cate-gories: serif or sans serif type. Serif typehas little feet on the letters. This articleis written in a serif typeface. Serif type-faces are considered easier to read (as text) than sans serif. Sans serif typeis more often used as a headline orchapter heading.

Page MarginsPage margins and choosing propor-

tions within a page are very importantdesign elements. It is a basic principleof book design that typographic areaswill generally occur within the samerectangular space, in the same position,throughout a book. The white spacearound the typographic area framesthe text on a page much like a matframes a picture. In book design the oldclassic standard was one-third blackspace to two-thirds white space. Thismade for eye appeal and easy reading.

As paper and printing costs haveescalated this rule has been sacrificed.Margins have become narrower andnarrower. As a general rule, and if at all possible, we recommend a one-inchall around page margin for desktoppublishing. If this is not possible due to maximum page count or other con-siderations leave as much margin aspossible, keeping in mind that mostbookbinders will want to trim threesides of a book when doing the binding.

BINDINGIdeally, the actual binding on a

book should perform several functions.

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These are consolidation or holding thepages together and providing protec-tion from moisture and handling. Bind-ings should provide for identificationof the item. They may also be designedas a means for attracting attention toand for promotion of the item.

There are many binding options tochose from. Factors that determinechoice are usually based upon cost andavailability as well as the expected usea bound item is to receive. Bindings fallinto three main categories.

Mechanical bindings Adhesive bindings Sewn bindings

Mechanical BindingsMechanical bindings include ring

binders, loose-leaf or post binders, sta-ples or saddle stitching, plastic coil,plastic comb, Velo binding, channelbinding, metal spiral and wire-O bind-ing. Rivets, grommets, and other fas-tening devices may also be used. Withthe exception of ring or post binders,mechanical bindings are normally theleast expensive binding option avail-able for small runs of desktop pub-lished material.

Adhesive BindingsAdhesive bindings attach a books

pages together with adhesive (glue orpaste) rather than by mechanical fas-tening or sewing.

Bookbinding adhesives fall intotwo main categories. (1) Hot melt adhe-sive and (2) cold emulsion, polyvinylacetates or PVAs. One form of hot meltadhesive is the little round stick of gluethat is inserted into a hand-held gluegun. This glue needs to be heated tobecome liquid for application, thus theterm hot-melt.

A familiar form of PVA is ElmersGlue. This adhesive does not need to beheated to become liquid, thus the termcold emulsion.

There are thousands of glue formu-lations for both types of adhesive, eachformula being for specific usages.

The term perfect binding alwaysequates to a book that is bound withadhesive. The adhesive, while usuallya hot melt may occasionally be a coldemulsion PVA or even a new breed ofadhesive called a polyurethane adhe-sive (PUR). Perfect bound books areusually covered in paper, however theycan be made with a hard cover.

Sewn BindingsSewn bindings fall into two main

categories. (1) Side sewn or (2) sewnthrough the fold. Either category may bedone by machine or by hand.

Some methods of side sewing areJapanese sewing, block stitching,Singer side sewing, and Moffett stitch-ing. Japanese sewing (to my knowl-edge) is only done by hand, as is blockstitching. Singer sewing and Moffettsewing both refer to the sewingmachines that are used in the machineside sewing process.

Sewing through the fold does re-quire that a book be made up of foldedleaves called signatures. A book mayhave a single signature or be made upof many signatures that will be linkedtogether during the sewing process.Books that are sewn through the foldby hand are referred to, naturally, ashand sewn books.

Machine sewing through the fold ismost often done on a Smyth sewingmachine. The process, again naturally,is most often called Smyth sewing,although there are other through-foldsewing machines that can accomplishthis task. The National sewing machineand the Martini sewing machine arebut two examples. Much likeKleenex is used to designate facialtissue or Xerox is used to signify aphotocopy, the trade name Smythsewing has become so prevalent thatit is the general term for any through-fold sewing method.

There are other methods and ma-chines used to attach book pagestogether that are, for the most part,unique to the library binding industry.

The two most common are oversewingand double-fan adhesive binding.

Oversewing offers the advantage ofbeing able to sew single leaves into mul-tiple signatures. Oversewing has thedisadvantage of consuming approxi-mately 3/16-inch of spine margin.Additionally, oversewing is so strongthat pages have a tendency to puckerup along the sewing line, making read-ing or photo reproduction difficult ifnarrow margin material is attached inthis method.

Double-fan adhesive binding mayalso be used to attach single leavestogether to form a book block. Thismay be done either by hand or bymachine. It is accomplished by clamp-ing the book into a vise-like contrap-tion and fanning the pages at a near90-degree angle, while applying adhe-sive to the edges of the pages. Thepages are brought back to center andfanned in the opposite direction. Adhe-sive is again applied to the pages asthey are fanned. In effect, each page istipped to its neighbor, fore and aft.

The strength of double-fan adhe-sive binding may be augmented bynotching the spine to increase adhesivepenetration or by milling or sandingthe edges of the spine to expose addi-tional paper fiber to adhesive. Whenproperly done, double-fan adhesivebinding has the advantage of allowinga book to lie open nearly flat for easyreading or photocopy reproduction.

Book CoversHardcover bindings, sometimes

referred to as cases, may be coveredin paper, cloth, leather, or a combina-tion of two or more of these materials,which are wrapped around and gluedto a supporting board. The board itselfmay be rigid (as in an encyclopedia) orflexible (as in a small Bible).

Paper cover materials are referredto in the trade as non-woven cover ma-terial. Non-wovens are often texturedto appear like fabric or leather. Theymay also be decorated, as in marbled

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paper or laminated with clear polyesterfilms for added strength and durability.

Book fabrics (woven materials) aregraded by weight which refers to thenumber of threads per square inch in aparticular cloth. Book fabric comes inA, B, C, D, E, and F weights. Aweight fabric is the lightest weight, Fweight is the heaviest. It is generallyassumed that heavyweight book clothis stronger than lightweight cloth.

Book fabric may be left uncoated inits natural state or coated with mois-ture resistant substances (vinyl oracrylics). It may also be textured tolook like leather.

Leather cover materials are har-vested from any number of animals.These commonly include cows, sheep,pigs, and goats. However more exoticskins have sometimes been used tocover books, including human skin!

Leather is prepared for use by tan-ning the hide or skin for durability. It isalso frequently colored with leatherdye and occasionally textured to altersurface appearance.

Cover DecorationThere are several options available

for cover decoration or titling. Mostpeople are familiar with foil stamp-ing, which usually consists of basictitle and author information. Thisinformation is set in metal type and hotstamped through a colored foil ontothe book fabric or cover. Additional art-work, in the form of an illustration orlogo, may be added by having a metalengraving made from film or line art.Most library binders will be very famil-iar and comfortable in providing thistype of cover decoration.

Silkscreening is a second option. Itis a popular method, used primarily onvinyl covers. However it can work verysuccessfully on nearly any fabric andmany non-woven cover materials. Silk-screening has advantages in allowinglarger areas to be decorated. It alsoallows for multicolored images andeasy matching of specific ink colors.

A third option is photo offset print-ing. As with silkscreening it can be suc-cessful on both book cloth and non-woven materials. Photo offset printingallows for the widest variety of decora-tion possibilities in design and color.

If a small number of covers arerequired and color is desired, it is alsopossible to use a color photocopier.Fabric materials have been developedwhich can be manually fed throughsome color photocopy machines. How-ever, if the quantities were large thiswould be an expensive method to usefor decoration of book covers. Theremay also be possibilities for using inkjetprinters to decorate cover materials.

Printed book jackets are anotheralternative for cover decoration. Bookjackets are usually made from paper.They are easily printed in any numberof ways, and after binding, wrappedaround finished books.

A word of caution about book jack-ets! Pay close attention to the directionof the paper grain. The grain directionshould always run parallel to the spineof the book. Also, be sure to allowenough wrap around so that the inte-rior flaps of a book jacket are heldfirmly in place by the book cover. Aminimum of two-inches for interiorflaps is suggested. If this is not done thejacket will not fit well and will not stayput on the book as the book is handled.

CONCLUSIONCopyright informationFinally, after one has spent count-

less hours producing their first masterwork, we are often asked about obtain-ing a copyright. This may be done afterproduction of the book. Copyrightinformation may be obtained by writ-ing to the U.S. Copyright Office,Library of Congress, Washington, DC20559. For books and other printedworks request form TX.

ISBN numbers (used as inventorycontrol when ordering) may beobtained by writing to ISBN Agency(U.S.), R.R. Bowker, 121 Chanson Road,Providence, NJ 07974. Tel. 908-665-6770.A new publisher should write a letteron their letterhead requesting an ISBNassignment.

Library of Congress Catalog Cardnumber preassignment may beobtained by writing to U.S. Library ofCongress, Cataloging in PublicationDivision, Washington, DC 20540. TheLibrary of Congress will send you theappropriate form and kit describingCataloging in Publication procedures.

There are a vast number of re-sources available in print to those seri-ous about publishing their books. Onethat I recommend is The PrepublishingHandbook by Patricia A. Bell, Cats-pawPress 1992, ISBN 0-9618227-2-4. Thisbook explains in good detail the manyhats worn by a small publisher. It alsohas an extensive listing of independentpublishers and regional booksellersorganizations.

I hope this information will behelpful to the beginning, independentpublisher and to library binders whowish to offer their services to a growingconstituency. New methods of printingand binding continue to evolve. It isestimated that some 5,000 new publish-ers appear each year! This certainlygives added testimony to the fact thatnearly everyone has at one time oranother said, I could write a book!

First published in The New Library Scene, March 1997

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Campbell-Logan Bindery212 North Second StreetMinneapolis MN 55401