Between finding an editor, working with a cover designer, and navigating your book marketing strategy, you may not have considered what you want your book to look and feel like. But it’s important to get it right. And when it comes time to publish, you have print book options you need to decide on before you publish. We’ll cover these options below so you can more easily choose everything from your cover finish and binding to paper color and weight.
Your Book Cover Treatment Options
When it comes to your book cover, you’ll need to decide on more than cover art. Your print book options include your trim size (the size of the book itself), its binding, and whether to print a paperback or hardcover version. Or both.
Your Print Book Options Include Your Cover Finish
But as far as the actual cover goes, you will choose between a glossy or matte finish too.
A glossy finish is more vibrant, and as you would expect, shiny. A glossy cover works well for most book covers but it may not necessarily fit the tone of your book. A matte cover looks more serious and sophisticated. This finish is often used for poetry collections, as just one example.
Other things to consider when choosing between glossy and matte is that glossy will show fingerprints and smudges more clearly, and either option can affect how the colors on your cover art look. Remember, glossy will be a bit reflective. But it’s also eye-catching. Matte is more subdued but gives the book a more refined look.
The good news is, you can print a test proof of each and ultimately, you can make a final decision on these particular print book options after you’ve seen both in the flesh.
Will You Choose Paperback or Hardcover Binding?
Your other print book options include binding, which is either hardcover or paperback.
Paperbacks are more economical and more accessible to your readers than hardbacks. But sometimes a hardback is worth the cost. This is especially true if you’re printing something like an art or photography book. You can print your novel or nonfiction in hardback as well, just keep in mind the cost will be significantly more for you and your potential buyers. You may want to ask yourself if it’s necessary, or if it’s truly important to your book to choose this option.
Paperback is the most common book binding option. Because of its affordability, it makes it more accessible. Because this print book option is so common and accessible, it’s the most chosen for books in many genres, but especially general fiction and most nonfiction. Many readers prefer this option because because it’s easier to hold and read.
Choosing the Right Trim Size Will Depend on Many Factors
Your trim size is the size your book will be. When considering this print book option you need to keep your word count in mind first and foremost. Why? Because a book can only be so thick. For instance, if you have a high word count, your text will need to be very small with the smallest trim size. This may make it more difficult to read. On the other hand, if you have a novel with a lesser word count, you may want to choose the next size up, for aesthetic purposes.
Your trim size matters for your interior design too. Will there be images? If so, you may want to choose a larger trim size.
It should be noted that certain genres tend to have more specific trim sizes too. But if your word count and interior design line up to professional standards, your book should work with your standard trim size for the genre.
In other words, think about the books you read. Notice that most fiction books, both hardcover and paperback, are generally the same size, respectively. Perhaps you’ve noted that children’s books tend to be larger. This makes sense, right? These books have larger print and are image-focused, therefore, the trim size will be larger.
You can read more about trim size in the Ingram Spark blog. Of course, if you have any publishing help, like a consultant or guide, they will cover these options with you as well and help you make the right choice.
Last, But Not Least, Print Book Options Include Binding
Your binding is how the pages are held together along the book’s spine. A common option is known as perfect bound. This means the pages are bound together and glued at the spine. For hardcover books, the options are case bound and jacket case, which Ingram Spark is now offering.
The Interior Print Book Options You’ll Need to Choose
Yes, there are still other print book options to consider! You will need to choose your paper weight, color, and treatment. This may seem insignificant, but it requires some thought on your part. As you may suspect, a lighter-weight paper is going to be more economical but it also changes the feel of your book. Whereas a heavier weight will look and feel more expensive.
Paper Weights and Colors to Consider
One common choice for paper weight is Groundwood, which is lightweight but dense. It’s the most economical and can be used for any black-and-white print books. Generally, though, it will be used on paperbacks in a small trim size. A bonus of groundwood as a print book option is that there is less bleed-through and it is more economical in the long run because its lighter weight means lower shipping costs.
This lighter-weight paper will work just fine with many books, but it will depend on your genre and what you see in standard professionally published books of your genre. You want it to look polished and high quality, either way.
Your other print book options concern the paper color. There are two basic options: créme or white. These papers are the same weight and will feel the same, so it just depends if you want to see a brilliant white page or a more subtle off-white when you open your book.
Another thing to consider is that céme, no matter how you feel about the color choice, can only be used in black-and-white print options. If you have any color photos or images, your choice will have to be white.
Finally, there is the heavier-weight white option. This can be used for black-and-white and text-heavy books, but it would be far less economical and beyond the standard. This weight of paper is almost exclusively for large, color print and image-heavy books. Think cookbooks, Photography and Art, or other coffee table books.
Color or Black-and-White: What Are Your Options for Print Books?
Your average text-filled book in any genre will unsurprisingly be printed in black and white. Having colored text would be odd and harder to read. Most people intuitively understand this. But what if you have art, photos or other imagery in your book? What if you want to do a luxurious-looking coffee table book or other image-heavy print book?
If your book is text-heavy, like you find in fiction of all genres and most nonfiction print books, you don’t have to worry about it. You also have all the paper weight options above to choose from.
But if you want images, you will be limited in paper weight options.
This is more so if you want to use color images, and if you want the highest quality laser-printed colored images, you only have one paper weight option.
You can probably imagine that photo and picture books, that are hardbound, will be the most expensive to print. But you also don’t want a book that looks cheap.
However, this scenario doesn’t come about often in self-publishing. But when it does, we recommend going with the higher-end options for color printing. Ingram Spark calls this color printing Ultra-Premium color and your paper weight option for these types of print books is limited to their 104 gsm.
Basically, when choosing your interior print book options, stick with what is standard and use the highest quality you can afford comfortably for anything beyond paperback, fast-fiction type books. After all, you want your book to be the best it can be and to hold up to traditional publishing standards.
Tip!
Go book browsing and grab books from every genre you can think of. Feel the weight of the paper, take note of the cover treatment and trim size. You should see a general standard. Think of this experience when you choose your print book options.
Because in the end, you want a finished product you can be proud of, and of a standard that your future readers will expect. If you spend the time and money on a beautiful, professional book cover, conventional interior design, and a well-written, polished manuscript, you want the rest of your print book to match., right?
If you still need help with your print book options, reach out and see how we can assist you in making the right choices.
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