Print: Your fifth step to getting published

You may be reading through the PublishMe '6 steps to getting published' to learn enough information to get started on your project or you might already have a work completed and be ready to discuss how you will present it.

So we can provide you with the very best service and finished quality. PublishMe owns and operates its own printing and binding operation, PublishMe Print. With our combined publishing and book printing experience and the latest Océ technology we can provide you with the information and the finished quality that will make your self-published work look top quality. Using our print service is optional – you can print with any printer and still be a PublishMe member and be part of the self publishing community.

5. Print

There are many print and bind options to choose from. The genre of book, its final audience, the purpose of the book and the number of pages will all have a bearing on the way a book is bound, the type of paper it is printed on, whether it's black and white or colour or a combination, what size and shape the book will be and the quantity printed.

Digital Print – The Cost Effective and Green Alternative

Digital print is a growing phenomenon across the world. What do we mean when we say digital print?

Digital printing describes the process of transferring a document from a computer making it digital and reproducing it using a digital device.

Digital print allows you to print on demand the exact number required. For self publishers this is ideal as often budgets are limited and/or the market for the book unsure. If you just want enough books to distribute to your family then you can print just that number. If your goal is to sell the work you can print 100 or 250 books and when they are sold you can simply print more. In this way you never over commit your money (you can self-publish and print more titles), you don't have cartons of books cluttering up your house and you can use some of the money saved on printing thousands to market your book if that is your goal.

Don Donovan: Second Bite
"You can produce short runs. The first run of this run was 50 copies and I'd made a profit by the time I'd sold these. So I've ordered some more."

Today, digital print companies can print on-demand paperbacks, in black and white or colour.

Depending on the machines the digital printer operates, you can produce books sized up to A4 finished, and they can be very difficult to distinguish from traditionally printed books. In fact many large publishers are using digital print in the highly competitive book market. Amazon.com prints many of the books you purchase from them digitally on demand rather than warehousing thousands of hard copy titles.

A further huge advantage of digital print for the fledgling publisher is that any inadvertently overlooked errors can be corrected in the very next copy you produce. There is no need for erratum and no need for the horror of every publisher's nightmare of having to reprint a whole print run because of an undetected fault that is too bad to ignore.

In the early days in particular, when self-publishers are learning skills and minimizing costs by trying to do as much as they can by themselves, such an error is an ever-present threat. Digital print is therefore an excellent security net against such a major, and possibly costly, calamity.

Because you are printing just the books that are required, digital printing is a very green alternative. No waste! Digital technology is manufactured to be as eco-friendly as possible and everything in the machines and the consumables is recycled. At PublishMe this is very important to us.

Binding Options for Self-published Books

Perfect Binding
Perfect binding is the type of binding you see on a paperback. The most commonly used and professional-looking option when self-publishing. The cover wraps around the spine from front to back and is held in place with strong glue.

Saddle-stitched Binding
The cover wraps around the book and has two staples in the spine. This option is suitable for workbooks, readers and small booklets. Square folding, to achieve a perfect bound 'square spine' look, is also available.

Spiral Binding –plastic
Holes are punched down the side of the inside pages and a plastic spiral is inserted to hold the pages. The advantages are that this finish allows the book to lie completely flat, to be folded back and the spiral can be opened and pages added or removed.

Spiral Binding –wire
This is the same process as for plastic spiral binding but the spirals are wire, giving a slightly different look.

Fastback Binding
A black cloth strip that wraps around the spine of the book (the strip does come in other colours and usually has spine stapled for strength).

Hardcover binding
A hard cover publication is rarely an option for short print runs and becomes more affordable only for print runs over 1000 copies. Your PublishMe client manager can source a commercial printer to do that at a competitive price.

Heat bound cover
A pre-made cover with a white card back and a clear plastic front cover and glue strip down inside spine.

Stapled
A staple in the corner of a document or two staples to the right of the spine.

Glued
A simple glue strip along spine.

Printing with PublishMe

Kay Wall: Outlaw Golf
"For me the greatest benefits of using PublishMe are: 1) the quality of the book, 2) the unit price of future reprints will be no greater than my initial unit price whether I order 5 or 55. The whole thing is just so much more affordable than I ever thought it could be."

For more from Kay, click here.

PublishMe Print is PublishMe's in-house print and binding division. It is a competitive, print-on-demand facility which offers the latest Océ technology, the same technology used by the largest print-on-demand facilities in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its particular advantages are: no registration issues as the machine prints both side of the page in one pass, reduced use of heat in the printing and toner application process means grey scales are printed at top quality.

If you print with us we keep in touch with you throughout the process until you have your work in your hand plus we deliver a top quality result at a competitive price. We are happy to give you a print price for any number of copies of your book. We can also assist you with quotes for the duplication and printing of CDs and DVDs. Using our print service is optional – you can print with any printer and still be a PublishMe member and take advantage of our other services and selling options.

Janet Murdoch: Railway to Welbourn
"The printing process didn't take very long, the proof copy I was able to view after a few days and the final copies were absolutely wonderful."

Things you need to be aware of when you decide to print with PublishMe:

PublishMe Print standard book sizes
Our standard sizes are the most cost effective sizes for you to print. We are happy to advise you on sizes that are a variation on these options but keep in mind that variations will incur additional set-up costs. The sizes are shown below with some indicative pricing.

A4 (Finished trim size is 207mm x 291mm)
200 Black & White pages, Perfect bound, Laminated Cover
$14.57 + GST

Crown Quarto (Finished trim size is 246mm x 189mm)
200 Black & White pages, Perfect bound, Laminated Cover
$14.57 + GST

A5 (Finished trim size is 145.5mm x 204mm)
200 Black & White pages, Perfect bound, Laminated Cover
$9.92 + GST

B-format (Finished trim size is 127mm x 195mm)
200 Black & White pages, Perfect bound, Laminated Cover
$9.92 + GST

PublishMe inside and cover specifications
We have detailed and easy to use templates for the setup of your inside page and cover files on MyPublishMe > Free Downloads. If you are doing the layout work yourself use these to assist you or if you are contracting a service provider refer them to this information so that we receive the files print ready and do not have to send them back to you for changes or add additional charges to your job.

PublishMe file formats
We require print-ready PDF files. Specifications for printing in MyPublishMe>Free Downloads.

Once you Join and are a PublishMe Member go to MyPublishMe, click the Free Downloads tab and download Print your book which gives you a summary of print and bind options.