Hardcover books are heftier and can be a bit trickier to transport (unless they’re slim). If you’re making a Layflat Photo Book, ImageWrap is the only cover type available. LIMITATIONS: What you see is what you get-as in, no cover flaps. For the higher printing cost, you get lasting durability (think: children’s books, cookbooks) and more of a high-end feel (perfect for keepsake albums, or photography, art, and design books). You also get a choice of end sheet colors, depending on your book format (2 color options for trade books, 5 color options for perfect-bound photo books).īENEFITS: It’s a sturdy, stand-alone book design that looks great on display and stands up to heavy use. Your cover image will be printed directly on the front and back cover and spine. THE BASICS: Our ImageWrap hardcover books feature a durable matte finish and library binding, as well as end sheets*. No surprise here: With heavy use, softcover books are more susceptible to visible wear and tear than hardcover. (If you’re making a magazine, you can print on the inside front and back covers, as well as on the outside front and back covers.) Softcover is also not available for Blurb’s large-format photo books or Layflat books. LIMITATIONS: The softcover design is fairly simple-no cover flaps or end sheets*. Many authors and publishers choose softcover designs for novels, poetry, memoirs, short stories or essays, travel guides, comics/graphic novels, literary journals, how-to guides, and art and business catalogs. Softcover books are also lightweight, accessible, and portable, making them perfect for the everyday commuter, long-distance traveler, and bedtime reader.
If you’re printing a trade book, the softcover option gives you the lowest cost per copy. You know those paperbacks you love to read (and reread) and carry around in your bag because they’re easy to handle? Yep, classic softcover books.īENEFITS: It’s a popular, versatile, and economical way to print photo books and trade books. You can print on the front, back, and spine of the book. THE BASICS: Our softcover books feature a flexible, high-gloss laminated cover and durable library binding. Let’s take a closer look at the 3 different types of book covers available at Blurb so you can find the right fit for your project. Just think about some of your favorite books (better yet, grab one off the shelf!), and consider how the size, shape, texture, and weight of each one contributes to the book’s personality.Ĭhances are, your choice of book cover will be based on more than one thing: personal style and aesthetic, durability, cost, page length, the book’s purpose and audience, and the kind of reading experience you hope to create. The type of book cover you choose-softcover or hardcover-also plays a big part in the overall look and feel of your publication. But if we have opened a door for someone to walk outside and into the shop around the corner from them, and discover what’s there, that’s a win.When you’re self-publishing a book, there are lots of exciting design choices to make, from selecting a book format, size, and paper type to creating unique page layouts. “We’re not going to break the whole system here, we’re not trying to do that. “We’ve gotten so used to letting the algorithms and the monopolies make some decisions for us,” said Amanda Uhle, the publisher of McSweeney’s.
“But obviously,” he said of Amazon, “their reach has dramatically increased since then.” In 2002, he also worked around Amazon, distributing the hardcover of “You Shall Know Our Velocity” directly through about 500 independent bookstores. Unusual as this sales plan is, it’s not the first time Eggers has had unorthodox publishing arrangements.
But Bogaards said that when the new novel publishes, Vintage hopes to see a boost in sales for Eggers’s older work extending beyond just “The Circle.” Eggers has 15 backlist titles at Vintage, a catalog that has sold millions of copies, and all of his books will be repackaged over the course of the next year. “The Every” is a follow-up to “The Circle,” a major hit that has sold 750,000 copies. “They go out and they’re supporting indies,” Bogaards said of the hardcover plan, “and then six weeks later we get the trade paperback, which is great for us.” But this arrangement, he said, is good for all parties involved. “We’re retail-agnostic,” said Paul Bogaards, deputy publisher and executive director of communications at Knopf and Pantheon.