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A White Paper

By Richard Romano, Industry Analyst
Abstract
Digital book printing has almost exclusively produced perfect-bound paperback books, but new markets are opening up for high-value, hardcover digital books, books that function as gifts, keepsakes, and mementos. Case binding has often been thought to be out of reach of most digital book printers, but today’s digital case binding systems can bring high-quality and high-value print books in-house, without breaking the bank or your staff.
Introduction: Judging a Book By Its Cover
You’re picking out a gift for the book-lover in your life. You’re browsing in your favorite bookstore, and you’ve narrowed your choice down to one of two titles: a lavish, beautifully printed and bound hardcover book, and a standard, perfect-bound paperback. Which says “gift” more than the other? Even if the content were exactly the same–think of a deluxe hardcover edition of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield vs. the corresponding Penguin Classics mass-market paperback–which would be the more highly valued edition?
Hardcover books have always been seen as more “deluxe” than paperbacks, and it’s not merely because they cost more. A hardcover has always imparted a greater quality to a title, and there is a reason why the phrase “direct-to-paperback” or “paperback original” has always (correctly or not) been used to describe a title of lesser or less literary quality than a hardback. An analogy is in the movie industry; a movie that has had a major theatrical release is deemed of greater quality than a so-called “direct-to-video” title (again, correctly or not). A hardcover book obviously costs more to produce, thus has a larger production budget, and implies to the prospective book buyer or reader that the producer or publisher of the book feels strongly enough about the title to warrant a lavish binding.
As digital book production has evolved over the past several decades, the quality of the printing has improved, but publishers and producers of digital books have tended to neglect the binding. In fact, many aren’t even aware that digital books can be case bound–or, if they can, that it’s a prohibitively expensive or a highly complex process. Neither of these things is necessarily true; digital books can and often are case- bound, and it’s easy and affordable to do so. Sure, there are best practices and techniques, but there are best practices and techniques for every other aspect of printing, too. Case-bound digital books are high-value print products, and even if they cost a bit more to produce, they can also command a higher selling price. More and more markets–and more and more opportunities are opening up–for digital hardcovers.
Download the entire white paper–available FREE here (http://theprintplanet.com/).
This white paper is sponsored by On Demand Machinery. For more information about ODM’s case-binding equipment, please visit www.odmachinery.com
By Richard Romano, Industry Analyst
Abstract
Digital book printing has almost exclusively produced perfect-bound paperback books, but new markets are opening up for high-value, hardcover digital books, books that function as gifts, keepsakes, and mementos. Case binding has often been thought to be out of reach of most digital book printers, but today’s digital case binding systems can bring high-quality and high-value print books in-house, without breaking the bank or your staff.
Introduction: Judging a Book By Its Cover
You’re picking out a gift for the book-lover in your life. You’re browsing in your favorite bookstore, and you’ve narrowed your choice down to one of two titles: a lavish, beautifully printed and bound hardcover book, and a standard, perfect-bound paperback. Which says “gift” more than the other? Even if the content were exactly the same–think of a deluxe hardcover edition of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield vs. the corresponding Penguin Classics mass-market paperback–which would be the more highly valued edition?
Hardcover books have always been seen as more “deluxe” than paperbacks, and it’s not merely because they cost more. A hardcover has always imparted a greater quality to a title, and there is a reason why the phrase “direct-to-paperback” or “paperback original” has always (correctly or not) been used to describe a title of lesser or less literary quality than a hardback. An analogy is in the movie industry; a movie that has had a major theatrical release is deemed of greater quality than a so-called “direct-to-video” title (again, correctly or not). A hardcover book obviously costs more to produce, thus has a larger production budget, and implies to the prospective book buyer or reader that the producer or publisher of the book feels strongly enough about the title to warrant a lavish binding.
As digital book production has evolved over the past several decades, the quality of the printing has improved, but publishers and producers of digital books have tended to neglect the binding. In fact, many aren’t even aware that digital books can be case bound–or, if they can, that it’s a prohibitively expensive or a highly complex process. Neither of these things is necessarily true; digital books can and often are case- bound, and it’s easy and affordable to do so. Sure, there are best practices and techniques, but there are best practices and techniques for every other aspect of printing, too. Case-bound digital books are high-value print products, and even if they cost a bit more to produce, they can also command a higher selling price. More and more markets–and more and more opportunities are opening up–for digital hardcovers.
Download the entire white paper–available FREE here (http://theprintplanet.com/).
This white paper is sponsored by On Demand Machinery. For more information about ODM’s case-binding equipment, please visit www.odmachinery.com
