5 Reasons to Make a Hardcover Edition of Your Book

Softcover books are cheap to produce, portable, and accessible to readers so why should an author invest the resources to produce a hardcover edition of their book?

Here are 5 reasons every author should add a hardcover book to their product catalog.

1. Hardcover Books are Sturdy

Paperback books can withstand a lot of use but they just aren’t as sturdy as hardcover books.

Hardcover books’ durability can make them more appealing to librarians, teachers, and others whose books may circulate through many readers and be used much more extensively than the average consumer copy.

Similarly, hardcover books are more likely than paperbacks to hold up over the years. Authors considering their legacy should opt for at least a short-run hardcover printing of their book to ensure copies are available to future generations.

2. Hardcover Books are Collectable

Authors who are small and just starting out may not think they have much of a fanbase but just because their inbox isn’t being inundated with daily praise doesn’t mean they don’t have a few superfans.

A man reading a self-published hardcover book

These superfans don’t just want to read the author’s book but they want to showcase it on their shelf. The book isn’t just an object containing words to entertain them but it becomes a piece of shelf decor.

Hardcover books are better for bookcase showcasing than softcover books.  They are something extra that authors can offer their most devoted readers.

3. Professionalism

Hardcover books look professional. They signal to readers that the author put in extra time and resources to create the book and therefore suggest to the reader that the book is of higher quality.

This is especially important if the book in question is a professional work such as a how-to guide that will be sold at conferences or speaker tables.

4. Reader Preference

Some readers simply prefer the feel of a hardcover book in their hands as opposed to a paperback.

The more options readers are given, the more likely they will be to say yes to an author’s books.

If a reader prefers hardcover books they might pick up a paperback if they really love the author but offering the hardcover will bring down all the sales barriers and the reader will eagerly pick up the book.

5. Opportunity to Diversify

Having a hardcover book as well as a paperback gives the author the opportunity to use a different cover or to add features like a dust jacket which might appeal more to the aesthetics of a reader.

Readers do, unfortunately, judge books by their covers and having multiple cover options gives a book the opportunity to visually appeal to a wider range of readers.

InstantPublisher can create a durable and attractive hardcover copy of your book with or without a dust jacket.

For more information on turning your manuscript into a sturdy and appealing hardcover book contact us today.

How to Choose the Right Book Binding Option for Your Book

When you look at the thousands of books available in your average bookstore, they use many different types of bindings. But what are the different types of book bindings available and how do you select the best one for your book?

Perfect Binding

Perfect bindings–AKA paperback bindings–are the most common book binding option available in the industry right now. Paperback bindings are popular because they are versatile, able to be used on a number of different sizes of books, from novels, to trade paperback books, to large reports and manuals. Perfect bindings are also popular because they are portable while still being durable for standard reading use.

Book printing and binding process

Hardcover/Casebound Binding

This is the highest quality of book binding available on the market today. These have covers that are made of heavy binder board where you can have your book cover design printed and glued to it to make it a smooth cover. The book is then sewn and glued to the inside of the board making it extremely durable. These are primarily used for books that store important information and stand up to heavy use over time.

Hardcover/Cloth Binding

This hardcover book binding option is the one that you see most often for hardback books sold in book stores or in library collections. The book has a binder board covered with cloth, with minimal ornamentation or identification information on it. This is typically paired with a full-color dust jacket that is used to identify the book and provide all other information typically on a book cover such as ISBN number, pricing, back cover copy, pull quotes from book reviews, etc.

Wire Bindings

There are some books that work best when they can lay flat on a surface. Books such as cookbooks, reference materials, and even calendars work best if they can lay flat when in use.

Saddle Stitch Binding

This is another common book binding style. Saddle stitch bindings use folded sheets of paper (in multiples of four) up to 64 pages which are folded along a “saddle” and then stapled into place along the spine. These are commonly seen in catalogs, booklets, brochures, magazines, and direct mailers.

3-Ring Binders

Printed material that can be inserted into custom-designed, full-color laminated binders using 3-hole punch paper to allow pages to be inserted within the binder are also common for publications such as training manuals, reference guides, and even cookbooks. The 3-ring binder is also designed to be flexible and allows the content to be expanded by printing and inserting additional pages into the binder as necessary. This is great for training that covers multiple closely-related topics.

Whatever book binding you select, just make sure that it meets the specific needs of your book buying audience.

Let InstantPublisher Help You Select the Best Book Binding Option for You

We offer all of the book binding options listed above and a few others as well. Contact us at 1-800-259-2592, fill out our online contact form, or send an email to questions@instantpublisher.com to get more information.