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.

Sewn perfect bound book binding.

InstantPublisher prides itself in offering the most customizable self publishing and book printing service around. I am going to start randomly posting about some of the different book printing options we offer, as many of our customers do not know that we offer so many different configurations in our book printing line and that  many do not know what the terms even mean.  This week I am going to talk about sewn perfect binding.

Sewn perfect binding looks similar to a regular perfect bound (paperback)  book but the book block is actually sewn together before gluing the cover to the book block.   The reason we offer this binding style is that perfect binding by itself is not suitable for long term usage because the glue hardens by alternating cold and hot weather and will eventually break and the pages will fall out. When some people read a book they will tend to try to make the book lay flat by folding the book back onto the spine.  This also tends to break the glue where the book is folded and will cause the pages to fall out.

Sewn Perfect binding is recommended for books that need to last for a very long time or books with a coated stock like our gloss coated papers.  Gloss coated papers do not let the glue penetrate as well as regular text stock so, with gloss coated books with more than 80 pages, we recommend that you take the sewn option.  Sewn books are first glued together, sewn with thread, then they are perfect bound to hide the threads.  The threads can still be seen when the book is opened wide but they are barely noticeable.  The outside of the book will have a slight bulge as well where the thread is but it is not very noticeable.   This is the same binding style that we use in our hardcover book binding to be sure the books last a very long time. See more on this binding style here.

Notice the threads inside the spine of the sewn perfect bound book
The sewn perfect bound book appears just like a regular glued perfect bound book