Book Design/Production Questionnaire and Checklist
| Book Design |
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| Describe your market. Who are you appealing to? Use as much detail as possible:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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When custom designing a book, e pay close attention to your market. The more detail you provide, the closer we can come to fulfilling your expectations. The overall feel, the typefaces, the graphic elements are all important to appealing to your market, your audience. |
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Describe your book's genre:
| __ Self-help _____________________ |
__ Fiction _______________________ |
| __ Marketing ____________________ |
__ Business _____________________ |
| __ Internet _____________________ |
__ Other ________________________ |
| __ Health ______________________ |
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What category does your book fit it? For example: Fiction/mystery; Health/nutrition; Internet/Search Engine Optimization.
This will give us an idea of what niche you are in. |
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| Describe what you have in mind for your cover:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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You've probably visualized your cover a million times. What ideas and concepts do you have? Our goal is to put your thoughts into reality. |
| Book Production |
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Type of Printer
| __ Large book press |
__ Commercial printer |
| __ Local quick print |
__ Print on demand |
| __ Personal laser printer |
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Before we design a book, we need to know as much information as possible about where and how the book is going to be printed. We need to know the trim size, type of binding, kind of paper, etc. in order to make sound decisions that will give you the book you want within a budget you can afford. |
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Trim Size
| __ 8-1/2 x 11 |
__ 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 |
| __ 6 x 9 |
__ 7 x 9 |
| __ 8 x 10 |
__ Other __________ |
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We want your book to look good. But we also want to consider your budget. The trim size and printer choice go hand in hand. One printer may specialize in certain trim sizes and be cost effective, but cost prohibitive in others. If you want a really odd size, you need to shop around for a printer who can do what you need. We design to the trim size, so it's important to determine this first. |
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Text (Interior)
| Final page count (target) |
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| Number of printed colors:
__ 1/color
__ 2/colors
__ 4/colors |
Paper (text stock):
__ Uncoated stock
__ Coated stock
__ ppi (pages per inch) ________ |
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We will take your manuscript and design to the requested page count, or we can take the design and let you know how many pages we project the book to be.
Printers strip up pages into signatures of 16 or 32 pages, for example. The final page count needs to be divisible by the sig break required by the printer. This isn't always an issue for a quick print shop.
We also need to know how many text colors and what kind of stock the book will be printed on. We process photos with the stock in mind so that they don't print too dark. Coated stock absorbs less ink than uncoated stock, so we take this into consideration. |
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Cover
| Number of colors:
__ 1/color
__ 2/colors
__ 4/colors
__ foil stamping |
Cover stock:
__ 10 pt C.1.S.
__ 12 pt C.1.S.
__ Color stock: ________ |
Cover finish:
__ Laminated
__ None
__ Other __________ |
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Covers can be printed on white coated stock, the usual weights being 10 or 12 pt C.1.S. (coated one side). There are various finishes available to protect the cover from scratches and wear.
Or you can use a color stock with a texture.
Hard cover books can be foil stamped with a dust jacket, or printed on linen type stock. Your printer will have sample books to choose from and tell you what finished they have available. |
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Binding
| __ Perfect/adhesive (paperback) |
__ Hardcover |
| __ Spiral bound |
__ Dust jacket |
| __ Comb binding |
__ Saddlestitch (staples) |
| __ Other __________ |
__ Other __________ |
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There are many binding styles, ranging from paperback (perfect paper or adhesive), spiral and comb, case bound (hard cover) with dust jackets, or saddlestitch (staples). If the book is shorter than 72 pages (1/8"), an alternative to perfect binding is needed.
Your printer will show you available bindings. We need to take the binding into consideration to allow enough space in the gutter (inside) margin to accommodate it. |
| Art Program |
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Illustrations (how many)
| __ Photos __________ |
__ Line art illustrations __________ |
| __ Technical illustrations __________ |
__ Cartoons __________ |
| __ Charts __________ |
__ Tables __________ |
| __ Screen Shots __________ |
__ Other __________ |
| __ Scans __________ |
__ Other __________ |
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You will need to determine your art program. What kind of illustrations and photos are needed for the book. Will they be decorative or illustrate the subject matter? Will you need charts and tables? Do you have art or photos already prepared that will need to be scanned?
How many in each category?
Who will provide the art? Do you need an illustrator? Are illustrations digital or original artwork?
Will photos be color or black and white? Do they have to be converted? Are they digital or prints or slides? |
| Editorial Services |
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Other Services
| __ Copyediting |
__ Indexing |
| __ Proofreading |
__ Other __________ |
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We also provide editorial services if requested. This would include copyediting, proofreading, and indexing. |
