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Print parameters

WritersServices Self-publishing

Print parameters for our print-on-demand process

Colour printing is now available.

Trim Sizes

  • The dimensions of the book will normally be set in consultation with your designer.
  • The unit cost depends on the number of pages so a larger format might make sense as it uses fewer pages.
  • The following trim sizes are available. B, 203x127, 216x140, Demy (229x152), 234x156, Royal (235x191),244x170, 246x189,254x178, Crown Royal (280x210), A4. (A few sizes are available on all papers or binding so please check with us).
  • Printing in colour is not available in all of these sizes – please check. There are some additional sizes, 8.5" x 8.5" and 8.5" x 11", which are especially suited to textbooks and children's books.

Paper

There are two choices of paper, both of the same quality:

  • Cream – 80% of books are produced on this softer-coloured paper
  • White – Good if diagrams or photos are required
  • Art paper – This is available for special volumes, but is expensive

Pictures & Illustrations

Black and White

The print inside the book is black. Quality litho and halftones can be successfully reproduced so photographs and illustrations can be included.

Colour

The technology to print colour in the text is also available using print on demand.The printing is done on non-glossy paper which works well for children's books but might not be ideal for a book of images for a wildlife photographer. For POD, all the pages can have colour as they are not hand collated after printing.

Other forms of colour printing are available but these normally need to be printed in batches of about 50 books. It is best to have the photos in a block in the centre of the book to keep the cost low as this work is done by hand.  

The cover, however, is always full colour. You can use this for a few key images if it enhances your book.

Page limits

  • The number of pages must be divisible by 4. At present, there must be at least 48 pages to a book, but this means your book will have no spine information because it is too thin. If you want your title to appear on the spine, the book, must have at least 80 pages. You really need about 100 pages for the spine text to be easily legible.The maximum size for a book is about 800 pages as the binding used will not hold it together if it is any bigger.
  • The cost of production means that you will be charged for a minimum number of pages. Slim volumes will be costed as if they had 108 pages in the book.

Binding

Most books have perfect binding but hardback (good for academic or reference books) and clothbound books are available. Books with fewer than about 50 pages may be stitched (i.e. stapled).

Spiral binding is also available for books that need to lie flat.

Price

If you want to make your book available through the retail system, which we recommend, there is a minimum price. Currently this is £7.99 in the UK.

You have to provide a reasonable margin to the trade to make it worth their while to sell your book. They can still sell it at a discount but that comes from their margin.


Terms & Conditions

Some common questions

Design index  The sizes we can print

Ordering


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Glossary & Acronyms

Home   Newsletter   What's involved? Glossary & Acronyms Some WPS titles Worldwide distribution

Main topic index

  1. Work out the design and set up cost
  2. Unit cost business & marketing plans
  3. Book order form and payment page

You are off to a very good marketing start with WPS as we link all our titles into Amazon and several of the biggest book distributors so your book can be ordered, delivered and the money collected worldwide.

Choose WPS as your publishing partner.

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