Distributed at conferences, perched on academic library shelves, or passed between esteemed colleagues, academic book printing is a staple of professional life for many. In a world of digital overload and instant access to all kinds of content, it might seem that academic book printing has become obsolete.
Instead, a robust desire to continue producing and using academic book printing continues because of the strong tradition of sharing and celebrating academic subject knowledge. But like printing trade novels or sleek photography or art books, academic book printing has its own unique style and form, so understanding the nuances of how to design and print yours ahead of time can help you create a book you will be proud of for years to come.
Types of Academic Book Printing
While scholarly publications have a commonality in where they are often found, the purpose and typical use of each type determine how it is constructed. How you will need your book to function will determine how it is made, what types of materials you use, the format and style of the book and the way you ship, transport, or promote it to potential users.
- Conference Materials are bound books or pamphlets that may be created ahead of time to distribute academic papers, like abstracts or bundled papers that will be used or referenced at an event. This type of publication is often created on a tight timeline, so a streamlined layout and style are often utilized.
- Dissertations are one of the most common types of scholarly publications. Crafted for the student, academic advisors, or professors as well as the library as permanent reference books, dissertations follow a very strict format structure, style, and production.
- Textbooks and Classroom Guides are often developed by academic leaders specifically for classroom use. Guides and textbooks are also published for departmental use as well as regional or institutional use.
- Theses, a culmination of research and thought produced by academics similar to dissertations, require a printed publication for both personal and institutional archives.
Layout
The first detail that matters is the way the book’s contents appear or the layout of the content. The key to designing a successful academic book printing layout is to ensure it is easy to read and it appears professional. To do this, the layout should include clean margins with plenty of room for notes and user-created mark ups that work with the typically small font used in an academic book printing. The headings should be easy to follow by utilizing a logical and consistent font and placement, creating an easy visual flow of text.
An academic book printing includes a wide range of content, but some of the more common inclusions are, by nature, unique to academia and require careful consideration in the planning and layout stage of book creation.
- Indexes that are logical and cross-referenceable
- Graphic elements like charts, graphs, maps, or tables that must be clearly printed as they are vital to the book’s content’s success
- Large, dense blocks of footnotes and endnotes that must be cleanly presented so the content can be easily referenced
- Lengthy bibliography pages
- Multilingual content
Materials
Choosing the right paper, cover, and inks for an academic book printing can create a masterpiece you will be proud to distribute to your colleagues, event attendees, or students, or add to your personal or professional library shelf. But choosing materials that do not convey a professional academic appearance can be devastating and expensive to replace. Not only are the aesthetic selections for paper and ink important to reflect the nature of a scholarly publication, but they are also important because they directly reflect on how usable and durable the publication will be.
Ink
For almost all academic book printing, using black and white ink is the best way to go. The sharp contrast between black characters and crisp white paper makes the pages highly readable and increases the likelihood that full pages of potentially small font size text will be legible, too.
Paper
Books can be created using both stark or pure white paper, or paper that is creamier and less white in appearance. For academic book printing with dense text passages, using a slightly off-white paper makes the book’s contents easier to read. A paper’s opacity is also a consideration since paper that allows light and visibility through it due to low opacity, can make text and graphic elements difficult to read. Choosing a paper with an opacity of 90 gsm or thicker can avoid this, ensuring that the reader will view only the words on a page and not those printed on the backside of thin paper.
Binding
The way that your book is held together makes a difference in how it is perceived, used, and how durable it will be. Most academic book printing should have a sewn binding, called perfect bound, to ensure their durability and professional appearance.
Perfect binding utilizes a soft cover and a rigid book spine, perfect for both lower binding cost as well as appearance, as the spine provides excellent visibility of the title and author name on a bookshelf. For commemorative copies of academic book printing, you may consider special cover additions like cloth covers or dust covers for durability or foil accents to make the title stand out on the shelf.
Print File Preparation
Making your book’s manuscript ready to send to the printer involves following a few critical steps that will ensure your printed book will look exactly how you want it to.
1 Make sure that your fonts and images are all embedded into the PDF.
2 Format your book’s margins (the bleed) and trim to match your book’s needs.
3 Check to make sure details like pagination are consistent throughout and the style and formatting look the same from the first page to the last.
4 Look over the width of the spine to make sure that your inserted text will fit. If you are unsure of how to format this, consider working with a cover designer to ensure your book’s cover and spine line up correctly and present your academic content appropriately.
5 Save and submit your final manuscript file in PDF format so the formatting and text structure won’t be altered during file transfer.
Choosing Between Offset and On-Demand Printing for Your Academic Book
Depending on how many copies you need to make of your academic publication, you may consider the type of printing you want to use. Offset printing, most often utilized in traditional publishing, is usually reserved for large print runs in the thousands of copies.
For printing projects with a smaller number of copies required, you will want to consider on-demand printing services because you can order a few copies at a time. If you need to make any changes or updates to the manuscript before reprinting, on-demand printers can make that happen, but unfortunately, offset printers do not make changes to the initial printing run’s manuscript. For these reasons, on-demand printers like Dazzle Printing are usually the best route for academic book printing because of the low minimum requirements and low associated printing costs that come with smaller printing runs.
Transporting Your Book
When your printer has finished your book, getting copies to your conference, meeting, department or simply to you doesn’t have to be difficult. Most on-demand printers can arrange direct shipping to your desired destination to help you avoid having to transport them yourself. Be sure to plan ahead for shipping instructions and the related costs prior to finalizing your production details with your chosen printing partner.
