The Growing Popularity Of Softcover Booklet

By Mary Wright


Reading has over time become a favorite pass time for many with books being found everywhere from the bookshops and along the streets. For writers, however, getting to reach their target audience is the biggest hurdle. Printing and publishing costs take the biggest portion of the budget. Hardcover books are expensive to produce, and most writers are now opting for softcover booklet.

Paperbacks have been in use since the nineteenth century when they were used for reprints. These books were covered with pliable paper unlike other that made use of cloth covered cardboard. The paperback books were sold at a reduced price in malls and areas where people in transit would make their stops.

When copies were produced in numerous copies, it was known as the mass paperback. Copies that were not but would be returned to the printer who would tear off the cover then recycle the inner pages. If copies reached the reader without the cover, this meant the writer had not received any payment for it.

The first original print in paperback was produced in the 1950s. With time, more original books had reprints. Most of these were by upcoming authors as it did not necessitate a lot of investment. The popularity of the books grew as they were cheaper to produce and buy, took relatively less time to produce and was widely available.

A writer has to consider the cover while editing their work and should design the first and last pages as the front and back covers. The inner aspects of the front and back pages should be the second and second last pages respectively. At an extra cost, the writer could get a cover made of the material that is thicker than that of interior pages and end up with a durable book.

Softcover books, however, have a smaller profit margin compared to hardcover books. This causes most printers to produce fewer hardcovers and more copies in a softcover to create a balance in the market for writers, hence balancing between the two type of printing. The types of printed soft cover books include mass-market paperback and trade paperback.

If one wants to print their book with a paperback, they have various binding options. They include saddle stitching, perfect binding and color coil binding with the easiest and most economical being saddle stitching which makes use of a specific stapler to pin pages together after they are appropriately arranged. For perfect binding, the pages are grouped and attached with a heavier cover to each other into the spine. Color coil binding makes use of a spiral coil which is connected to punch holes in arranged paper. The coil forms the spine of the book.

Despite a phase in the emerging of soft cover book printing where some persons claimed that paperback originals are undermining the structure of publishing, it has become a popular means for a lot of writers to print their books. Softcover book is now a very viable option especially for upcoming writers who do not have a lot of investment capital. Readers have also shown much appreciation for the same.




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