Printing Matters

The advances in digital printing now make it easier than ever to produce good quality books in a viable and economical way. Working closely with the UK’s leading printers, books can be ordered in small, manageable quantities, while the finished copies are as professional in appearance as those produced by more traditional litho print-runs.

At SPP we’re perhaps a bit fussy about it all – but the presentation really matters!

Print Options

It’s also possible to set up Print-on-Demand (POD), however, it can have a significant bearing on the necessary selling price, so the decision on how to print will vary from title to title.

It may still prove most effective to produce a book by a conventional litho print-run, which can generally come into play from a few hundred copies (dependent on the format, etc.). But often an initial commitment to a short digital run of perhaps 100 to 300 copies is preferred.

Or, if Print-on-Demand is preferred for your book, we are in partnership with CPi, the UK’s leading book printer, and Gardners, the UK’s leading book wholesaler, to provide seamless production and order fulfilment & distribution accordingly.

Size and format of your books can vary, but some standard preferences are shown below.

Sizes and Formats

Name	Imperial (approx. inches)	Metric (mm)
A4	11½ x 8 ¼	297 x 210
Crown Quarto	9¾ x 7½	246 x 189
Royal	9¼ x 6	234 x 156
Demy	8½ x 5 5/8	216 x 138
A5	8¼ x 5¾	210 x 148
B – Format	7¾ x 5¼	197 x 134

E-Books

Overall, sales of e-books now account for a reasonable proportion of all books sold. So, unless there is a particular reason not to do it, we regard e-book formatting as a standard part of the publishing process.

Your book will be converted to e-pub format, making it compatible with all the main platforms worldwide, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s i-Books, WH Smith’s Kobo, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, etc.