Blog

Well, my hardback book came in today, and it’s really nice. I was expecting it to somewhat look like it was printed on a laser printer, but it does not. The pictures are clear and colorful, and the dust jacket is glossier than I expected (glossy is good).

The book, on the whole, is a bit stiff. I suppose that would be the result of the premium paper that I chose, which is thicker. Since this will mainly stay untouched on my book shelf, the stiffness really is not a problem.

The binding is a bit odd, though. The pages are not stitched to a piece of cloth like most books. Instead, they are simply inserted flush against the inside of the spine. Looking closer at the binding inside the pages, I think they may be lightly stitched together. There might also be glue there, but I’m not totally sure.

While there may be a few things odd about the book, there really are no flaws. After all, this is a print-on-demand book, which requires different assembly techniques to meet demands and keep costs down.

I don’t think I will release this to the public at this time mainly because it’s so expensive. I bought an 8×10 hardback book (108 pages) with premium paper and a dust cover. With tax and shipping, it cost me over $62 on Blurb. Yikes! But, considering that I now own my very own book, I think it’s worth the cost. When I work on Book Two, I’ll wait for a coupon to use.

The thing I like about Blurb is their book-making software. There are many template pages to choose from, so it’s very easy to create a professional-looking book. The program has a few glitches that are annoying, but that just meant that I had to constantly double-check everything. That turned out to be a good thing, since Blurb does not reprint or refund books if I make an error.