Cover information at Self-Publish Books

Here to help
Phone or email us without any obligation, to ask questions, we will be happy to assist.

Paperback covers are printed on one sided 260gsm silk and can be gloss or matt laminated. We would recommend that all paperbacks are gloss laminated.

very cover is individually important and should be designed accordingly. At self-publish-books.co.uk we do not use stock templates for cover designs.

After discussion with you, the author, we will design an eye-catching cover which will hopefully help your book stand out from the crowd.

If at a later date you have other titles and you want them to all look as if they come from the same “stables” then this can be incorporated into the design, creating a set of individually designed covers that have a common style.

Having spent a great deal of time on writing your book, you want a cover that reflects the content of your book. The cover needs to draw potential readers in and make them want to open the pages of your book.

What will a cover design cost?
This depends on what level of design input is required for your cover:

		A simple photograph with text. Level 1 design – see example
		A simple graphic with text. Level 1 design – see example
		Something with a bit more design work. Level 2 design – see examples
		A collage of images to create an impression of the story subtly merged. The example here has twelve photographs in the final design. Level 3 design – see example

If you are planning on designing your own cover and are looking for inspiration, there are lots of examples available on the internet. Here is one such site:

Book Cover Archive

How thick will the spine be?

Visit our spine thickness calculator

Paperback or Hardback (Case Bound)?

Please note that library photographs are not included in the cover price. These are charged extra. Our photo library of choice is www.istockphoto.com

Current cost is £10.00 per photo. If you supply photographs for us to scan the charge is £8.00 each. If, however, you supply digital photographs there is no additional charge for photographs. Digital photographs require to be of a suitable resolution for printing. (A minimum of 266dpi, preferably 300dpi, at printing size, but don't worry about this, we can discuss technical details with you later.)

As previously stated every book is designed individually, but from a pricing perspective, the cover will fit into one of these three categories.
The Pricing page has a form where you can contact us for a quotation.

Contact Information for Self Publish Books

Address: Irvinehill Farm, Stewarton, Ayrshire KA3 3EL, Scotland, UK

Telephone: 01294 850217.
You can contact us during normal business hours and also during the evening and weekends. If there is no one in the office calls divert to a mobile.

Email:

Uploading files: Files up to 5mB can be emailed to us.

Fax: If it is necessary to fax us, this can be done by arrangement. Please telephone first.

If you need to send larger files to us you can do this via www.mailbigfile.com – it’s free. If you click on the link the website explains what to do, using our email address above. If you have several small files that together come to more than 5mB it is probably more suitable to compress them together into one file using compression software and then send via mailbigfile.com. If in doubt call us!

For further details on all of the above plus a contact form to email us from click here.

What Type of Binding?
Self Publish Books / Gilmour Print

The two main types of binding are paperback (also known as limp bound) and hardback (also known as case bound).

Paperback
Paperback books have a soft cover usually printed full colour on 260gsm to 300gsm board and laminated one side with either gloss or matt lamination. We would recommend gloss lamination as it is more durable – matt lamination marks very easily as the matt effect is achieved by a microscopic rough texture on the surface which is easily marked by handling.

Hardback
Hardback books can be finished in two ways.

Option one: an outer sheet is printed full colour (usually 130gsm silk) plus lamination (gloss or matt) and glued to the outside of the stiff board covers and spine, folded in at all edges of the book and end papers are glued across the inside of the covers and the first and last blank leaves of the book, covering all the folded in edges. This is known as a printed paper cover (PPC).

Option two: a non-woven cloth-like material (Wibalin) is glued over the outside of the stiff board with end papers on the inside. The outside of the book can be foil blocked if required. Normally a full colour printed (usually 130gsm silk) plus lamination (gloss or matt) dusk jacket is wrapped around the outside, tucking in about 70mm inside the cover. The dust jacket is optional.

The sections of pages in a hardback bound book traditionally are sewn together before being glued in. Modern adhesives are now so good that from an economically they tend to be only glued, particularly when printed digitally in small quantities. For more information on this see the frequently asked questions page.