How are books made

A. Although books come in all shapes, sizes and colours, nearly all - the exceptions are novelty and some children's books - are produced in exactly the same way. Once the publisher has delivered the completed book to the printer - usually in a digital format these days - the job of making the book begins. The essential ingredients for traditional books are:

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Paper - the type and quality of a book dictates what kind of paper will be used for the body or 'block' of the book. For a mass-market bodice-ripper, cheap, bulky paper is the norm, not only�does this maximise profits, but it also makes the book look thicker, thus better value.

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For an expensive illustrated book, a high-quality art paper is the best substrate for bringing out the best in the reproductions. Most books are somewhere in between. It�used to be more common for books with picture sections to have an inserted gloss paper section for the illustrations and more absorbent paper for the text; however, there is a trend, partly because of cost and partly through changes in the technology of printing, to print it all on the same paper.

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Card - for the cover. Paperbacks use a card somewhere around 240 grams per square metre. Hardbacks use a thick board with - usually - embossed treated paper designed to look like cloth. Cloth covered boards were, until the mid 20th century, traditional.

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Glue - to gum the pages into the binding.

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String - to hold the pages together, though this is becoming less and less common on paperbacks.

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Q. How are they put together

A. Books are made up of a number of sections - also known as 'signatures' - of eight or, more usually, sixteen or thirty-two pages, or a combination of the two. One large sheet is printed on both sides and folded two, three or four times. The various sections that go to make up a book are collated - hopefully in the correct order - and sent to the binding line. In the past binderies were often separate from the printer, but it is more common now for the whole thing to be done under the same roof.

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Q. And bound

A. That depends on the type of binding.

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There are three common ways of binding paperbacks:

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Perfect, where the sections are stitched, collated and then glued into the binding, and then the whole thing is trimmed to size.

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Notched - an increasingly common technique as glues are improved because it's cheaper than stitching - where grooves are cut into the folds of the sections so the glue has more purchase on the paper; these are then finished in the same way as perfect-bound books.

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Finally, saddle-stitched or stapled, suitable only for books of one section: the cover is collated with the section and the whole book stitched with wire through the fold and then trimmed.

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Hardbacks, still sometimes known as 'cloth covered', are a bit more complicated. The sections are collated in the same way as paperbacks, but are still usually stitched - though it is not uncommon for the sections to be notched these days. At this point the sections are trimmed then the folds glued into a piece of cloth or paper that holds the whole thing together. After that the block is bound into the boards.

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Three pieces of board are used, for the back, the front and the spine. These are covered with 'cloth' - or, more rarely, leather or other specialist bindings - which will have had the 'brass', the text on the spine and sometimes the front, embossed on to it. The block is bound in either using the first and last pages of the block, known as 'self-ended', or with paper glued on the inside of the boards, known as 'endpapers'.

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Finally the dustjacket is wrapped around the boards.

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Q. Is that why hardbacks are so much more expensive than paperbacks

A. Only up to a point. Hardbacks actually cost about half as much again to produce than paperbacks, but usually sell for at least twice the amount. The pricing doesn't so much reflect the true cost of production, more the reality of what the public expects to pay, and it's a nice little earner for the publisher in an otherwise low-return business.

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For more on How It Works click here

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By Simon Smith