Printing the book you have spent countless hours designing, writing, editing, and re-writing is like the cherry on top of the sundae. It is when you finally get to see your vision come to life, something you can physically hold on to, show off, and share with loved ones. Printing a book comes with many options, from sizing to the material to the structure of the cover. Today, we will share with you the pros and cons of paperback versus hardcover book binding, the price differences, and how you should ultimately choose which option is right for your book.
When choosing between paperback versus hardcover book binding, we recommend analyzing which of the following four elements is the most important to you. If you ever need book printing, consider the book printing experts at Gorham Printing.
Hardcover books feel fancier than paperback books. The extra weight and material make your book feel more substantial and worth more. When people take to collecting books and building a library, it primarily consists of hardcover books to create that air of aristocratic authority.
On the flip side of the coin, paperbacks often feel more intimate. Readers enjoy curling up on the couch with their paperback books and devouring the content. They may get written in or have the pages turned down as bookmarks; an action few will take in a hardcover.
Hardcover books far surpass paperback books in durability and longevity. Books throughout the ages that have stood the test of time have been hardcovers. In addition to your fancy collector books, hardbacks are often chosen for books that need to be durable, such as textbooks, children’s books, cookbooks, and coffee table books. If you want your readers to hold on to your book for years to come, hardbacks will often get taken along when moving from house to house.
Paperback books are significantly harder to keep in good shape, especially if the reader or environment is not particularly careful. Paperbacks can look tired and worn out over time, with curling edges, nicks, and scuffs. Therefore, they are often chosen for genres where a reader may read it once or twice and then be done with it, such as fiction. These books are more likely to get shared or donated, especially if the reader moves houses.
Yes, hardback books are fancier and more durable than their paperback cousins, but that isn’t always practical. Hardcover books are heavy, making it more difficult for the reader to carry around with them and even hold up while reading. There is a reason why you often see students hunching over their textbooks instead of leaning back with them in their hands; it is just too heavy to be comfortable doing for hours on end.
Practicality should be a significant consideration when debating between hardcover or paperback. If you want your book to be pliable, easy to pack with the reader, and to be devoured quickly, a paperback is the way to go!
Paperback books are far more common than hardcover due to their size, weight, and price. If you choose to go paperback, you will face greater competition than if you went with hardcover books. At the same time, you may have a greater opportunity to be chosen since shipping, storing, stocking, and buying your book will be cheaper. It is a double-edged sword whose battle relies heavily on the store type, book genre, and target audience.
When printing a book, the cost is a huge factor for many authors. As you would likely suspect, there is a significant difference in printing and shipping paperback versus hardcover books. On average, a printed hardcover book is going to cost almost three times as much as a softcover book due to the extra materials and more extensive book binding process. Of course, this doesn’t include any special features or materials; it is just a printed hardcover.
Unfortunately, there is no cut-and-dry cost estimate for shipping, as it will depend on where the package is going. However, we guarantee that shipping an order of hardcover books will be far more expensive than paperback due to the sheer weight difference. However, there is a way around this expense: free shipping bonuses.
At, Gorham Printing, we offer free shipping to customers who place print orders of 150+ books, saving customers hundreds of dollars! Plus, we take great care to ensure that your books arrive to you safely and damage-free!
In the end, the ultimate question will be, “what’s right for my book?” We recommend focusing on the genre of book you are publishing and how you want the book to be used. If you are publishing a cookbook, textbook, or children’s book, you will likely want to choose the hardcover option. However, if you are producing a science fiction, romance, or novel of some sort, you will likely want to utilize paperback book bindings.
We have been aiding writers in publishing their books since 1976. With a reputation for excellent service, quality production, and straightforward price navigation, you can rest assured that your book is in good hands.
If you have a strict budget for printing, we recommend playing around with the pricing tool. In this tool, you can mix and match a variety of options to see what works best for your vision and wallet. Alternatively, you can grab a quick estimate by looking at their ballpark price chart. Remember, you can always reach out directly to Gorham Printing with your questions and concerns prior to printing.
Before I joined the Gorham Printing team, I had some experience printing my own books as gifts and creative projects, and found myself swimming in a sea of options. I had worked at bookstores and seen thousands of books, so I knew what I wanted mine to look like, but I wasn’t quite sure how to communicate that to the printers. There were more options than I realized, and all of those options had consequences I didn’t fully understand.
Now that I have more experience with book printing, I have a better idea of what I’m looking for, but if I had to go back and start fresh, this is what I’d tell myself about finding the right book printer for a project.
Every printer is different, but there are different categories of printing, and if you know what you’re dealing with, you can better anticipate what the process will look like. There are three key words to look out for.
Print-On-Demand. This is the kind of printer I worked with for my first book. These printers are fast and flexible. The real benefit of print-on-demand is that they can print one or two books at a time, whenever you need. Because they print quickly, the quality is not always excellent, and the options may be limited.
Offset Printing. If you’ve picked up a book at Costco or Target, chances are, it was printed using offset printing. Offset printing presses are suitable for printing thousands or hundreds of thousands of books. It has a high set up cost because it involves metal plates being made for your book, so if you only want a hundred books, offset printing will break the bank. But if you’re looking to print a hundred thousand, offset printing is the way to go.
Short Run Printing. Short run printers are perfect if you want high quality books but don’t want ten thousand of them. With quality similar to offset printing, short run printing usually takes a little longer than print-on-demand, but the end result is a longer-lasting book. These kind of printers will sometimes have more options than POD (print-on-demand) because POD printers streamline their options to keep their production times fast.
When I ordered my first book, I needed it quickly. It was a present and I had procrastinated. So I was excited when I saw I could have my books in as little as a week through a POD printer.
For my latest book, though, I planned ahead and went with a short run printer. There are a lot of reasons, but one of the big ones is quality. Sometimes quick is critical, and this works perfectly for many projects. When you look at production timelines, it’s important to remember that the timeline can speak to the quality.
One thing I really wish I had known when I started printing books is to ask for a sample. At the time, I thought it’s paper and text; how many options are there?
The answer is a lot.
From the quality of paper to the type of printers used to create your book, each component has an effect on the finished product. Depending on the book printer you work with, the same files and book could come out any variety of ways. When I started printing, I had a specific feel I wanted for my books, but didn’t even know the questions to ask to see if that was possible. The best way to get a sense of the quality of your finished book is to request a sample of a similar book the company has printed. This will let you test the strength of the binding, the quality of the paper, and the way the book feels in your hands. You can also use it as a jumping off point to ask questions about the ways you want your own book to be different or similar.
As a writer, I know that a book is the result of hard work, many cups of coffee, endless rants, and who knows how many sleepless nights. Writers work hard, and giving that hard work to a book printer can be nerve-wracking. For any writer, I would suggest picking a printer—specifically a book printer—you can work with long term who will help you find the right options for your book. If you’re not sure about whether a certain printer is right for you, the best way to find out is to give them a call and ask.