Confused about paper?  Here’s our second segment of terms for first-time authors; this time we define some common paper terms you’re sure to run into when you produce a book.

Basis weight:  Basis or basic weight refers to the weight, in pounds, of a 500 sheets (ream) of paper cut to a given standard size for that particular paper grade. Common book text weights are 50#, 60#, 70#, and sometimes 80# text.

Caliper:   The measurement of the thickness of the paper.  This is listed on the online quote now.

Coated Papers:  Paper that has been coated with clay and other substances for a smooth printing surface and improved ink holdout.  Cast, gloss, dull and matte are four major categories.

Covers:  For softcover books, we offer a few standard options for book covers, C1S in two weights, 10 and 12 point.

C1S and C2S– Acronyms for Coated One…

Printing is one of those industries with a lot of terms to know!  Bleeds, trim size, full ink coverage, 4-color, 4/0, 4/4, lamination…. It goes on and on. Not to mention those elusive paper terms like text paper, cover paper, PPI, basis weight, etc…

To help out our first time authors, we put together a quick reference guide of commonly used terms in the book printing industry:

Binding : Any finishing operation following the printing including cutting, collating, folding, drilling and other finishing operations.

Bleed : Any element that extends past the edge of the printed piece.

Book Block : Folded signatures gathered, sewn and trimmed, but not yet covered.

Casewrap or case binding: A type of binding used in making hard cover books with adhesive.

Crop marks: Small printed lines around the edges of a printed piece indicating where it is to be cut out of the sheet.

4 color process :

Writing is hard work! When we think we’ve got it figured out an editor or trusted friend lets us know there are still plot holes. Maybe we realize we left out key elements, missed tying up a loose end, or we just put our head on our desk and stay there the rest of the day. Here’s some encouragement, keep writing and don’t give up!

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose. – Stephen King

Prose is architecture, not interior decoration. – Ernest Hemingway

It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way. – Ernest Hemingway

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. —Ernest Hemingway

A word is not the same with one writer as with another.  One tears it from his guts.  The other pulls it out of his…

I’ve self-published a few books (some more successful than others) and even though I may not have a best seller out there I’m pretty happy selling a few hundred books or so, building a following, and if it takes me years to build toward that best seller, then so be it.

If I don’t become a best seller, then I’m not really that put out either.

Once in a while I will receive an e-mail from a “publisher” or an “agent” saying that they would love to publish something that I write in the future, always mentioning their publishing house and always touting the awesomeness of my work.

Be careful here.

A naive novelist might get all giddy and nearly have a back spasm at a letter such as that, but let me be the first to warn you: they may be a vanity press masquerading as a publisher.

Remember…

When I send out documents to my beta readers, I prefer to convert them to an e-reader format, because I want my readers to see the book as close to possible to the way it’s going to look when I publish it.

Now, what I have been doing is to e-mail the file as an attachment to my readers and letting them fool with connecting the USB and transferring the file to their Kindle.

However, I have found that there is an easier way (for the reader) and since I figure that my readers are doing me a favor I want to make it as easy as possible for them to read my work.

First off, when a Kindle is registered, it gets its own e-mail address.  That’s how Amazon sends you content, actually, via e-mail.  Generally your Kindle’s e-mail address is [the first part of the e-mail you used to register the…