– Printing

The biggest reason to worry about the size of your book is printing costs. It costs more to print a 500 page book than it does a 200 page one. Yes, it’s possible to decrease the number of pages by printing on a larger page—a 250 page book with 100,000 words will fit into fewer than 120 pages if you use 8 ½ x 11 paper instead of the standard 6×9…but then your book won’t fit on the shelf with all the others in the same genre. You do want to stand out, but not for that reason.

The book needs to be long enough to tell the whole story, but short enough to keep the reader’s attention. The actual length will depend on what genre you’re writing in. (If you can’t identify your genre, then your writing is too loose—keep the focus!) Certain genres tend to run longer than others do (history), and some run shorter (mystery), so check out what a common length is for the one you’re writing.

If you’re too long

When you’ve written more than is needed, the first thing to consider is if you put things in the reader doesn’t need to know…or should already know from a previous section—don’t explain too much. Let the reader figure things out for himself. Info dumps give the reader an opportunity to set the book down—and not pick it up again. Either the reader already knows the historical background of all the characters…or it isn’t necessary for the particular story you’re telling.

Another problem is giving too much detail when you shift scenes. We don’t need to see each and every character get up, walk across the room, and exit…only to enter the next scene the same way. Just end each scene with a quick cut and start the next with a short intro of who, where, and what.

I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.—Truman Capote

A rather irksome tendency of some writers is “As You Know, Bob”. AYKB is where characters discuss things they already know…just so the reader can hear about it. How many times do you stand on the corner watching cars drive by and comment on how interesting it is that they all have four wheels? Not very exciting…either for you or the reader. Leave it out.

If you’re short

This isn’t going to be a problem for most writers, but if you find yourself in this situation, look for sections with little dialogue or action…places where you are telling the story instead of showing it. Expand that exposition into a full scene. Consider adding in a subplot in Act 2…pull in a secondary character and give him something to do.

Some books end too abruptly…almost as if the author gave up and just quit. Make certain you tie up all the loose ends (or imply that they will be taken care of in the next book!).

Printing a document can be a rather involved process…or it can as simple as ^P, but printing a book is a whole ’nother thing. Sometimes when you want to print a document to share with a few folks (or even just keep a copy in your file cabinet), your ink jet printer is a fine choice. You can even get colour without having to worry about upgrading. If you happen to have a laser printer, then you probably don’t have colour…unless you went for the big ones. The problem with printing out a document locally is that you typically don’t get to select any kind of binding. If you go to the nearby office supply store, then there are often a few different binding choices: spiral, comb, tape, and wire, as well as the ubiquitous saddle staple, so your result looks like a comic book.

The problem with any of these methods is that you can’t print a book…not a real one anyway. If you want to print only one book, then you can try any of the print and bind methods available on the web, but I’m assuming that you have bigger things in mind.

Espresso

We’re not talking coffee here. Rather On Demand Books has created the Espresso Book Machine (EBM). It’s not something that you’ll want to get, though…at an estimated cost of $125,000, it’s something that only a big bookstore or library might invest in. Close to two dozen machines are spread across the US—if you happen to be near one, check it out! Here in the Sacramento area we’re lucky to have one right downtown: The I Street Press. The next closest one is in Los Angeles, and after that Provo, Utah, so count yourself lucky if there’s one near you. (Check the map.)

Watching the pages of your book come together, the cover wrapping around, the gluing, the pressing, and finally the book falling out the slot in the back are sights that every writer will want to experience. The book literally comes out still warm—hot off the press. (We can arrange tours for interested folks.)

The EBM is good for small print runs and for local distribution, but for bigger plans, there are POD options. Print On Demand is just one process of getting ink on paper—it does not necessarily mean Self-Publishing, so don’t connect the two. Some Big 5 books are such low volume that they are printed only when ordered, and a few self-published books use web printers. (‘web’ printers have nothing to do with the Internet—instead of using sheets of paper, web presses use paper on huge rolls that forms a web in the press, getting cut down to size after printing.)

Whatever method of getting ink on paper you opt to use, remember to proofread before going to press. It’s easy enough to update an ebook, but once the ink dries, it’s rather difficult to change it.