Hi everyone!
Today I’m going to talk to you about printing. I think this is something a lot of people don’t understand very well, especially when it comes to the difficulties of producing a very large book. Anything over about 300 pages – which is quite common in tabletop roleplaying games – presents certain challenges.
For starters, you will probably not be able to do a paperback version. The pages collectively get heavy and tend to pull away from the cover. Many companies, as a result, don’t even offer a paperback option once you exceed 300 pages.
So, with Era: Survival 8th Anniversary Definitive Edition, which comes in at just under 400 pages, I had no choice but to find a printer willing to do a hardback version. That is more challenging than it might seem.
Here are a few things you might want to watch out for if you’re looking for a printer for your own game.
Many companies these days don’t print your pages at full A4 size. Instead, they trim the pages slightly smaller so that the hardback cover is A4. This approach has become increasingly popular (because it uses cheaper printing machines, I understand) but it can cause serious issues if you’ve already designed your layout to be full A4.
One of my favourite games (that I didn’t make!) – Eclipse Phase – suffered from this: many of its titles had the tops sliced off because the pages were trimmed down by about 6–8 millimetres compared to what the layout was designed for. Unfortunately the layout was never adjusted so the result was a lot of cut-off text.
This can become a costly problem because you may need to redo the layout and possibly rewrite almost every page of the book! That’s something I prefer not to have to do for obvious reasons.
Secondly, you need to think carefully about the binding. With so many thick and heavy pages – and luxurious paper being what we all want in a tabletop RPG – the binding has a lot to support. Sometimes the entire weight of the pages is held only by a single sheet on the inside cover. Be very careful about that – the last thing you want is for the book to fall apart in someone’s hands when they open it!
I always ask for a sample before committing to any printer and handing over several thousand pounds.
You’ll also want to consider colour balance, as it varies from printer to printer and even machine to machine. I printed with one company for a long time and they eventually changed from toner to ink. The toner gave very close what’s called a “silk finish” on uncoated paper at a cheaper cost. When they switched to ink (without telling me!) the colour began to soak into the page, leaving all of my once-vibrant glossy images looking dull and matte. It didn’t do justice to the beautiful artwork in my games.
Make sure you understand as best you can what your final book will look like. Sometimes that means ordering a printed proof; other times it means asking for sample work or a printer’s example book. Usually you can get these fairly easily, although I have had to pay postage a few times for 400-page samples!
Whatever approach you take I wish you the best of luck out there bringing your own book to life.
– Ed
