On the eve of the annual spring and autumn book fair, it is often the publishing season. The most complicated work of the editorial department and the publishing department is to prepare new books and new sample books for the trade fair. In the daily work of a traditional publishing house, the sample book is not a sample book in the general sense, but a finished book, which is the final check of the overall quality of the publication by editors and publishers. According to regulations, after receiving the samples sent by the printing factory, the publishing department should arrange for someone to inspect the sample books, check the proofreading quality of the book, the design effect of the binding design and the quality of the printing, and sign the responsible editor, editorial director, and chief editor. After approval, the printing house will be notified of the batch binding, sent to the publishing department or logistics center, and entered into circulation. Therefore, from the actual effect of the sample book, it does not achieve the effect that the sample book should play. It often results in the form of a post-artillery effect. It leaves many regrets for the editorial staff and can only wait until the second edition or reprint to consider the amendment.
First, the defects of the traditional sample book making process
1. The sample book is actually a sample book. In the publishing house, the editor of responsibility will generally edit and produce a book based on the editing conception and designing ideas of the book or planning editor. Under the background of modern technology, there are many possibilities in terms of typesetting, production techniques, paper selection, visual effects and so on. However, when the sample books produced according to traditional techniques are handed over to editorial directors and editors for review, if no obvious errors are found, it is often difficult to make major changes because the books have actually been printed in certain batches.
2. The equipment of traditional books and periodicals printing factories is mostly equipped for long-lived jobs, which is in conflict with the idea that publishers produce a small number of sample books. If you only need to book 10 copies of the sample book, you may not be able to bind on the glue-binding linkage line. This is due to the fact that the extra loading and discharging time, machine adjustment time, and professional binding factories are often built on the outskirts of the publishing house, all factors will increase. Sample book production costs.
3. In the process of compiling the press release to the completion of the sample book, the publisher can only grasp the situation of the printer making the sample book through the publishing department. The pros and cons of sample book production often depend on the technical quality of the printing staff and the communication between the factory and the company.
4. Traditional sample books cannot provide the most effective help for publishing economic activities. In practical work, many factors, such as the content, state of matter, and price of books, affect the editors' decision to publish books for a certain topic. The analysis of expected returns is one of the most important determinants. In addition to direct sales and retail sales, publishers generally use indirect distribution channels, such as Xinhua Bookstores, wholesalers, etc., to resell books to retailers. The distribution department has priority over all aspects of the contents, forms, and marketing of books. Through various forms of introducing new topics to the wholesaler, the wholesaler will make an evaluation of the title, cover, and frame of the book. The effect of the sample book is self-evident. Orders usually need to look like, sellers often have a decisive right to order books. Publishers should make sample books in the true sense and provide different styles of works for sellers to choose. In the process of promotion of books, circulation links also need sample books in the true sense. It is the need of publication commodity transactions to see sample orders.
Second, the digital printing process of making sample books teaching practice
In recent years, book sales hotspots have been transformed faster and faster. With the development of digital printing technology, more and more people are beginning to pay attention to the on-demand publishing market. On-demand publishing has positive significance for solving the publication of multiple varieties and small batches and satisfying people's needs for out-of-print books. However, it is currently limited to the restrictions of laws, regulations, and other policy environments. On-demand publishing cannot be widely used in a short period of time. In the publishing industry, the most realistic and practical significance of on-demand printing technology is that it is used for the production of copybook sample books. In the teaching activity of editing and publishing, the Publishing Department of the Beijing Institute of Printing teaches students to understand the production process of book publishing and to cultivate students' professional awareness, cost awareness, and market awareness. Since 2001, they have implemented practical teaching, requiring each editor to publish. The professional student made the first book in the editorial and publishing career that met the requirements of the publication specification. This method of making sample books using digital printing technology also has certain reference significance for the publishing house.
1. The prepress editing process of a sample book is basically the same as that of the current publishing house. The difference is that the text input and typesetting of the publishing house are generally completed by a printing company or a professional typesetting company, and the students must complete the topic selection and data of the book. Collect and record the entire process of typesetting and save the book as an electronic file.
2. The design of the book cover and layout of the publishing house is mainly completed by a professional editor or a professional framing designer, using traditional proofing or digital proofing output proofs. The covers produced by students mostly use Xerox, Hewlett-Packard and other laser printers to output proofs, and some use inkjet printers to output proofs.
3. In the surface treatment of book covers, cold laminating methods are often used, and laminating (hot-melting) techniques used by general printing plants are rarely used. Although on the surface it seems that the unit cost is slightly higher, taking into account the convenience of use, there is no need to test machine, and using cold heading still has certain advantages.
4. In view of the current binding of books to bookbinding, we mainly use small automatic binding machines with milling and backing functions in teaching practice, which are characterized by the requirements for multi-species and low-volume production. An order, no need to make tedious adjustments to the machine, can completely bind the book with the glue binding line, even if the thicker or film cover without indentation.
Third, publishers can use digital printing technology to make sample books
At present, although domestic publishers have not adopted the on-demand printing process to produce sample books, the flow and methods of making sample books on demand have been recognized by many booksellers. Some printing factories have begun to improve the traditional process in order to meet the requirements of publishers and magazines. For example, Beijing Hualian Printing Co., Ltd. has purchased color printers and small-scale automatic binding machines in order to meet the requirements of small-volume publishing and sample book production. The standard publishing house Color Printing Center started its on-demand production of standard books as early as 2000. Intellectual property publishers, oil industry presses, etc. also carried out various forms of on-demand publishing activities.
According to the existing technical conditions in China, publishers can add in-house equipment such as cold heading machines, small paper cutters, and small-scale automatic binder machines. These devices occupy an area of only a few square meters and do not require professional operators. You can easily make sample books. In addition, it is also an option to use the existing equipment in many domestic fast-printing shops and print-and-print shops to produce press sample books. Fast print shops and print shops have formed scales in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, such as Kang Wenyi, Heng Yiwen, Shimei Digital, and Mr. Express, etc. These companies have the technology and equipment that suits the publishing house. Production can be done not only in paperback books but also in hardcover books. In addition, the confidentiality measures and the standardized operation methods and experiences formulated by many large print shops in the process of printing architectural tenders can also meet the requirements of publishers to prevent piracy. It is difficult for publishers to establish their own comparatively perfect sample book production. In the case of the system, it is also an option to create sample books together with the existing print and print shops.
