Book Royalties

[Kragen Sitaker]

William Park <NOSPAM.opengeometry at yahoo.ca> writes:
> 1. Of the printers that you looked at, how were their binding?  Were the
> binding comparable to those books that you see on bookstores?  I can do
> my own typesetting and all, but can't do binding.

Most of the bright-orange-doorstop school of computer books are bound
by a process known as "perfect binding", which consists of hot-gluing
the edges of the pages to the spine.  This is really cheap, but it
results in spines that crack, pages that fall out, and books that
don't open flat, especially if they get hot (my copy of "Philip and
Alex's guide to Web Publishing" got left open in my car one summer
Ohio day, and the spine had peeled away from the pages when I got off
work).  You can get perfect binding done at Kinko's fairly cheaply.

Actual sewn-signature binding, like hardcover books and O'Reilly use,
I imagine to be more expensive; but I haven't tried it.

The Velobind process results in sturdier books than perfect binding,
and can actually be applied to previously perfect-bound books.  It
involves punching holes through the pages near the edge, sticking
plastic rods through the holes, and melting the plastic rods onto
plastic strips on the outside of the book.  (Somewhat simplified.)  It
costs a couple bucks at Kinko's, but only works for books up to an
inch or so thick.

I have a question.  How can a self-publisher find a decent editor and
indexer?  Those are fairly specialized skills, and the editors and
indexers used by most of the books I've liked in the past are
employees of book publishers, so I don't expect that they are
available for freelance work --- right?