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Showing posts with label comb binding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comb binding. Show all posts

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Much Ado About Book Binds

The other day I was reading about book binding. The spine of a book is quite important to many it would seem, but as a collector of books, I'd like to share my views and opinions of them. I sell many books on Amazon. Some are novels (J.M. Griffin) and are bound as paperback books are bound with glue, etc. But, I would like to talk about spiral binding and plastic comb bindings. My own Zentangle books are plastic comb bound. I have read my reviews (some "not very nice and certainly not constuctive")and found that some consider plastic comb binding "cheap". Well, they aren't cheap, it costs a dollar more per book when they are printed to have them comb bound. Why do I pay more? So if the reader wishes to remove pages without ruining them, they can make copies to work on and share, and then put the original page back in the book. I hear from fans that they like the fact they can do this, so I continue to have them bound this way. Sure, I could save lots of money and stop annoying my printer, who keeps recommending stapled spines, but I would rather offer my readers the chance to remove a page. These books are all workbooks, where those who want to play, can do so. If they want to share apage or two, they can do so. As a magazine published decorative painter (for more years than I will admit to, lol), I have a collection of soft cover books with stapled binds. The problem I have with the stapled binding is that eventually the books become frayed around the staples and fall apart. I know, they look "more professional", but when wear and tear is taken into account over a period of time, the staples tend to give way. I spoke with Sandy Steen Bartholomew about this issue when we met in Maine last month. She told me her fans don't care for spiral or cpmb binding, but when their book falls apart, they end up going with one of those choices. Life can be funny at times. While there is nothing wrong with stapled binding and those books do lend themselves to a professional appearance, I firmly believe that comb and spiral bindings last longer. That is just my humble opinion. Share your opinion with me. I would like to have your feedback on this subject.