What began with one local teacher wishing to make her students’ books look more professional has grown to thousands of books sent to us from teachers across the country!
Binding the students’ writing seems to be an excellent way to introduce students to literature and a love of books. Some schools have “publishing parties” and keep the books in the school library for viewing before students take them home. Generally, the students pay the minimal charge for binding. We also ask that the books be sent to us as early in the school year as possible to reduce the year-end rush.
Many schools have students write a story as a class project. In many cases, these stories are brought to Smiths Falls Bookbinding. We take the pages of the story and bind them into a quality, hard cover book to make a lasting keepsake.
In order to make the binding process simple and more efficient, here are some ideas to keep in mind when preparing the stories for shipment to the bindery:
- Make a legible, complete list of titles and authors for the spine lettering. We need the title, first and last names of each student submitting a book in order to stamp it on the spine!
- Use a standard size of paper such as 8.5″ X 11″.
- If possible, the grain of the paper should be along the binding edge. We normally bind along the 11″ side of the paper, but can also bind on the 8.5 ” side (oblong style). Please make this requirement clear beside the student’s name.
- Allow a minimum of 1/2″ for margins, including the cover. This will ensure that all the writing will be visible and not part of the page edge.
- Copy can be hand-written, typed or printed. Borders and other ornamental graphic designs can be produced on a computer/printer.
- Books should be inspected for completeness and correct order of pages. Please provide a title page, as well as a front and back cover sheet for each book.
- Please supply a printed or coloured sheet to be used as a front cover. If desired, the back cover can be used for a brief biography and can include a photograph of the author.
- Students may wish to photocopy pages to obtain extra copies of their book. We do not photocopy at the bindery.
- Do not laminate cover or pages. We laminate the cover when binding.
- Please allow 2 – 4 weeks for binding.
If you don’t find the information you need, please contact us via email or by telephone at (613) 283-1981. We’d love to answer your questions!