Indie publishing: part two

It's time for the second installment of our indie publishing series!

Printing terminology isn't unique to indie publishers and, in fact, it can confuse any publisher. So, let's take a look at some of the lingo that comes up in the process of printing a book. (Check out http://www.printindustry.com/printing-terms.html for more definitions.)

• Web press: A press that prints from rolls of paper and then cuts it into sheets of paper.
• Sheetfed press: A press that prints sheets of paper, as compared to a web press.
• Offset printing: A printing technique that transfers ink from a plate to a blanket to paper instead of directly from plate to paper.
  
• Spine: Back or binding edge of a publication.
  
• Perfect binding: To bind sheets that have been ground at the spine and are held to the cover by glue. Also called adhesive bind, cut-back bind, glue bind, paper bind, patent bind, perfecting bind, soft bind and soft cover.
  
• Saddle stitch binding: To bind by stapling sheets together where they fold at the spine, as compared to side stitch. Also called pamphlet stitch, saddle wire and stitch bind.
• Spiral binding: To bind using a spiral of continuous wire or plastic looped through holes. Also called coil bind.
• Signature: A printed sheet folded at least once, possibly many times, to become part of a book, magazine or other publication.
• Specifications: A complete and precise written description of features of a printing job such as type size and leading, paper grade and quantity, printing or binding method. Abbreviated specs.
• Trim size: The size of the printed material in its finished stage (e.g., the finished trim size is 5 1\2" x 8 1\2").
• Bleed: Printing that extends to the edge of a sheet or page after trimming.
• Die cut: To cut irregular shapes in paper or paperboard using a die (a device for cutting, scoring, stamping, embossing and debossing).
• Digital proofs: Page proofs produced through electronic memory transferred onto paper via laser or ink-jet.
• Ghosting: (1) Phenomenon of a faint image appearing on a printed sheet where it was not intended to appear. Chemical ghosting refers to the transfer of the faint image from the front of one sheet to the back of another sheet. Mechanical ghosting refers to the faint image appearing as a repeat of an image on the same side of the sheet. (2) Phenomenon of printed image appearing too light because of ink starvation.
• PPI: Pages per inch. The number of pages contained in a one-inch stack of paper.
  
• Lay-flat binding: Method of perfect binding that allows a publication to lie fully open. (Also known as Lay-flat perfect binding.)

The Internet is great for deciphering some of this jargon, but a good printer rep is invaluable in helping you determine what's best for your printed book and pocketbook. Thank you to the wonderful printers that help Maupin House do what we do!

Once upon a school...

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) began as a conference to bring people from technology, entertainment, and design industries together. It has since expanded to include a website that offers free public video of talks and performances given by such passionate people as Al Gore, Jane Goodall, and Bono. And now the TED Prize gives $100,000 each to three exceptional individuals every year to be used towards granting their "One Wish to Change the World."

Dave Eggers, author, philanthropist, fellow indie publisher, and recent recipient of one of this year's TED Prizes, has a wish worth blogging about:

I wish that you -- you personally and every creative individual and organization you know -- will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area, and that you'll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,000 examples of innovative public-private partnerships.

This is a wish TED is helping to make a reality, and we can all get behind it. Go to Once Upon a School and read about people's connections with their local schools, share your own story, pledge to work on a project in a local school, or submit your own project idea. The goal is to get 1,000 stories and 1,000 project pledges. This doesn't seem like that big of a task with all of the public schools out there, but it's about more than just numbers--it's about turning ideas into action, pledges into partnerships, and wishes into realities. And that is a big task.

We all have a story to add to Once Upon a School's site. Dave Eggers started 826 Valencia, a writing tutoring center in San Francisco that is now a national organization with centers in Chicago, New York, L.A., Seattle, Boston, and Ann Arbor. Along those same lines, Maupin House authors Nancy Dean and Candace Harper created the Succeeding in Reading cross-age tutoring program. And Maupin House author Arthur Kelly started the Family Writing Project and wrote Writing with Families to help others strengthen the home/school connection in their communities. What's your story?

More free books (and podcasts) for parents and teachers

In an earlier post, we provided some online resources with free digital books. We're upping the tech ante by pointing you to some more free books--and even some podcasts--that kids will love.

• Fairy Tale Corner, hosted by Emm Bee, offers "classic, modern, and original fairy tales that are safe for the whole family."
• The Alex Catalog of Electronic Texts is "a collection of about 14,000 'classic' public domain documents from American and English literature as well as Western philosophy." This is a great research resource for secondary students and also lets you know what texts are in the public domain.

Happy reading--and listening!