After retiring from teaching in 2006, Jan Bono began to write—and she hasn’t stopped since! Author of the six book Sylvia Avery series, Jan is also a prolific Chicken Soup for the Soul contributor and has been published in the series over 45 times, making her one of the top worldwide contributors. We love working with Jan, and recently asked her to share with us a little about her printing experience. Author Jan Bono Gorham Printing: You’ve recently completed the sixth book of your Sylvia Avery Mystery series. Can you tell readers a little about the series and what you wanted it to represent ..read more

How is a great book cover made? Many people like to think that a great cover just materializes, fully formed, in the mind of the designer. The reality is that many factors, such as visual appeal, color, fonts, and audience, all have to be considered before starting. Additionally, a book designer must have the technical skills to put those ideas into print. Here are four tips on designing your cover from a professional book designer. 1. Think About Your Audience When creating your book cover, it is critical to consider where your reader will be seeing your book, what they will be looking for, a ..read more

When I’m in a library or bookstore searching for my next adventure in reading, it’s a total sensory experience. From the smell of paper to the feel of the cover, choosing a book becomes about more than just the content on the page. Part of this experience is the cover finish on a particular book. Whether it’s the glossy art book or a matte novel, the cover finish you choose will affect how a reader perceives your book. The type of cover finish you choose should be considered in tandem with cover design since it will complement your cover artwork. Think about the visual impact of your final bo ..read more

A few months ago I moved into a new apartment.  Some of the first boxes I tackled when I was unpacking were my 500+ books. I organized them by spine color, creating a wall of book art in my living room. As I placed each one I was struck by the different feelings each book evoked. We’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but if we’re judging favorably, is it such a bad thing? Each spine, whether a beautifully illustrated softcover or a timeless, foil-stamped hardcover, spoke volumes. One of the first questions we ask when speaking to an author getting ready to print their book is ..read more

Every book is its own adventure. This is specifically true about one of our authors who has been printing books for a decade with new titles almost every month. His name is David Robertson and he is an exceptional person, author and artist! I have had the pleasure of working with him on a majority of his books and being able to talk to him about his journey and creative process. He has multiple series of books including family history hardcovers, photography journeys, and a new series of postcard books. When he and his wife are not traveling across the country or the world, he prepares these ..read more

Every book is its own adventure. This is specifically true about one of our authors who has been printing books for a decade with new titles almost every month. His name is David Robertson and he is an exceptional person, author and artist! I have had the pleasure of working with him on a majority of his books and being able to talk to him about his journey and creative process. He has multiple series of books including family history hardcovers, photography journeys, and a new series of postcard books. When he and his wife are not traveling across the country or the world, he prepares these ..read more

Stories have a way of changing faces. They are unruly things, undisciplined, given to delinquency and the throwing of erasers. This is why we must close them up into thick, solid books, so they cannot get out and cause trouble. Catherynne Valente – The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making Whether you’re writing a gripping mystery novel, your great aunt’s biography, or the history of sawdust manufacturing in 1750s Bristol, your story likely began as an idea and spent a while kicking around in your head. When it comes time to print your book, that wild, intangible idea ..read more

I first began talking with Isabella about Paper Pigeon in the fall of 2020, and I immediately knew there would be a special book coming my way. Isabella did a lot of research and asked great questions about the printing process, so that by the time we started the order for Paper Pigeon, her files were in great shape.  We just finished the second printing of Paper Pigeon and look forward to many more reprints. I was able to speak with Isabella recently about her story, and she shared her inspiration and experience in self-publishing her journal: GP: What is the concept of your book? IB: I ..read more

Before I joined the Gorham Printing team, I had some experience printing my own books as gifts and creative projects, and found myself swimming in a sea of options. I had worked at bookstores and seen thousands of books, so I knew what I wanted mine to look like, but I wasn’t quite sure how to communicate that to the printers. There were more options than I realized, and all of those options had consequences I didn’t fully understand. Now that I have more experience with book printing, I have a better idea of what I’m looking for, but if I had to go back and start fresh, this is what I’d tell ..read more

It seems as if the world around us changes faster and faster these days. Here at Gorham Printing, we have been working on finding new techniques, tools, knowledge, products and features to help you on your publishing journey. Right now, we have some big news we would like to share with you! Updated 2021 Guidebook We would like to announce that our brand new guidebook, Journey Into Self-Publishing, is now available! The new guidebook is made free for authors at any stage of the publishing journey. It covers editing, designing, printing and marketing your book. The guidebook includes a Quick Ref ..read more