Custom Printing Guide: Books, Workbooks, Manuals, and Magazines
How to bring your book, workbook, training manual, or magazine into the world, choose the right format, and sell it on your own terms.
For over 25 years, Vervante has helped authors, coaches, and creators turn an idea into a finished product their audience can hold, whether that is a book, a workbook, a training manual, or a magazine. The hardest part is rarely the printing. It is starting, and knowing which choices to make along the way. This guide walks you through the formats, the printing process, and how selling and fulfillment work, so you can move forward with confidence.
You also do not have to write a book in the traditional sense to publish one. Workbooks, guided journals, training manuals, coaching materials, course companions, and magazines you sell or include with your programs are all products we print every day. If you have content your audience needs, you have something worth making.
Own Your Customer Relationship
Where you sell your product matters as much as how you print it. When you sell from a site you control, you keep the relationship with every buyer, including the contact information that lets you reach them again. Send buyers straight to a marketplace and that connection belongs to the marketplace, not to you.
With Vervante, you sell from your own site, we print and ship each order directly to your customer, and you can still list on Amazon or other channels as a secondary option. You keep the profit and the customer data. For the full picture of how this model works, see our book publishing overview.
Choose Your Format
Vervante prints in a range of formats and bindings. Whether you are making a book, a workbook, a training manual, or a magazine, the right choice depends on your content, how it will be used, and how you want it to feel in a reader's hands. Here are the most common paths, and where to learn more about each.
Softcover and perfect bound
A clean, familiar format for novels, nonfiction, workbooks, and guides. Softcover books can be printed on demand, so you can start with no minimum and produce a single copy as each order comes in. Learn more about softcover and perfect bound books.
Hardcover
A durable, lasting format that suits gift books, keepsakes, and offers where the physical object is part of the value, available in printed covers or faux leather and linen. Hardcover has a 25 book minimum and is produced in batches rather than on demand. Learn more about hardcover books.
Spiral and wire-o
Bindings that lie flat when open, which makes them a natural fit for workbooks, training manuals, planners, and anything a reader writes in or props open while they work. This is also the home of our lay-flat cookbooks. Learn more about spiral and wire-o binding.
Saddle-stitch
A folded and stapled binding for thinner books, booklets, magazines, and short guides. Learn more about saddle-stitch books.
Small books and booklets
Pocket-size formats for field guides, devotionals, and take-along references your readers can carry anywhere. Learn more about small books and booklets.
How Printing and Fulfillment Work
You supply a print-ready PDF of your interior and cover. Our team reviews your files before printing, and we recommend ordering a printed proof so you can see and approve the real thing before a full run. From there, you can print on demand, where each copy is produced as it is ordered, or print a batch that we hold in our warehouse and ship on demand as orders arrive. To weigh those two paths, see Print on Demand or Print and Fulfill.
Vervante prints from the files you supply, so your book stays entirely in your creative control. We do help with the publishing steps around the file, including purchasing an ISBN, assigning an LCCN, and registering your copyright, all from your Author Dashboard.
Getting Your Files Ready
A few essentials make the difference between a file that is ready to print and one that needs another pass. Include your front matter, which means a title page, a copyright page, and a table of contents before the first chapter. Format the interior for readability, with margins of at least half an inch and a type size that does not tire the eye. Give your cover real attention, since it is the first thing a reader sees. If you are publishing a book for retail sale, get an ISBN for Amazon or other retailers, and an LCCN if you want it eligible for library cataloging. A workbook, manual, or magazine you sell from your own site or include with a program does not need either. Then order a proof and read it with fresh eyes, ideally out loud, before you release it to the world.
Not sure your files are ready? Send us a note or schedule a call before you order. It is easier to answer a question early than to reprint a run later.
Free Book Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you offer print on demand?
Yes. Softcover and perfect bound books can be printed on demand, so a single copy is produced when an order comes in, with no minimum. Hardcover books are produced in batches of at least 25 rather than on demand.
What formats and bindings can you print?
We print softcover and perfect bound books, hardcover in printed, faux leather, and linen, spiral and wire-o bindings that lie flat, saddle-stitch, and small pocket-size books and booklets. The right format depends on your content and whether you are making a book, a workbook, a training manual, or a magazine.
Do I need an ISBN?
You need an ISBN if you plan to sell your book on Amazon or through other retailers. You can purchase one from us or directly from Bowker. An ISBN is not required to sell your book from your own site.
How long does printing take?
Softcover and print on demand orders typically produce in 3 to 5 business days. Hardcover orders typically produce in 15 to 20 business days. Once your inventory is in stock, fulfillment orders ship quickly as they arrive.
Can you store and ship my books for me?
Yes. We can hold your printed books in our warehouse and ship individual orders to your customers as they come in, so you never handle fulfillment yourself.
Can I still sell on Amazon?
Yes. Many creators sell from their own site as the main option, to keep the customer relationship, and use Amazon as a secondary channel. We can help set up your book on Amazon as well.
Ready to Start Your Project?
Whatever stage you are at, here is where to start.
