1. First you need to print your pages on a precut page to your desired size – most comonly 5.30 x 8.50 (which is one half of a regular printing size paper of 8.50 x 11. Any store such as kinkos or office depot can cut a stack of paper for you precisely to the size you request.

2. Secondly, you need to print your cover on a 8.50 x 14 matte paper or glossy (depending on the ink of your printer – photo printers usually require specific kinds of papers). However, most inkjet printers accept any kind of paper. The most important feature is the thickness of your paper for the cover. It must be a card stock paper of at least 110 weight or close, or your cover will be too thin.

3. The settings of your cover are as follows: For a book of 5.50 x 8.50 size, your cover must be 8.50 tall and 11.50 long (to contain the front and back cover)[[Image:Writing-an-publishing-a-book.jpg]] The .50 extra is to fit the spine of your book. This is why you need to use a 8.50 x 14 paper for the cover and not a 8.50 x 11 paper.

4. Finally after you have designed and printed your cover, you must take it to laminate. When laminating, the lamination can only be done on the printed side of the cover, not on the inside of the cover, or the binding will not work. To do that you must place two pages at a time inside the pouches when laminating. Both facing out towards the laminated plastic, and the blank sides of the covers will face each other inside of the laminated pouch. You may also take this project to Kinkos or an office store.

5. After you have your printed pages and your cover done, it’s time to bind them. For this project you will need a flat metal plate to be placed under a a stove top – usually a flat grilling plate may work ok. Just make sure it is thoroughly cleaned. Warm up the plate to medium to low degree. Not too hot and not too low.

6. While the plate is warming up you can mark and fold the spine of the cover to the size of the thickness of your pages. A good way to do this is to place the cover on the corner of a table and bend it righ on the mark of the spine. Once for the side of the front cover and once for the side of the back cover to make a little cup space to place the pages inside the cover. This space must be measured first for a perfect fit.

7. Then take the stack of printed pages and pressed against the edge of the table witht he spine a little bit off the edge, so you can place the hot glue on the spine. When placind the hot glue, spread out the glue flat along the spine by turing the tip of the hot glue gund side ways to let the hot tip of it melt the glue that you have already place on the spince to melt and spread flat to flat any bumps of glue left in there. Once done that, let it dry for just 2 or 3 minutes.

8. Place the glued pages inside the folded cover. Pressed it done tight on the spine. Cover the cover with a thin paper (can be a printing paper of thin weight). This is to protect the cover from damage.

9. Before you are ready to place it on to the flat grilling place, make sure you have a book shelf with at least plenty of books to press the new book you bind between them firmly. This will ensure that the pages and the cover will stay in place tight.

10. Now you are ready to place your book on to the hot flat plate. With the protective sheet rapped around the cover. Place the spine of the covered book on to the hot plate. Leave it there for approximately 2 minutes for time for the glue to melt inside the pages and glue it to the cover. As soons as you take it out of the place, firmly beng the spine down onto a table 4 or 5 times for the pages to sink down onto the cover. Place the book flat onto the table covered with a sheet of paper and press on the edges of the spine with a motion that goes from the botton of the cover to the top to bring the glue out of the spine. Do this on the side of the front cover and on the side of the back over. Be careful not to get the glue on the book. (This process should be done as quickly as possible not to let the glue dry)

11. Immediately after that, you are ready to place it on the shelf. Place the binded book between the stack of books and press them against each other tightly and firmly, leaving the book sitting there for at least 10 to 15 minutes without removing it.

12. The book now is ready to be trimmed. Take it again to kinkos or an office store and ask the clerk to cut the edges. Make sure that you tell them to protect the cover with a card board paper not to leave any dents of the cover while cutting machine is pressing against.

13. Your book now is ready for distribution among your family and friends. If you plan on selling your book officially to a bookseller, we recomend that you take your manuscript to a real printer to do a professional job. I hope you enjoy this experience of book making.
[http://www.newglobalpublishing.com New Global Publishing]