Spiral-bound and the "Indie-Punk" look

[Grand_Commander13]

A while ago, I said in this thread of mine that I intended on spiral-binding my RPG.  Well, GenCon didn't quite happen for me because of the incredible costs versus the negligable budgets, so my RPG languished at the mercy of my life since it had no deadline to force me to finish it (currently in the "lay it out" phase).  However, I am now looking at a new deadline.

I am looking at getting the game laid out and ready for a promo run and electronic sales in a month and a half.  We have just one bit of art for the project, and it's a free (very nice though) sketch drawn for it by a bud of mine who is, alas, too busy with life to make a full color cover for it.  Assuming he gives us permission for us to use it as the cover, we'll have a high-quality pencil sketch as our cover, probably with nothing else but the name of the game and our company.

In that thread I linked to earlier, this particular quote came up:

I personally would only do spiral if you're intentionally going for that indie-punk look. And definitely DON'T do spiral for distributor sales. Rightly or wrongly spiral bound says "low budget" and "low budget" gets interpreted as "low quality". You really need to generate a good buzz about the game long before gencon to get away with spiral bound sales (like Dust Devils as a good example).

Now, since this is just a promo run and all, and the best we can do for a cover is a sketch, I'd assume we're forced into the indie-punk look whether we like it or not, right?  So I'm assuming it's safe to go with what I always wanted, and go for the function-over-fashion approach of Lulu's plastic coil binding.

How would most people react to this though?  Would the spiral binding complement the cover and give the game a unique charm (at least for the promo run), or would it make the game look like an unappealing piece of trash?  I of course think it will look nice, but I'm certainly bias.  If seeing the particular sketch would help (I don't know if it's quite relevent to the question of whether to spiral or perfect bind it, but it may be to whether I use it on the cover or not) I could upload that somewhere for everyone's viewing pleasure.

[timfire]

Why bother? Perfect bound is cheap enough nowadays, I see no reason why you would want spiral bound when you can get perfect bound for not much more. Unless you *want* spiral bound, that is. I think its a safe bet that most people prefer perfect bound.

[Grand_Commander13]

They cost the same.

I want spiral-bound because it's better.  You can open it and lay it flat, and it won't close or anything.  You can also "re-close" the book so that it's at its closed size, but with whatever page you want out (makes the book easy to hand around the table).  I already intend on having a Perfect and Spiral version available for PoD when the final game is ready.

Anyway, my desires are irrelevent.  I've stated my case, but I can't quite rant it at every customer I meet, so I'm wondering if the spiral would add charm to the book, or make it look like something any sensible convention-goer would want to pass on by.

[matthijs]

Spiral-bound says home-made. However, I do agree that it's better in many ways; I'm reading Fastlane at the moment, and it's great to just have it lying open on my lap while feeding the baby. Very practical. It does tend to get scrunched if you put it in a pile of books, though - I often travel with several books in a bag, and spiral bindings aren't the best for that.

[Jasper]

Spiral-bound may say home-made some times, but other kinds of books are done that way professionally, namely instruction-type books, especially self-help (from what I've seen). Gamers do often know what they like, and are used to perfect-bound, but when I showed some people Trials of the Grail, spiral bound, they all said, "oh, that's really hot." If you're going with a service like lulu that allows this easily, you might try getting a couple copies of both spiral and perfect-bound, and show them around at FLGSs, gauging the respones you get.

[Grand_Commander13]

The only problem is, I was hoping to get an order of 50 (16% discount then) and selling some at the anime convention (hey, there will be roleplayers there) and using the rest as copies I use to try to promote it at my college when classes start again.

I suppose getting 25 of each would be better, but it would cost a bit ($55.50) extra since I wouldn't get the bulk discount.

[Jasper]

Well, I was proposing you go with a very small number initially; maybe just one of each, or a handful (5?). Then, once you make a decision, go and order the 50. Of course, you do have to pay some extra shipping this way.

[Andrew Morris]

Interesting -- I think spiral-bound books can potentially be faced with issues of perceived low value. Much like PDFs, the format has advantages, but the gut-level response of many consumers can be negative, and it's hard (perhaps impossible) to get past that.

Now, with all that said, a strong game with a good buzz won't really have such a notable problem with perceived value. I'd heard about Dogs in the Vineyard, and the concept had me so jazzed, I'd have paid for a printed-out stack of pages paper-clipped together.

[Michael S. Miller]

Here's the most important thing said:

I want spiral-bound because it's better.

If you want it, it's your game, so go get it! A poll around here isn't going to change the mind of some game shopper who's looking for a reason not to buy something. You will be more enthusiastic about your product if you believe in it, and that will sell more books than any kind of binding.

As a suggestion, make the binding a feature instead of a bug. If you apologize for it, the customers will see it as a bad thing. If you brag about it, they'll see why  you chose it, even if they don't agree with you. "We even had it specially coil-bound for ease of use during play. Just leave it open on page 14 for this super-useful chart! And with two metal clips, it doubles as a GM screen!"

[Andrew Morris]

If you want it, it's your game, so go get it!

The man makes sense, and gives good advice. Listen to him.

[Grand_Commander13]

"It's not a bug, it's a feature!"

Greatest words ever.  ^_^

Anyway, I think I will be going with the spiral binding.  It's only a small order, and I would like the spiral binding more.

Thanks.  I know it's a fine line between opinion polling and questioning what the market is like, but I was going for the latter.

[davidJ]

This is_slightly_ off-topic, but you guys have been talking about the number of copies you order, and what I'm wondering is, can any customer who surfs in off the net buy your book directly from Lulu.com, or do they have to go directly through your company website?

Also,If they DO order through your website, do you have a link to take them directly to Lulu, or do you handle that type of business directly from your home/warehouse/distributor?

[AdeptPhenix]

I'd have to say I like the idea of a good spiral bond book too.  Especially a book that will be well used, opened and turned to certian pages for reference often, its a great idea.  Now, there are several different ways to do what is generically called "spiral binding". 

The cheapest and worse looking is known as a comb binding, which is seen the most often.  You can buy the equipment to do it at most office supply stores and it just looks cheap! But it is really cheap, which might have something to do with it! 

The next step up is kind of a mix, the trade name is either Spiral-O or Double-O Wire.  This uses the same machine as the comb method, but gives you something that looks more like a true spiral wire bind.  Looks a little better, but it does have the same tendency to come apart that the comb does.  Plus being a wire, it tends to kink up if carried around in a backpack or such.

There's also a plastic type sprial look-a-like that has a circle that clips together.

The best method is known as coil binding.  You can have it done in either wire or plastic, but I would highly recommend using plastic because of the kinking and denting probem wire has.  In plastic you also have a wide range of colors to pick from to match your book's cover.  Before you have a printer do a plastic coil bind for you, make sure they are using the correct diamter size needed for your book.  Most printers and bindery houses will only have certian sizes in stock and if you do not say anything, they might just try using the closes size that they have.  Hopefully it ends up being too big, else you will run into problems with the pages turning.  Also what the size of the crimp at the ends of the coil, this is often done by hand and it's too small it will tend to "pop" through the pages.  You will also need to watch that they use the correct curve in stacking the paper before cutting the holes for the coil.  The cheaper punches will not have a template to lay the pages in to get the correct shape.  When done properly, the pages should lay in a curve that matches thecoil, but look around at some book bond this way and you will most likely see some where the pages do not lay correctly.  This could also cause problems with the pages turning.  With this binding method, you may want to watch what paper stocks you use.  A thick laminated cover helps.  In our book, we are planing to use a synthetic paper.  I printed a membership directory with this once and it worked out great.  The benefit is that with a synthetic paper and a hot lamination, the heat helps the lamination truly bonds with the synthetic paper (which more or less a type of plastic) and will not seperate as easily as if on a normal paper stock.  The interior pages may also need to be bit stiffer to keep them from ripping our easily, a concern you wouldn't have when it's glue holding the pages in.  Having a larger number of holes to keep the page in to begin with helps too, unlike a page in a 3 ring binder. 

The problems I see with a coil bound books isn't so much on the customer side as it is on the retailer side.  You will not be able to fit as many coil bond books in a forward facing rack, the coil will add a little bit of size to the book and if they are sqeezed in too tight, the coils will hook together and make it difficult to pull the book out.  Putting them on a shelf spine out, you will not be able to read the title, since on a coil bound book there is no printing on the spine.  I have seen some books with a coil bind that had a regular spine cover, but then you loose the ability to flip to book open to any page and fold it.

But over-all, I still think the positives of a good coil bound book will out weight the negatives.

[MatrixGamer]

I've seen one game product that was spiral bound that did not look cheap. One in almost 30 years of gaming...

The game is "Warfare in the Age of Reason" a miniatures set of rules. The insides are black and white with some pictures and diagrams. Well written and laid out. The spiral bind in question is metal rather than plastic.

What sets it apart is what they put around the spiral binding. The wrapped the book in a glossy color thick cardstock cover that is attached to the outside page of the book as a folder. I think they slipped the book into the folder but I'm not certain. This game the book a spine that could be read while retaining the open flat quality of spiral binding. I'm guessing but I think perfect binding would be cheaper (due to the outer cover) but I could be wrong. It is a technique worth looking into. The equipment needed to spiral bind at home is relatively inexpensive and would cut your costs considerably. I don't know about making the outer covers but you could experiment.

Without the outer cover though I'm dubious about the binding method. I don't think a "Punk" look helps sell games. It just says "I'm poor, buy my game. It will not always be here."

All that negativeness said. I've put out books like this in the late 90's and did internet sales. Never made much but didn't lose anything either. It's a hobby approach where you can learn the business.

Chris Engle
Hamster Press