Children's Book Printing FAQs

Should my children’s book be a board book, hardcover, or perfect bound?
Hardcover is the most popular option for children’s books. After that, we usually see board books and saddle stitch. For board books, it really depends on the age group and the content. Board books are usually for younger children, with simpler content and more of a learning purpose. Hardcover is more common for storytelling. We do not see much paperback for children’s books because the page count is often under 40 pages, which usually is not ideal for paperback. Instead, saddle stitch, the version with staples, is also quite popular because it is lower cost and can carry the same content as the hardcover. Some customers order both hardcover and saddle stitch at the same time so they can offer different options to readers, especially for event sales.

What ages are board books best for compared with hardcover children’s books?
Board books are usually the better fit for babies and toddlers because the pages are thicker, sturdier, and easier for small hands to handle. Hardcover children’s books are more common once the audience is ready for regular paper pages and longer storytelling. The exact age range always depends on the content.

What paper works best for illustrated hardcover children’s books?
For illustrated children’s books, we usually recommend 105 lb interior paper with 3.5 mm board for the cover. This is the same spec we often use for art books. From our comparison, that combination gives the book a very strong print result and a sturdy feel in hand. It also lines up well with the specs used by many major publishing companies.

What quantity should I print for a first-run children’s book?
We usually recommend 250 copies, and that is also our minimum order quantity. It is not the best price point in terms of unit cost, but if this is your first book and you are trying to test the market, 250 is a good starting point. If you are thinking about 100 copies, from our experience, that usually runs out very quickly. It is often just enough for close friends and family, but not really enough to test the actual market.

What size is most common for children's picture books?
The most common sizes we see for children’s picture books are around 8 x 10, 8.5 x 11, and 10 x 10. For board books, 6 x 6 and 8 x 8 are also very common. There is no single best size, but these are the formats we see most often because they work well for illustration, page layout, and reading with children.

What works best for a first-run or Kickstarter children's book?
We do see a significant number of Kickstarter projects use a combination of a standard hardcover, a special edition hardcover with a dust jacket or foil stamping, and a more budget-friendly saddle stitch version. That gives a good mix of options to attract different backers and fit different price points.