in Production
One interior, two bindings: the print editions of Dreamscape Code
The paperback and the hardback share one 298-page interior. The difference is in the spine, and the spine depends on the paper.
Dreamscape Code is printed at 6 by 9 inches and runs to 298 pages. The paperback and the hardback share exactly the same interior file, page for page. What changes between them is the case around it, and most of that change happens in the spine.
Why the spine moves
A spine is as wide as the stack of pages it wraps, so its width is set by two things: the page count and the thickness of each sheet. Cream stock is slightly thicker than white. On this book that difference is visible in the numbers: the paperback spine is 0.671 inches on white paper and 0.745 inches on cream.
The hardback adds the thickness of the boards and the wrap. Its spine is the paperback spine plus 4.8 millimetres, which comes to 0.860 inches on white and 0.934 inches on cream. Because the spine type is centred on that measurement, each paper stock gets its own cover file. Swap the files by mistake and the title slides off the spine.
Cream or white
Cream stock is warmer and slightly less reflective than white. Under a bedside lamp the contrast between ink and page is gentler, which suits a novel most people will read in long sittings. White is crisper and better for diagrams, tables and photographs. For continuous prose, cream is the kinder choice.
The hardback case
The hardback is a case laminate: the cover is printed and laminated straight onto the boards rather than supplied as a separate dust jacket. The printed sheet wraps round the edges of the boards, and the hinges, where the case bends, have to be kept clear of type and of anything the eye would miss if it creased.
None of this is visible to a reader, which is the point. A book that looks unremarkable in the hand usually has a dozen of these decisions behind it, all of them made in favour of the reader.