As a consumer, book designer, author, and publisher, I have some definite thoughts on spiral bound books. For many, they are the holy grail of needlework books. Me? I hate them!
First let me state that by spiral bound, I mean wiro, spiral or coil binding.
So why do I hate spiral binding?
- Spiral bound binding is unstable. When you stand a book on its spine, the most pressure is on the binding at the top of the spine, as the pages are naturally pushed down by gravity. It means that they want to hang down. With a sewn or glued binding, because they are stronger bindings, this have very little effect, but with spiral binding, it really puts strain on the gutter edges of the pages.
- Spiral binding requires holes to be punched (or ground) near the gutter edge of the pages. Sometimes this causes the pages to stick together around those holes, meaning that when the reader wants to turn the pages, sometimes the page rips at the binding.
- Spiral bound pages can be difficult to turn neatly as sometimes the pages gets bunched inside the binding, meaning they won’t last so well.
- Because of these aspects which make spiral binding less long-lasting, it also means that the books can become more easily beaten up during display in shops. As a publisher and author, I want my books to look their best at all times, so I want a strong stable binding that keeps the book together well and neatly.
- When books only have spiral binding (and no cover around the outside, unlike the binding – known as half-Canadian – that Country Bumpkin’s A-Z books have) there is nowhere to display the details of the book on the spine. If a book is displayed in a shop or library on a bookshelf with only its spine showing, customers are less likely to pick the book up, because they won’t know at a glance, what the book is. Most people browse reasonably quickly along shelves. If they miss my book in those few seconds, I’ve missed a potential sale. I want to make my books as saleable as possible both for myself and the shops selling them. Some shops refuse to stock spiral bound books because they are difficult to sell. Books without any spine labelling will also be harder to locate on your personal library shelves.
- For long runs, it is a relatively expensive type of binding (though affordable for small or very small runs). As my books are printed in the thousands (long runs), that would increase the cover price of the book.
These are my main gripes, but my main point is that spiral bound books just don’t last as well. I want my books to last as long as possible, both for me personally, as a consumer, and for my customers who buy my books.
I understand why people like spiral binding – it can lay completely flat – but for me, this consideration is outweighed by wanting my books to LAST.
For the record, my books are stitched and glued (not perfect bound), which means that they are strong and stable. They will also open flatter than a perfect bound book.
I’m sure there will be people out there who disagree with me, so go ahead and tell me why! I’d really like to hear your opinion!
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
well said Yvette – I have asked for one of your books for my birthday, so I will be able to check yours out then!
Hi, Yvette –
Aha! I’m a spiral-binding sort of person, for instructional books. I can’t help it! Here’s the way I see it:
My favorite type of binding on instructional books is the half-Canadian used on the A-Z books, which combines a regular spine with a spiral binding, or the binding on the Embroidery Stitch Bible, that has a round, hard spine that wraps around a large spiral binding.
When that’s not available, if I’m using a book as a source of instruction, I will often “adulterate” the binding by taking it to the printer, having them cut it, punch holes, and put in a spiral binding. I’ve never ever had a problem with this kind of binding. I’ve never had pages rip, I’ve never noticed stress to the top of the spine. I suppose if the book were really thick and floppy, the latter might be a problem, but I haven’t had any problem with it so far with the books I’ve had spiraled. Keep in mind, too, that I’m having a professional printer do the job – so the spiral is the right kind and the right size (very important!) If it’s too small, you get bunching, if it’s too large, the page has to move farther over the spiral, which, especially on books printed on cheaper paper, can cause tearing.
I contend that less stress is put on the book if the book can lie flat. If I’m using the book as a source of instruction while I work, and the book can’t lie flat, then I have to put something on it to make it lie flat, usually after pushing on the binding as much as possible to train the book into semi-flatness. Sometimes, it feels like I have to beat up the book to make it do what I need it to do.
Having never experienced the problems you outline with spiral binding, methinks I’ll continue to have books spiraled when I need them to lie flat. Not every book falls in this category, and some books, though not spiral, lie flat because they are not stiff and the spine is not too tight. But for those that can’t be manipulated to do what I want them to do – to be comfortably and conveniently serviceable to me when I’m working – it’s off to the printer for punching and coils!
Another point: It’s not as if how-to books are made for coffee table presentations. They’re made to do a job. While many instructional books are indeed beautiful, if they don’t work well by staying in a position suitable for instruction, then they aren’t serving their purpose as well as they could be.
But that’s just my experience with instructional books. I’m sure there are good reasons not to have books spiral bound – but for me, serviceability is the first consideration with these types of books.
And all that being said, the binding never inhibits me from purchasing a book. I don’t look at instructional books and say, “Oh, not spiral bound? Forget it!” I buy books for content! The rest is secondary (or tertiary, or….)
Good topic!
MC
I too dislike spiral binding and if I acquire a craft book which is spiral bound, I will remove the binding, trim off the perforations, and file in a solid binder of plastic sleeves, two sheets per sleeve. These binders are very inexpensive, and more sleeves can be added per binder, and can be then labelled on the spine.
My pet hates are the fact that the spiral binding is seldom good quality and will quickly start to break at the ends, and that you cannot label the spine.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for your comments. I can see your points, but I can’t say that I agree with you on this one. 🙂 However, you put up a pretty good argument.
Still can’t get onto your blog. 🙁 Have you done something different to it? Maybe I’ve just lost access to it for while I am here. I haven’t been able to access blogspot blogs for several days either. Maybe its all connected, though previously I could access yours even when I couldn’t get onto blogspot.
Hey, so I’m not the only one that feels this way – I did wonder if it was just me! Thanks for your comments, Noelene.