Arts >> Books >> Book Publishing

How to Make & Print Your Own Book

Making and printing a book can be a fun project for all ages. Children can create their own storybooks or comic books. Adults can make anything from a bound cookbook, a children's book or a novel. If you want to sell your work, you will need to create and then publish your book in a more accepted manner that makes your work available for purchase in a digital format. If you simply want to create a book for home use or to give as a gift, you can make and print it yourself.

Things You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Pencils, pens, crayons or markers
  • Computer with word processor and scanner (optional)
  • Hole punch and string (optional)
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Decide on the type of book you want to create. For a children's comic book, for instance, you can draw panels on blank sheets of paper that your child can fill in with his imagined story. Alternatively, you can use a graphic computer program to create comic book speech bubbles and individual panels for each page.

    • 2

      Either print text by hand, or use a word-processing computer program to print the text you write for each page of your book. You can also add digital images such as illustrations or clip art. Be sure to format each page so that it prints in a manner consistent with the size of the book you want.

    • 3

      Print your work yourself using your home or office printer. If you created the work by hand, scan each page onto your computer and then print multiple copies. If you are printing a cookbook, you may want to laminate each page to protect it. It is also a good idea to laminate the front and back covers of your work.

    • 4

      Bind your work using one of several methods. One method is to use a spiral binding machine that will bind your book together. You can buy this machine at many office supply stores. Many college course packs are bound this way. Another approach is to punch holes in the pages and use ribbon or string to tie them together. You can also purchase inexpensive binders to hold your work.

Book Publishing

Related Categories