A5 Books
4pp Cover 300gsm Uncoated
72 Inside Pages onto 100gsm Uncoated
Four colour cover, Black print insides
Perfect bound
You Are Here Survivor Stories brings peer-to-peer survivor writing into print — the tactile counterpart to an online showcase built from workshops, a survivor writer’s group, and commissioned pieces. It’s a book designed to be held, shared, and returned to, with simple materials that keep the focus where it belongs: on the words.
If you’re planning something similar, our team can guide you through self-published book printing, the wider print journey, and the practicalities of perfect binding set-up. If you want quick numbers first, the instant quote calculator is a good starting point.
This project sits within a wider programme of survivor writing: an expanded series of workshops, a writer’s group for developing an ongoing body of work, and interviews created for the Wellcome Collection archives. The printed book acts as the physical “home” for that work — something readers can keep close, pass on, and revisit in their own time.
Because the audience is peer-to-peer, the format needed to feel welcoming rather than showy. A compact A5 size keeps it approachable and easy to distribute, while still giving chapter titles and pacing room to breathe.
This was produced as an A5 perfect bound paperback — a smart call for 76pp, where stapling starts to feel like a compromise.
Key spec summary
Format: A5
Pages: 76pp (4pp cover + 72pp text)
Cover: 300gsm uncoated, four colour
Text: 100gsm uncoated, black throughout
Binding: Perfect bound
The uncoated stocks do a lot of quiet work here. On the cover, they soften the illustration and typography so it feels human and immediate. Inside, the 100gsm uncoated stock keeps long reads comfortable, with enough weight to feel reassuring in the hand.
The cover hits with contrast: bold, stencil-like lettering alongside fine line-drawn architecture, punctuated by a bright pink mark and a circular badge. It looks like a page that’s been claimed — direct, urban, and personal — which suits a collection rooted in lived experience and community.
Inside, the black-only print keeps everything crisp and consistent. Chapter openers use clear hierarchy and generous margins, which makes the reading rhythm calmer. There’s also space for occasional illustrated moments to land without needing colour to do the heavy lifting.
Jet first came to us for a quote and already had a sharp instinct: 76pp was “slightly too many pages” for saddle stitching, so perfect binding was the right route. We quoted options, talked through the benefits (and trade-offs) of laminating the cover, and then adjusted the quote when Jet chose to keep the cover unlaminated.
Once files arrived, we did what we always do: a careful preflight and proof process. We flagged a key practical detail — text sitting too close to the hinge — and suggested a safer inside margin to protect readability after binding. Jet and the designer updated the layout, spotted and fixed a typo during final checks, and approved the revised proof. From there, we moved it straight into production and delivered to London.
A nice postscript: funding later enabled a second edition, with the same spec and quantity — always a good sign that the format is doing its job.
We guided the binding choice early, so the book would feel “bookshop-ready” and stand up to repeated handling.
We kept the process clear and low-fuss: quote → files → preflight → proof → print → delivery.
We added a printer’s-eye check on margins near the spine, so the finished book reads cleanly all the way in.
If you’re in layout right now, our file set-up knowledge base is a solid safety net and our paper samples page helps you choose uncoated stocks with confidence.
If you’re around 76pp+, perfect binding will usually feel better than staples. You get a proper spine, cleaner handling, and a more durable object for sharing.
Give your inner margins breathing room. Anything too close to the hinge risks disappearing when the book is glued and flexed.
Uncoated + black ink is a strong combo for text-led work. It reads warmly, feels tactile, and keeps production costs sensible without looking “budget”.
Let the cover do one clear job: stop the scroll. High-contrast type, one punchy accent colour, and confident negative space can be more effective than adding more elements.
