See this at: en.wikipedia.org| Added on 05/20/06

Many self-published books utilize printing and binding techniques chosen for their suitability for short press runs. They may be printed with a xerographic process rather than offset printing. In many cases the lavish full-color cover used in... See more

Many self-published books utilize printing and binding techniques chosen for their suitability for short press runs. They may be printed with a xerographic process rather than offset printing. In many cases the lavish full-color cover used in mass-market publishing is not present. Bindings suitable for short press runs, like staples, comb bindings, or wire-bindings are often used rather than the perfect binding or signature binding typical for larger press runs. Techonology has enabled high-quality short-run print jobs to be successful. Because professional-quality typesetting suites, such as LaTeX, are available as free software, the typesetting of a self-published book may be as good as a traditionally published work. However, these tools require some technical skill, and many self-published works are formatted using a word processor, which can give less appealing results in comparison. The development of relatively low-cost desktop publishing software has put more powerful tools in... See less