A book is a written work about a subject. Books can be about any topic from history to how to make a home movie. People have written books about all kinds of subjects for thousands of years. People read books to learn about topics and to share knowledge with others. Some of the most common types of books include novels, picture books, cookbooks, how-to books and poetry books. Whether they are made from clay, skins or paper, books have the power to inspire and enrich our lives. The best books have three key elements including focus, substance and organization.
In the past, books were often made from rolled strips of papyrus, sheets of vellum or bundles of bamboo. Papermaking technology was developed around 100 bce. Since then, the invention of printing has led to the development of many different books. Books can now be made from all sorts of materials including cloth, leather and paper. They can also be made electronically. Ebooks (electronic books) are a form of book that is readable on electronic devices with flat-panel displays.
The process of making a book begins with the author writing a manuscript. The manuscript is then sent to a publisher or company that makes and sells books. Editors at the publishing company help the author improve the manuscript. They make sure the ideas are complete and that the writing is clear. Then the manuscript is sent to a designer who arranges the text and pictures on the pages. The designer also creates the cover. The designed pages are saved as computer files. These files are used to create printing plates. The plates are then put on printing presses and used to print the book.
Once the printing is finished, the book is sent to a binding line where it is folded and sewn together into a stack of signatures. A machine then carries out the sewing and folding, so that all of the pages are gathered together into a stack. These stacks are then cut into sections called folios, quartos and octavos. These are the standard sizes of modern books.
An important part of a book is the table of contents. The table of contents enumerates all the chapters of a book in order and gives the reader an idea of what the book is about. The table of contents is useful for students and professionals who need to quickly locate information in a book.
There are several systems of organizing the contents of a book, such as the Dewey Decimal System and the Library of Congress classification. These systems have their problems, however. They are biased towards subjects that were well-represented in libraries when they were created, and they have trouble with new subjects such as computing. Other methods of organizing the contents of a book have been developed, such as the use of indexes.