A Day in the Life of a Puzzle Book Publisher

It took David Kalvitis over a year and a half to create the Greatest Dot-to-Dot Adventure Book 1.  When all the puzzles were tested and the book was finalized, the file from the computer went to Pinnacle Printers, our local Rochester, NY printer.  David chooses to use a local printer so he may follow the book throughout the entire process of being made.  Why?  When a regular text-only book has an error in the printing of the text, generally it does not affect the story.  It may not even get noticed by the reader.
However, when making a puzzle book, like our dot-to-dot books, if a number is accidently erased or symbols are switched, it can greatly affect the puzzle while it is being solved.  To ensure the quality of his product, David visits the printer during almost every phase of the book making process.  The video below shows the progression of the Greatest Dot-to-Dot Adventure Book 1 as it is being put to print.  You will see:

. the hundreds of thousands sheets of paper required to make the books.
. the rich colors used for the covers.
. the color quality being checked frequently.
. the inside puzzle sheets being printed.  (There are four pages printed on the front and then four on the back of every sheet.)
. stacks of printed sheets ready to go into the folding machine. They are folded in half, and then half again creating a “sig” signature.
. the sigs being placed in the stitching machine.  The machine starts with the middle pages and works outward until the cover is finally placed on top.
. staples being added to bind the book and edges being trimmed to make the final 8½ x 11 book.
. the books being shrunk wrapped into packs of 10 to keep them protected and flat.  They are then packed in boxes and stored until we ship them out to our customers.

5 thoughts on “A Day in the Life of a Puzzle Book Publisher

  1. I decided one day that I wanted a dot-to-dot book, but could not find one. I finally found one at Overstock, Inc. I ordered it, but it is not where I can get to it.

    Anyway, I found yours at Amazon.com. I have 4 which includes Dots Incredible. These are all incredible! I love to do these even if it is for a few minutes at the time!
    Sandra

  2. I can’t say enough about the dot-to-dot books. They are awesome. I have already ordered at least a dozen of these books so far. I very much enjoy connecting the dots. David, thank you for taking the time in creating these books.

  3. This was very interesting to watch! Makes me want to run and get my books now and start connecting those dots! Thanks for all the hard work.

  4. Wow! Very awesome watching the process on how the books are made! I am impressed! I can’t seem to put the book down when I start! I am almost done with Book 1 and I will have to order again so I don’t run out. I had so much fun doing the 4-page dot-to-dot! How clever to come up with these! I am excited to get more people ordering – I know they will love doing the book! Thanks!!

  5. Love these books, The new Adventure book is awesome. I have customers coming to the store asking for more to give to friends plus they then either use colored pencils or watercolors to enhance the finished picture. Thank you for all your work and David and staff are just the greatest.

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