Charlesworth reproduces Insta’s capital hotspots in book form

An enduringly popular festive gift, book sales routinely go through the roof in the run-up to Christmas and publishers do their best to ensure that all tastes are catered for, even those that primarily live their life online and have little time for the printed word.

Featuring hundreds of “London’s most Instagrammable photo locations”, London for Instagrammers is the latest in a series of travel guides published by Best of England.

While the book is packed with Instagrammers discussing their personal London highlights, it also has wider appeal as an attractive and comprehensive round-up of the British capital’s main attractions and hidden gems.

What was produced?

Wakefield, Yorkshire-based printer Charlesworth Press was recommended to Best of England by its contact at personalised children’s book publisher Wonderbly, for which it is the main print partner. The publisher was impressed with the samples and proofs provided by Charlesworth as well as the quick turnaround times it could offer.

The printer produced an initial run of 1,000 copies of the 250pp-plus covers publication and said it was likely a larger reprint will be done due to demand. The cover was printed on 380gsm Amadeus Primo Silk with the text pages on 130gsm Essential Silk.

What did the job entail?

“Once the specs and paper types were finalised we put the files through our Alwan profiling software to ensure the colour matched to ISO standards,” explained Charlesworth operations director Lee Hewitt.

This was verified with Epson proofs, which were approved by Best of England, and the books were then printed litho on a Heidelberg Speedmaster. The prints were folded as 32pp A5 sections on MBO folders and PUR binding was then completed on a Muller Martini Vareo perfect binder with inline InfiniTrim three-knife trimmer.

What was the feedback?

London for Instagrammers has received near-universal glowing praise from readers. One Twitter user called it a “lovely book for inspiration” while another said they were “bowled over” to have received a copy for Christmas. 92% of 69 Amazon reviewers, meanwhile, awarded the book five stars, with one describing it as “beautifully illustrated” and another commenting on the “lovely high-quality photos and paper”.


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