What is the purpose of those few blank pages in the front and/or back of books?

Question

What is the purpose of those few blank pages in the front and/or back of books?

Answer 1

It's a printing issue. Books are printed on large pieces of paper that contain 16 pages front and back. That is called a "signature" Then those pages are put onto a machine that cuts and folds them and stacks them in order one on top of another and then bound. Therefore books are always in multiples of 16 pages. If the book is shorter than that, there will be blank pages at the beginning or the end. The folding and cutting machine cannot handle sheets smaller than 16 pages. You can see this easily if you hold a paperback by the spine and let it fan out. You will notice the pages falling into little groups. Those are signatures of 16 pages. Pax - C

Answer 2

Book pages are printed in lots of 16 per plate.



So the number of pages in a book (unless you want to pay extra) wants to be a multiple of 16.



So you add blank pages to fill the last printing lot!



james

..

.

Answer 3

I found this and thought it was interesting:



"Sections of a book



Books are complicated and have many parts with different purposes. The following outlines the most common sections of books found in bookstores, typical content, pagination, and header/footer conventions.



Of course, if your book is a dissertation, training manual, or family history, for example, a publication you do not intend to be sold in bookstores (or even in yourCafePress.com store), feel free to organize your manuscript to your own tastes and needs!



In traditional book publishing, the parts (or sections) of a book, its layout, and reading order follow relatively strict conventions. Space and budgetary considerations may lead to some variations, however.



The first section readers see upon opening a book is called the front matter. This contains important information such as the book's ISBN, cataloguing-in-publication (CIP) data, and statements of copyright ownership.



Convention also dictates that a book has two pages, the left and the right. Obvious, yes, but this is important because certain pieces of information should be displayed on either the right (recto) or the left (verso) page.



The first page the reader usually sees upon opening a book will be the right-hand half-title page. It usually displays only the book's title, not the author name, subtitle, or other parts of a full title page (see below). The inside of the front cover is left blank.



Publishers also typically leave the reverse of the half-title page (the following left-hand page) blank. However, a number of items could appear on this page: a list of the author's previous works or other titles if the book is part of a series. If none of those exist, this is where a dedication could be placed.



The title page always appears on the right and contains:



Full title, including the subtitle if one exists;

Name of the author or names of authors if the book is collaboration;

Names of contributors, such as editors, illustrators, and translators; and

Name of the publisher and the publisher's logo.



Some publishers choose to place the table of contents on the R page opposite the copyright page (also called imprint page), while other publishers instead place the dedication here. It is more important to remember that convention states that half title, title, foreword, contents, and preface should be R pages, and should appear in the order given.



Pages following the preface might include an introduction, list of illustrations, list of acknowledgements, and a dedication if this hasn't been shown on the half-title L page. The various List of" sections might instead be placed in the book's back matter. Other sections of a book that appear in the back are index and about the author" statement.



Following pagination standard convention" often results in blank pages appearing in the front matter. Where blank pages are found, they are included in the pagination flow, but neither the number nor the header/footer should be displayed on the page. "



Here's a link to the site as well:



http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/learn_book_manuscript.aspx



Hope this helps! (Great question by the way!)

Answer 4

just to waste paper....dumb printing price rules. i think printing companies should cut the crap and just print full pages....

Answer 5

no reason really

but these are the reasons y i think they do



-to kill trees to waste paper

-to make the book fatter

-and because they can gosh

Answer 6

If you've ever looked at the side of a book next to the binding you'll see little folds on the binding. I believe each one is called a leaf. It's how the book is put together they take pages 1 - 50, for instance, and fold them. And so on. Think of it as a bunch of magazines stuck next to each other.

Sometimes the book will end at page 147, lets say, so you'd have 3 blank pages in your book after page 147. They're excess parts of the leaf.

Answer 7

Just so someone can write," This page Intentionally left blank" on them. lol.



I really don't know why, but that is a good question. I hope someone has the real answer here.

Answer 8

They are there because most book manufacturers will follow standard pagination, which can result in these occurring.



For instance, the first section readers see upon opening a book is called the front matter. This contains important information such as the book's ISBN, cataloguing-in-publication (CIP) data, and statements of copyright ownership.



Convention also dictates that a book has two pages, the left and the right. Obvious, yes, but this is important because certain pieces of information should be displayed on either the right (recto) or the left (verso) page.



The first page the reader usually sees upon opening a book will be the right-hand half-title page. It usually displays only the book's title, not the author name, subtitle, or other parts of a full title page (see below). The inside of the front cover is left blank.



Publishers also typically leave the reverse of the half-title page (the following left-hand page) blank. However, a number of items could appear on this page: a list of the author's previous works or other titles if the book is part of a series. If none of those exist, this is where a dedication could be placed.



The title page always appears on the right and contains:



Full title, including the subtitle if one exists;

Name of the author or names of authors if the book is collaboration;

Names of contributors, such as editors, illustrators, and translators; and

Name of the publisher and the publisher's logo.



Some publishers choose to place the table of contents on the R page opposite the copyright page (also called imprint page), while other publishers instead place the dedication here. It is more important to remember that convention states that half title, title, foreword, contents, and preface should be R pages, and should appear in the order given.



Pages following the preface might include an introduction, list of illustrations, list of acknowledgements, and a dedication if this hasn't been shown on the half-title L page. The various List of" sections might instead be placed in the book's back matter. Other sections of a book that appear in the back are index and about the author" statement.



Following pagination standard convention" often results in blank pages appearing in the front matter. Where blank pages are found, they are included in the pagination flow, but neither the number nor the header/footer should be displayed on the page.