DIY Bookbinding

I do not plan to cover the details of DIY bookbinding here, because Hamish Macdonald has done such a great job! Please, go to his website if you want to know more about the start-to-finish process. Follow his guidelines if you want to write, make, and sell your book within a year or two.

For me, it has taken seven years. I wrote the first draft of The Crowhunter in 2004, and then I put it down for awhile. I like to let my work breathe. I completed my final draft in the summer of 2010, and then began investigating publishing options.

I've done some freelance copy editing in my time, but I was never deeply involved with any publishers. Nor did I want to be; the industry moves at a glacial, bureaucratic pace underneath, but on the surface, everything needed to be done yesterday. The business is full of people sitting on their asses waiting for work to be approved, only to work at a full pace when the material is 'released' to them.

What a bunch of bullshit. No thanks. Not for me. I don't even want that kind of energy wrapped up with my work, much less to burn the oil as a red-light/green-light peon.

I considered self-publishing services, but again, I have no advantage without a pocketful of spending cash. So I stumbled upon Hamish's site (through Shiva Nata, of all things - it does bring together the like-minded peoples), and voila! DIY is right up my alley, because the only thing standing between me and my published novel is thinking that I can't.

I felt like I was distracting myself at first. I mean, I just got my acupuncture license a year ago. Shouldn't I be treating people? Do I really need to be chilling in the scrapbooking section of the craft store, and drilling the hardware store guys about what wood is best for holding a block of paper together?

The answer is yes, for no other reason than that's what I did. I made a press exactly like in the DIY bookbinding guide, but then I ran into all sorts of trouble as I was making my first 8 blank "tester" books.

• What kind of paper?
  • Using a 100% post-consumer grade recycled paper can be expensive. Once I wanted a heavier paper, I was in resume territory.
• How do I cut it?
  • Hamish has this awesome paper cutting machine. I can't even find a good pair of scissors.
  • For my tester books, I bought a ream of paper from Office Depot, and asked them to cut it into quarters. I expected four perfect-edged blocks, but instead I got a medley of scrap paper-looking unevenness. Great for the tester books. Horrible for my novel.

Solved: I found a friend in the printing business. Note: It's cheaper to have your book printed by the block than to have someone else bind it for you. It's less work to have someone with the technology available to cut it, and it's worth it to me just to print and bind my covers. While I can't say I handmade the whole book, it looks professional compared to the testers.

• How to bind?
  • OMG-uh. The press works pretty well, if a little uneven at times. Hamish recommends hot glue, and I must say I had HORRIBLE luck with it. It dries too fast and too hard, and the book block will just come right off of it. I considered switching to a high-temp hot glue, but it just doesn't dry with the flexibility I'm looking for in a book spine. Plus it's lumpy.
  • I moved on to Mod Podge and SOBO. These are both too watery to sit up properly - the Mod Podge most of all - and once dry, they simply crack apart.
  • I'm waiting on the shipment of my latest solution. I got a gallon of Rosco's Flexbond, which is a very strong and flexible adhesive. From what my research yields, it's the perfect match.

Things I have not dealt with:

1. making new presses so that I can bind more than one book at once
2. glue applicator - I was thinking cake decorator
3. ISBN
4. sales, signing party preparation