perfectlynormalbooks

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Harnessing What Remains by @wynn-ing - Slay the Princess, 72k, folio. TWO COPIES!! ONE FOR ME ONE FOR THE AUTHOR!! OBVIOUSLY!!!

Okay, so, I may have lost my mind a little when I did this one, because I fully illustrated it. There's close to 50 individual illustrations in this whole thing - I made a point of doing one for the first page of each chapter, and then I ended up doing extras, especially for the last few. As such, there's way too much art here to post it all to Tumblr... which is why it's excellent that the author has given me kind permission to share the full typeset, so other people can peruse it (and bind your own copy, if you want!). Here you go!!

I played around with using a lot of the game's fonts and formatting, so while the regular text is Georgia - DejaVu Sans, Kelmscott Roman, East Sea Dokdo and Amatic SC are all used at various points! The 'scary' Princesses in particular have their text in shades of red, too!

I really like the way that Slay the Princess uses color very sparingly and only for jarring emphasis, so I wanted to lean into that with the illustration style and typeset. THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN THIS BOOK. I wish I knew what to say about it!! I may talk about design choices later!!!! Prompted or unprompted!!!! I'm just super glad I finally get to actually share it publicly!!!

...I also got really sad that I couldn't draw any of Wynn's OCs from the rest of the series because I just didn't have the time to do the other stories... so I ended up drawing all of them anyway. The post is over here. I'm so pleased with them.

And just for fun: a bunch of notebook sketches and doodles from when I was trying to figure out what sort of character design and style vibe I wanted to go for!

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Are you okay

Animal Farm by George Orwell, done in casebound quarto! A last-minute binding for a local arts and crafts competition (and I came in third place for this, well done me). Kept it pretty simple, both in terms of typeset and cover design - Georgia for main body text, CoventryGarden for all of the titles.

[perfectlynormalbooks]

hey do you happen to take commissions? I saw your work for the Sacred and Terrible Air by Kurvitz. I would love a printed copy of the novel but idk if I could do a good enough job for it. Do you think there's any chance you could make one as a commission?

I do take commissions, but not for that book - for one thing, the typeset (and translation) aren't mine, and although the typesetter/translator gave me gracious permission to use them for personal use, I don't feel comfortable reusing their work for profit. Thank you for asking, though!

[perfectlynormalbooks]

retypeset/bind of The Beginning by K. A. Applegate, the final book of the Animorphs series! Done as a gift for a friend as thanks for managing a very long-running Animorphs book club for us. Did my best to match the internal styling and fonts of the original paperback books, while still having a little fun with the cover and design.

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Book Decoration: AKA All The Ways I Don't Use a Cricut

(this post is for people who don't want to buy an expensive cutting tool, or for those that do have an expensive cutting tool that would like to mix things up a little)

1. Print That Shit

If you're already printing your own textblocks, an easy step for titles is to print them. Above is a title printed onto an "obi" of decorative paper. I measured out where I wanted things on the finished book and laid it out in Affinity, then printed it on a full sheet & trimmed it down to wrap around the book. A more simple method is to print & glue on the label into a slight indent in the cover (to protect it). A third option is to do the spine in bookcloth, while you print on paper for the cover and then glue that paper onto the boards (this usually looks even better when it is a three-piece bradel bind).

2. Foil Quill / Heat Pens

The heat pen is one of my go-to tools, but it can be a bit touchy about materials. The most popular version is the We R Memory Keepers' Foil Quill (which is one of the most ergonomic), but other pens exist that can get you to a higher heat temp, finer lines, or more consistent foil. For example, I have a pen created by a local Japanese bookbinding studio that fares way better on leathers than the WRMK quill & with a finer tip, but it's hell to control. Best results in general are on paper or smooth bookcloth (starched linen, arrestox, colibri - even duo will work but its less solid). The fuzzier a bookcloth is, the less your foil quill wants to deal with it. This means the heat n bond method of making bookcloth does not play nice with a heat pen usually, but there are two solutions: 1) use this tutorial on paste + acrylic medium coated bookcloth instead that will get you a perfect surface for the heat pen, or 2) use the pen on paper & then glue onto the cloth. I did a video tutorial for both foil quill use and this type of homemade bookcloth for @renegadeguild Binderary in 2023.

You get the most consistent results by tracing through a printed template that is taped in place, as I do in the video above.

3. Paint That Shit

Acrylic paints will do you fine! The above is free-handed with a circle template, because I wanted that vibe. If you need straight lines that won't seep, lay them down with tape first & then paint over it first with a clear Acrylic medium, then your color. Same goes for stencils. Two more examples of painted bookcloth:

4. IT'S GOT LAYERS

By using layers of thinner boards, you can create interesting depths & contrasts on your cover. You can also make cutouts that peep through to the decorative paper behind. The most important part to this technique is the order in which each edge is wrapped. To get a good wrapped inside edge, you will split the turn in into tabs to get them to conform to a curve. You can also layer multiple colors of bookcloth without multiple layers of board, as seen below left, so long as you mind your cut edges for fraying.

5. Inlaid... anything

Mirrors! Marbled paper! I saw someone do a pretty metal bookmark once! The key is creating a little home for it to live in, which is pretty similar to the above layering method. On one layer you cut the shape, & glue that layer onto the bottom solid board before covering. You can do the top layer as an entire 1 mm board (like I did for the mirrors) or a sheet of cardstock, like I would use for inlaid paper.

6. Decorative Paper

Decorative paper is always helpful & adds to the paper hoard... & its effects can be layers with other techniques, as below. Marbles, chiyogami, momi, or prints & maps of all kinds can be great additions. Some papers may need a protective coating (such as wax or a sealer).

7. Stamps (with optional linocut)

While I've not used many more regular rubber stamps, I do know some who have, successfully! And I've used one once or twice with embossing powder (see photo 3 up, the gold anchor on the little pamphlet bind). What also works is to carve your own linocut or stamp, & then use block printing ink to ink it onto your fabric (as i did above). A bit time intensive, but it was nice how easily reproducible it was, and I liked the effect I got for this particular bind.

These methods are not exhaustive, just ones I've used, and there are of course many others. I haven't gone too into detail on any of these for the sake of length (& post photo limits) but feel free to ask about more specifics. Usually I'm using them in combination with other options.

[perfectlynormalbooks]

The Courting Season by @anarchycox (The Witcher TV, 47k), casebound at folio size for @silentsunpress as part of the Renegard 2024 binder's exchange!

I leaned into a flowery, elegant design for this one, and used a lot of William Morris assets and motifs to decorate the cover and typeset, and the result is really nicely cohesive - I even embroidered the cover and gold-foiled the edges!! Fonts used: Georgia (for body text) and Felix Titling (for titling).

[perfectlynormalbooks]

trying to make the leap into learning binding in order to fix up some old favorite paperbacks of mine that are starting to fall apart. the thing that i'm most concerned about is the fact that some of them are old enough the paper is crunchy/wobbly - like it has that wrinkly look? several are secondhand buys, so it's possible they got wet at some point, but equally possible they're just old and the paper is extremely thin. i worry that it won't glue well, or that it'll tear away from the binding if it's opened up and read with any consistency. i have some experience in book repair as i work at a library, but most the things i repair are hardbacks whose spines are coming undone at the front or back covers. a bit of norbond and some tape is usually all it takes to keep those going another couple years. when i have to repair paperbacks, i'm pickier and we usually wind up replacing them, so this is uncharted territory for me. do you have any tips for making sure that a rebound old paperback with stiff, inflexible paper winds up sturdy and not liable to fall right apart again?

Unfortunately, I don’t really have experience with that sort of thing. Most of my rebinds are for fairly new books, and I rarely have to deal with damaged or old paper. I could make some guesses as to how to deal with this, but they’d only be guesses. If anyone else wants to weigh in on this and give some advice, I think it would be very welcome

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Mr. Brightside and the Atomic Bomb by @olivieblake. 129k, Original Work, rounded + backed at folio size! (+ accompanying slipcase, as usual with bindings I'm worried about sending in the mail.) A musical magical murder mystery set to the works of the Killers.

Done for lilithbindsanderads on Instagram for the Australian Spooky Season bookbinding exchange! This is fully illustrated, with a different doodle-border at the start of every chapter, and different scene break doodles all throughout. I pulled the same trick I did with The Strange Mixtape for all of the incidental musical numbers, so you can listen along as you read if you so choose.

Typeset in Georgia for the body text, with Bivoac Regular for the chapter titles and a neat font called Sam's Town for the big chapters and headings.

I played very hard into the lurid bright colors for this one, because it's a flashy dramatic story about performers, singers, and MURDER. It makes it a very hard binding to photograph well... but it's so pretty to look at. I'm so, so happy with it.

[perfectlynormalbooks]

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewksi - hardcover rebind of my own softcover copy, because a book like this deserves a fancy hardcover edition.

Tried some fun new tricks with this one - I sewed on headbands to it, with a thin strip of House-colored blue in the centres, and an even thinner strip of red within that. Used wax paper transfer to press the polaroid photographs from the original spine onto the fore-edges. The black square on the front and back is an inset lined with black velvet. This is a very, very nice book to hold. Can't wait to settle down in my lovely house and reread it all over again wait why are the walls moving

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Animal Farm by George Orwell, done in casebound quarto! A last-minute binding for a local arts and crafts competition (and I came in third place for this, well done me). Kept it pretty simple, both in terms of typeset and cover design - Georgia for main body text, CoventryGarden for all of the titles.

[perfectlynormalbooks]

We're off to the races! Come on and bid on me. I promise I'll make you something cool.

Perfectly Normal Books

See Perfectly Normal Books’s existing works here.

Preferred contact methods: Discord: anadvora Tumblr: perfectlynormalbooks

Preferred organizations: - Anything from the list of approved organizations

Will create works that contain: I have a fondness for Doctor Strange and Spiderman in particular, but am open to binding for anything that’s not a DNW!

Will not create works that contain: Anything explicitly sexual, noncon, underage, incest, A/B/O, Hydra Trash Party, and infidelity

– Other Fan Labor –

Auction ID: 1080

Will create works for the following relationships: Avengers fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Captain America fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Daredevil fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Deadpool fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Doctor Strange fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Iron Man fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Loki fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Spider-Man fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Thor fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe X-Men fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe

Work Description: I will bind your fic into a hardcover custom book! This fic can either be your own, or someone else’s (although in the case of it being someone else’s, you’ll have to get permission from them to do so). I can bind works of up to 200k in length, or as short as you want. I won’t bind any fics that feature my DNWs, but anything else is fair game and I’m open to any Marvel fandom beyond the ones in my relationship section. You can always contact me before bidding if you’re unsure if certain content, characters, or ships are okay. If you have any input on the specific appearance/details of the bind, I’d be happy to incorporate it. Alternatively, you can give me free reign and I can go wild - examples of my previous binding work is available at my blog. I’ll require for you to pay me for postage, so keep that in mind - I’m shipping from Australia, so double-check how much that’s likely to be for you.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

The auction runs from October 20 (12 AM ET) to October 26 (11:59:59 PM ET). Visit marveltrumpshate.com during Auction Week to view all of our auctions and to place your bids!

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Hey, y’all! It’s me! I’m doing this!

Perfectly Normal Books

See Perfectly Normal Books’s existing works here.

Preferred contact methods: Discord: anadvora Tumblr: perfectlynormalbooks

Preferred organizations: - Anything from the list of approved organizations

Will create works that contain: I have a fondness for Doctor Strange and Spiderman in particular, but am open to binding for anything that’s not a DNW!

Will not create works that contain: Anything explicitly sexual, noncon, underage, incest, A/B/O, Hydra Trash Party, and infidelity

– Other Fan Labor –

Auction ID: 1080

Will create works for the following relationships: Avengers fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Captain America fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Daredevil fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Deadpool fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Doctor Strange fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Iron Man fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Loki fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Spider-Man fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Thor fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe X-Men fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe

Work Description: I will bind your fic into a hardcover custom book! This fic can either be your own, or someone else’s (although in the case of it being someone else’s, you’ll have to get permission from them to do so). I can bind works of up to 200k in length, or as short as you want. I won’t bind any fics that feature my DNWs, but anything else is fair game and I’m open to any Marvel fandom beyond the ones in my relationship section. You can always contact me before bidding if you’re unsure if certain content, characters, or ships are okay. If you have any input on the specific appearance/details of the bind, I’d be happy to incorporate it. Alternatively, you can give me free reign and I can go wild - examples of my previous binding work is available at my blog. I’ll require for you to pay me for postage, so keep that in mind - I’m shipping from Australia, so double-check how much that’s likely to be for you.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

The auction runs from October 20 (12 AM ET) to October 26 (11:59:59 PM ET). Visit marveltrumpshate.com during Auction Week to view all of our auctions and to place your bids!

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - hardcover rebind, with page foiling! One copy for me, and the other for a friend who did a mini book club with me about it. The cover of this book in particular is notoriously hard to get right, so I went fairly minimalist with it. (The center of the O is meant to be a hand grasping a prison bar, I realized in retrospect that I didn't do the best job of conveying that.)

[perfectlynormalbooks]

pull the rider down, a 19k Bernice Summerfield fic I wrote as an exchange gift for a friend some time ago. Bound as a request for that same friend! Done in quarto - I went with a green-gold combination because I liked the look of it, and I always love working with this particular gold HTV.

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Quick little rebinding of The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by Romain Puertolas, which I have not actually read, but IS one of my mother’s favorites. This is a birthday present for her! Used my favorite blue Duo for the spine, and leaned into the IKEA theming because I thought it would be fun (it was)

[perfectlynormalbooks]

Three copies of WELL WE ALL THINK YOU’VE PICKED A GRAND SIDE, my Sanders Sides surreal Antigone-ish Antigonick-esque playscript AU, done in casebound folio. Properly formatted and also fully annotated with all the references and in-jokes explained, as if I'm not pretentious enough about the things I write.

One copy is for my darling @lifewithoutrainydays (who made the mistake of saying 'sure, send me an annotated copy of your fic'), another's for @shadowling-guistical as thanks for EVERYTHING and who also made the same mistake, and the other one was meant to go to a specific person, but they never got back to me... so I guess I'm keeping it for myself for the moment

The book itself is half-and-half in a lot of respects - half plain white sheet-bookcloth, half Brickett Duo. I painted the edges with a gradient that hopefully matches up with that cover.

Typeset for the playscript side of things is Georgia, the annotations are in Gadugi. Tiny lil golden snake on the (red sash) bookmark, because it just seemed perfect, and I had a bunch of floral artsy paper for the endpapers that also seemd pretty perfect. This is my first time using Affinity to typeset a full binding, and I don't think I'm ever going back.

I modelled the typeset a lot off the plain-text edition of Anne Carson's Antigonick, which I took a hell of a lot of inspiration from for the fic itself. I briefly considered doing it in the style of the artbook script, but that would have required doing overlay illustrations AND probably writing the full thing out by hand... maybe next year.

[perfectlynormalbooks]

This is Sacred and Terrible Air by Robert Kurvitz, the unpublished-in-English Disco Elysium novel. Typeset kindly borrowed from @mythrilthread (thank you!!!). Rounded and backed at folio size.

I made three copies - one for me, the others for two dear friends. I’m getting good at making identical copies at this point! Top and bottom edges were painted in acrylics to mimic the Revachol skyline from DE. The title stripe is technically the background of the DE dialogue box, but you can’t see it very well. Don’t ask me what the little thing on the end of the bookmark is. I couldn’t tell you; it just felt appropriate