#My Near Deckle Edge paper

[cyclesprefectpress]

[image description: 6 photos of a 5x7 inch letterpress printed broadside, and the formes of handset lead type used to print it. The broadside is an excerpt from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, “On Marriage,” printed in black on a white sheet with a deckle edge at the bottom. In the forme of type, each letter and space is an individual piece that is assembled for the printing, then distributed back into its case of letters and ready to re-set to print a different forme. full text under cut. end description.]

LOVE setting poetry :)) i don’t know a dang thing about writing it but i love to put my hands on it, physically, and this was an extremely sweet & good paper anniversary gift to get to put together. interesting discrepancy between Ay and Aye in some versions of the passage, I do not know where that entered into things—but Aye is how it is in my grandmother’s 1944 printing of The Prophet, and the customer preferred it that way so that’s what i did.

set in Optima & Palatino

“You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.      You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.      Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.      But let there be spaces in your togetherness,      And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

    Love one another, but make not a bond of love:      Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.      Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.      Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.      Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of your be alone,      Even as the strings of the lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

    Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.      For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.      And stand together yet not too near together:      For the pillars of the temple stand apart,      And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

[highlynerdy]

"This journal is the one place where I don’t have to hide anything, where I can be completely honest. I know I’ll never be able tell him – it would ruin our friendship. But I want there to be a record somewhere that I’ve fallen in love with him. It will be my deepest secret but at least I’ve acknowledged it."

Such A Good Friend by @tehfanglyfish​

My second fanARTifact was inspired by this brilliant story written by the incredible Fishie. See the first one here. Click below if you care to read more about the process. 

Okay, y’all, I started thinking about this project way back in May. (What is time in 2020 though??)

I began my research by reading everything I could find about medieval books, binding methods, paper availability, leather, other such whatnottery. You can read more about my research at the link above. I realized that I was going to have make quite a few changes to my initial plans, both because of my skill level, and my budget. 

Here’s my general research, thoughts, and decisions on this project:

The Arthurian era was generally thought to be set about the 6th century. Sadly, there are no surviving books from that time period (at least not from that part of the world) so it’s hard to know exactly what the style of books would have been. The oldest surviving book from anywhere near that time/place is St. Cuthbert’s Gospel from the early 8th century. It has a beautiful leather binding, which is still in tact, and has vellum pages, with Uncial calligraphy.

Owning books in this time period (500-1000) was pretty damn rare for a private citizen, as they were generally only made for the church and the super wealthy. Books were made from vellum or parchment, which was exceptionally expensive, because it’s made from animal skin. It took a longggg time to produce. Parchment and vellum still cost many dollars, and I am decidedly not a millionaire, or even a thousandaire, so I couldn’t afford to be historically accurate here. SO, paper it is! Now...how to be kinda sorta historically accurate from there??

I learned that paper finally made its way to the western world around the 1100s, with the first paper mill in Spain. In looking a little bit further, I found that Fabriano was founded in 1264 (in Italy), and hoo buddy, they are still making paper! In fact, I actually use Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper in my studio, but I never even realized it said the founding date right there on the cover! So. I ended up choosing their 90 lb cold press watercolor paper for the journal. I am first and foremost a painter, and that will be a perfect way for me to hopefully maybe possibly use this book. Five sheets of 22 x 30 paper which I hand tore down to a 7 x 14 measurement for the signatures, because I do very much love a square book. And the torn and deckled edges are sooooo dreamy. Boom! Ended up with 112 pages!

I sewed the book together using a beeswaxed linen thread, and kettle stitch. Instead of animal glue (yeah, wasn’t even gonna try to make that), I used a basic neutral PH, acid free PVA glue to secure the spine. This was my very first casebound book and holy bananas, it took four times of sewing and re-sewing the signatures before I was happy (enough) with it. 

I chose a much-thicker-than-I-should-have leather, because it was my first time using leather, and I really had no idea what I was doing. The leather was a seconds sort of situation, and as such it ended up being more in my price range. The thickness of the leather it ended up being fine to do as a wrap journal, but was far too thick to use to actually properly cover book board. And since I hate to waste anything like that, I ended up cutting the leather in such a way that I will be able to make two more (albeit much less fancy) journals, three teeny journals, and two key rings with it. Very minimal waste was important to me through this entire project, because $$$ AND because that's what people back then would have worried about too. Use all the things.

The quote that you see there at the back is my very favorite line in this very favorite fic. I love it so much, and it has very much stuck right on my heart since I first read it. I knew that it absolutely had to be in there. I did end up changing “Merlin” to “his” because I keep my sketchbooks visible in my studio and people often look through them. And I don’t really want to have to explain my fandom love to the "normies". The paper in the back was my last piece of one-of-a-kind handmade cotton rag paper, and I used walnut ink and my blue pumpkin calligraphy nib to do the script (I personally think Arthur would have very lovely penmanship). This part was wicked freaking stressful because I only had the one shot to do it all correctly. I’m not entirely satisfied with the spacing, but it’s a solid B+ at least. Passing grades, folks, that's what matters. 80% rule.

The wax seal is the Awen symbol. It apparently means a lot of things depending on who you ask, but my favorite was “love, wisdom, and truth”. Very Arthur, and very much this story. 

The cover and back are lined with 100% linen fabric which was dyed in earthy colors to coordinate with the leather color. And the end bands for the text block were made with a 15 year old piece of mustard yellow fabric I had been holding onto for something special. The leather was then conditioned three times to protect it and give it a more even coloring.

In closing (finally), BBC Merlin is ridiculously anachronistic, and has bits and pieces that could have it set anywhere from the 500s to the 1500s. I felt this gave me a bit more room to wiggle the “historical accuracy” to my needs because, dammit, THEY DID! So, I guess you could say this is maybe an AU version of the journal? Or you could say that since this was a gift from Gwen it was more basic than Arthur could afford himself?? Either way, I'm so, so pleased with it.

All in all, I learned a TON through this process, and I will absolutely try again to make a slightly more time period appropriate version in the future. Thank you, Fishie, for writing stories that I love so much they inspire me to make fan art that takes weeks or months to make, and help me learn so many new things along the way! Also, thank you, @peaceheather, for helping me find resources on medieval bookart, and for introducing me to other experts to talk to for advice and ideas!

Now to see how long it actually takes me to use this beautiful thing...

[peachofyourheart]

How To Be A Professional Author And Not Die Screaming And Starving In A Lightless Abyss

Your reading today comes in the form of this Medium article by Heather Demetrios: “How To Lose A Third Of A Million Dollars Without Even Trying.” It’s a good article. I feel deeply for the writer, because this shit we do comes with no real map. No creative map, no story map, no industry map, no money map. “HERE IS A BUNCH OF MONEY,” a sinister shadowy figure says in an alley. “IN SIX MONTHS, WE WILL EXTRACT FROM YOU A BOOK, AND THEN THE DEAL IS COMPLETE.” And then the shadowy figure is gone, and all you’re left with is the crisp smell of burning paper and a mysterious whisper in the well of your ear that says, “deckle edge.”

But, the good news is, there exist answers to a lot of these conundrums, and so I’m going to do some painting-with-shotguns here and try to broad-stroke some thoughts and answers about the challenges this writer faced in her Authorial Journey.

Your Agent Is There To Help You

You need an agent, and a good agent who will explain to you this stuff — an agent who answers questions you don’t know to ask and who also (obviously) answers the questions you do ask. Now, an agent isn’t psychic, and I’m gonna guess a lot of them default to expecting you know some of this stuff, or they’re so brined and pickled in the industry they’re like fish swimming in water who don’t know what “water” even is anymore. Which leads me to highlight the next point:

Definitely Ask Questions

Deeeefiniiiiitely totally utterly absoflogginlutely ask questions. All kinds of questions. No questions are foolish, especially when it regards your career, your finances, your future. Ask your agent. Ask your editor. Ask anybody you know in the industry. Ask other writers! I have found other writers to be a wonderful well of fresh, clean water when it comes to that sort of thing. Certainly I must acknowledge that I feel the SFF genre is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to industry folks willing to share their experiences and offer answers. Oh! Speakawhich, may I recommend Dongwon Song’s PUBLISHING IS HARD newsletter?

Definitely Ask Questions From Multiple Sources

Crowdsource better answers by getting multiple answers. That’s it, that’s the deal. One answer may not be comprehensive. Also, authors are not always right about how things work. Hell, I’m probably wrong about stuff in this very post. Also, if your agent isn’t clear on this stuff, or won’t answer questions, fire that agent out of a cannon, and into the mouth of a great white shark.

Publishing Money Is Fucking Weird

Publishing, particularly big publishing (sorry, Big Publishing, aka Big Book, or The Bibliodeities of Mannahattan) pays advances ahead of your royalties. Smaller advances mean you’re likelier to earn out, but a small advance also does little for you up front. Larger advances mean you’ve got a considerably larger “cost of life” cushion, but are less likely to earn out.

Your contract likely stipulates you get paid a certain amount up front — a third of the contract, let’s say — upon signing, and then you get paid the rest of your advance usually in chunks when you meet certain milestones. Turned in first draft, or final draft, or upon publication. I have found these milestones to be different at different publishers (and I’ve worked with a lotta publishers).

You owe 15% of that to your agent/agency.

Earning out is a theoretically straightforward affair — calculate how much you make per book based on the percentage royalty driven by format. Let’s say 10% per hardcover sale, or 25% of an e-book. But there, we enter into squirmy, less certain territory already. If Amazon discounts your book, do you make the 10% on the cover price, or the sale price? (My understanding here is, it depends on who initiates that sale. Amazon initiates, you get it on full. Publisher initiates, you get on the publisher’s choice of price.) So, every sale of a book is earning you a specific amount of money —

So, if my book Wanderers is a hardcover at $28.99, I theoretically make ~$2.90 per sale of that. And an e-book at $13.99 earns me ~$3.50, so from there I should easily be able to calculate what it would take in this round to “earn out,” but I’ve done that math on other books, and I’ve never found it particularly accurate. Why? Because it actually isn’t that simple. Between audio sales and library sales and less traditional sales channels and then book returns (yes, bookstores return unsold stock sometimes and that can ding you), it starts to become a bit of occult calculus that only sorcerers can understand. You can kinda eyeball it? You can make some educated guesses as to how many books you’ll have to sell to earn out, but even then, how many in what format? Some books sell 75% in e-book. Some sell only 25% in e-book. Wanderers, to my shock, has had a rough split of 33/33/33% across print, e-book, audio. Could I have foretold that? Nope.

If you know how many books you sold, that would help, but —

It’s Hard To Know How Many Books You’ve Sold

Publishers are starting to catch up to the fact that authors want to know how well they’re selling (weird, who knew?) — Penguin Random House has a pretty robust, snap-to-it site that has daily updates to your book’s sales. It’s nice to have, if not necessarily useful at every step. And it’s not always wholly accurate, either, which honestly isn’t their fault — we imagine an age where every strand of every industry is plucked with every sale, neatly and nicely updating the total, but as with every industry, it’s less an elegant web and more a clumsy knot. Retailers are independent and not plugged into one another. Each store is not lightning fast in how they respond to things. Even Amazon on the back-end is, from my understanding, kind of a hot mess.

(It’s funny, I’ve met with Amazon multiple times under the auspices of, “Tell us how to help authors more.” Arguably because they want to help more than publishers do, making friends of authors directly, beyond publisher relationships — which, ennnh, okay. Still, I always tell them one thing: GIVE AUTHORS MORE DATA. Tell us our sales! Tell us our Kindle sales in particular! Tell us when people quit reading our books! And they say OOH YES GOOD POINT and then it never happens and hahaha good times.)

Treat Your Publishing Money Like A Demonic Bargain

You should always be fairly dubious of that money. Not that it’ll disappear — it’s just, it’s wildly inconsistent, as I hope I’ve made clear. It’s inconsistent in its timing, in its amount, in everything. It’s constantly shifting ground, and that unsteadiness of the financial earth should leave you particularly touchy. The ground can crack and fall out at any point, which is why you need to budget. Planning is key for a writer’s life, and that’s hard, because we’re a sack of cats, mentally. But you gotta know how to portion it out, and you have to see down the road to where the money is coming from. (As a sidenote, it’s why it’s vital not to give up too many rights — foreign, film/TV, other licensing opportunities — to the publisher. Those random drops of money, while totally not-count-on-able, can be helpful just the same.)

Oh also ha ha ha the taxes are killer.

You’re gonna pay taxes on that.

And they’re not fun.

Budget, budget, budget. At any meaningful levels of money coming in, GET THEE AN ACCOUNTANT, and possibly even hie thee hence to forming an LLC, which can, at high enough income levels, drop your tax burden a little bit. Others will sell LLCs as also being able to defer liability but most lawyers and accountants I’ve asked about this suggest it’s a bit of a myth.

It’s hard to get a mortgage as a writer, if you’re the only income.

Trust me when I tell you that. Doesn’t matter what you earn, you don’t fit into a box that they can neatly check on the application, so you’re a strange animal to the mortgage broker, like a Zebra who fucked a Dolphin and who is also from the future? We’ll talk more about DAY JORBS in a minute.

Cost Of Living Is A Real Thing

The cost of living is tied to where you live. And so, your Publishing Dollar goes a lot farther in places where the cost of living is lower. In other words, if you’re going to choose to live in The City (that city being NYC, SF, whatever), you are almost certainly fucking yourself in every uncomfortable position.

Now, the opposite of that is, sometimes you get advice that amounts to demanding you live in some unpleasant nowheresville — and that’s fine, if you’re fine with it. I’m not. My publishing money could go much farther if I lived, say, 100 miles to the west, but instead, I live where I live. It’s not a profoundly expensive place, especially compared to, say, NYC, but it’s also not as cheap as, say, Ohio. But (nothing personal) I do not want to live in Ohio, I want to live where I live, because of culture, because of education, because of access to places like NYC or Philly or the Lehigh Valley, and so here I dwell, even if my Publishing Dollar would go farther in Nebraska or even in the middle of my own state. As writers, I find we do thrive a little bit based a little on the place we live — and so, live where you want to live, just be aware that there are concessions to be made if you do, and costs for that choice. But also, probably don’t live in NYC or SF. Live near them, ok. In them, not so much.

Back To Those Pesky Advances

I have been fortunate enough to have a somewhat gentle arc to my career — a nice hill of slowly advancing advances. I started small, with four figures, and have added zeroes as time went on. It’s been a slow boil but I prefer that, because it demonstrates what I hope is an increasing audience and quality of books. The worry is when you jump through the gate and someone hands you a fat sack of six figures and it’s like — boy howdy, you’ve probably got nowhere to go but down. Debuts tend to get an almost weird amount of attention (same as how the first book in a series nearly always gets 1000% more publishing attention than the second or third), but even with that, it’s hard to see how a New Author is going to just Rocket to the Moon on a first, big book. It can happen! It has and will again. But just know that opening big is a trickier gambit. It’s like, you wrote some songs and have a guitar and OOPS now you’re headlining Coachella ha ha good luck I’m sure you’ll be fine.

Wait I Didn’t Even Talk About Bucket, Or Joint, Accounting

Back to the tricky calculus of “earning out” — it gets trickier when you realize that some deals don’t just demand you earn out one book, but rather, all the books in your contract. The advances-per-book are put in a bucket, and so you must out-earn the bucket amount, not the per-book amount, before you start seeing royalties beyond your advances. This can be tricky with a series, let’s say, where the first book does well, and where no subsequent book is likely to do better than that first book — it robs you a chance of earning out with one book even if you don’t on the next two, let’s say.

How Marketing Is Tied To Advance

In general (and nothing is ever universal in this industry), the higher the advance, the more money the publisher has in their budget to support the book, particularly in terms of marketing, advertising, and publicity. On the one hand, this makes sense, right? Your book is an investment, and so they don’t wanna invest a bunch of money and then just have it fail — so they contribute more money and infrastructure toward paying off that investment. But it also means that lower advances can mark you in the “uhhh let’s throw it at the wall and see what sticks!” category, which is tough. It puts a lot of burden on you. And that burden is often unfairly thought of as being high effective buuuuut

You Are Never As Effective As A Publishing Budget

Trust me when I say, you can do a lot as an author to encourage people to read your books. But also trust me when I say, a publisher’s efforts in this realm is multiplicative compared to what you can achieve. Stay in this industry long enough — and so much of this industry is exactly that, just staying in the goddamn game — and you will reliably detect when a publisher is spending money on a book. You can tell because it’ll have buzz, it’ll get media placement, you’ll have appearances, and so on. You can also tell when they haven’t done shit for your book. Even if you yourself have done a lot!

Do you need a website? Probably. Doesn’t need to be fancy, but shouldn’t look like a half-ass botch-job, either. Should work on mobile and all that.

Do you need swag? I’m of a mind that it moves zero needles, and I’ve never seen data that it moves needles, and it just seems to be a thing authors have internalized that they need?

Do you need a tour? I mean, I dunno. At a debut level, I’d say no. As with crowdfunding anything, you need an audience already in place to make that make sense. Better to do cons and conferences, I think, at earlier levels, though other authors may disagree.

This is part of the trick, by the way: advice for a debut author, and for a mid-list author, and for a mid-career author, and for a hugely successful author, are very, very different. It can in fact be as individual as writing process. It’s all broad strokes, so take everything even here with many many grains of salt.

A whole salt lick, even.

Your Day Job? Don’t Quit It

This will be the 1000th time I’ve said this and I’ll say it a million more: don’t quit your day job. When do you quit your day job? When the work is at such a level that you either have to quit writing, or quit the day job. That’s it. When you’re up against the wall and you see, “I can’t write these books and also still go to work every day,” that’s a signal. (And ideally it’s a decision made easily because you’re making enough money at writing that it makes both financial sense and is a financial necessity.)

But otherwise? Hang tight. You’ll have no health care. As I said, mortgages will be harder to get. Everything is a little harder when you’re a ROGUE AUTHOR FREELANCE MERC out there in the PUBLISHING WASTELAND. Bonus: have a spouse who has health care and a steady job.

Note, again, I’m fortunate enough to be the sole income for our household as a writer. And I’m doing okay, and am comfortable. But I also still have these difficulties, and the erratic payment schedules can be brutal. All of it adds up to:

Have Plans On Top Of Plans

It’s like, if you live in the PNW, you probably have an Earthquake Preparedness Kit? You need that as an author. (Er, metaphorically speaking. Authors are not subject to actual earthquakes in particular.) Squirrel away money. Have plans on top of plans. What if your genre collapses? What if your agent quits? What if your next advance is way too low to survive upon? What if the economy shits the bed? Have a plan for next year, for five years, for ten. Envision how you remain in this game. A writing career is, as I’ve noted before, a CLIFF MITIGATION EXERCISE. You are eternally speeding toward the cliff’s edge. You might careen off that edge and into a ravine and crash in a spectacular fashion at the end of every contract. And so you need to imagine how — before it happens! — you’re gonna build a ramp or a bridge or some rocket boosters or shit. You gotta Evel Knievel that cliff somehow — but how? New genre? New age range? Break into comics? Some self-publishing on the side? Have plans inside plans inside plans. Especially if shit goes sideways. My day to day is spent thinking 50% about what stories I want to write and 50% what I’m going to do to keep my career going. Which leaves me little time for like, BASIC LIFE-BRAIN FUNCTIONS, so uhhh oops?

To Add In, And To Sum Up

– Publishing is fucking nuts, and trying to understand it is like trying to win a staring contest with the Eye of Sauron, but you gotta try, or you’ll die

– JESUS CHRIST ask some questions, seriously

– Publishing is not a lottery, and you need to treat it like a serious business venture where you’re given the squalling baby of a writing career and your job is to keep that thing alive and somehow get it to college, and if someone wants to put that writing career baby in college before it’s learned to walk, you should be very very wary of that

– Drink the fancy cocktails when you visit NYC, but don’t live there, for Christ’s sake

– Not every publisher is the same, some are fucking amateur hour karaoke, and some are well-trained machine assassins who never miss their shot

– You don’t control what a publisher does; get me drunk and I’ll tell you STORIES

– You should definitely know when your book is coming out and not via Google Alert, like, just ask, just ask your editor or ask your agent to ask your editor (your agent can be a very good “bad cop” if you need them to be, and they should be eager to fill that position, because a good agent is working for YOU, not for their relationship with the publisher), AHHH ASK QUESTIONS

– Art and Commerce are fiddly, uncomfortable fuck-buddies, they’re always fucking, but they’re always fighting too — but that doesn’t absolve you from cleaving only to the art and failing to learn about the commerce side of things

– You’re never dead in this industry until you stay dead, otherwise, get up, claw your way out of the grave, write the next book, change your name if you have to, change an agent, change genre, whatever; you do it because you love this thing and being undead is cooler than being regular dead

ANYWAY

There is probably shit I’m missing.

Feel free to ask questions — I may not get to them quickly, as I am dealing with lots of LIFE STUFF right now. (I wrote this post in a bit of much-needed down-time.)

If you like this post, and find it helpful, don’t buy me a cup of coffee.

Buy WANDERERS. Or tell your friends. Or leave a review.

Lest I die starving and screaming in a lightless abyss.

[demovibes]

Book lawrence flowers more

In these poems living things are seen in the context of human life but on their own, rather than on human, terms, for Lawrence realises that evolution implies both the genesis of difference as well as of empathy. Natural imagery had always been a staple of his verse but now he began to write poems taking a specific creature as subject, exploring its emotional, spiritual and ethical significance for him as well as its appearance and biology. The unfamiliar vistas and perspectives prompted in him new insights and perceptions of animals and plants. On this 'savage pilgrimage' he sought less developed countries as an antidote to life in advanced, 'mechanised' Western society.

During these years Lawrence travelled in Italy where most of the poems were written, Ceylon, Australia and New Mexico. "Lawrence remarked that 'The poems of Birds, Beasts and Flowers were begun in Tuscany, in the autumn of 1920, and finished in New Mexico in 1923, in my thirty-eighth year' (Preface to Collected Poems, 1928). He continued working on individual poems in Taormina (Sicily), Ceylon and Australia before completing the book in February 1923 whilst staying in New Mexico. Lawrence started the poems in this collection during a stay in San Gervasio near Florence in September 1920. In a good pistachio-green DJ with black titles (some light toning, chipping to edges, tiny closed tear to front bottom corner and clean, straight split to bottom 1/3 of front fore edge fold). Deckle-edged with some edges uncut, previous owner's small label to bottom of rear pastedown. Near-fine in 1/4 bound black with yellow paper over with title label to backstrip.

[rhodieale]

Entry No. 16

In the midst of my vicious dissection;

three days of savage examination

of what I know

unfairly scaled against what I should know,

but that I did not teach myself.

I sit to face mute white sheets:

smooth in texture,

corraled by deckled edges.

It is not what I expected,

but when a wall switch is forced southward

I let myself fall into a trance

where I am and I exist

because I am able

to find myself described inbetween

lines of abstraction,

motions and seizures,

arm, hand, and finger spasms

intuition illustrated.

I spit my secrets onto paper

and then I camouflage it all beneath bright colors

and coffee

and pigment

all trapped within damn near perfect angles.

I lasso myself

through automation.

[jasoncontemp]

What should an artist do everyday

Here are three scenarios created for three different types of ‘artist’

1. The ‘I’m getting older and things aren’t going to well’ artist

The artist wakes up from their deep sleep. Full of memories from their dreams they rush to a pen and paper and write down everything they remembered. The artist stumbles over his roommates; whom they share a studio with, clothing, expressing words of hate but also sarcasm. The artist; being broke, takes a deep breath in and considers that a good enough meal paired with their cup of glen tea. To the bicycle! A day full of free adventuring is upon them. Exploring spaces and attempting to network within their respected industry. At about late afternoon the artist will snack on their favourite meal, oxygen and a banana. After this, a trip back home on their bike is pretty dangerous at this time. But life’s not short so, risk it. After arriving home the artist spends all night painting and looking for originality within themselves until they pass out from the paint fumes while listening to something like ‘crush’ by band ‘cigarettes after sex’.

2. The ‘I’m very wealthy and In demand’ artist

The artist is suddenly wakes up because of the sun hitting her face in the bedroom. They stumble out of bed to their kitchen, starting the coffee machine to make their favourite chai latte. While making themselves a healthy breakfast they read through articles and possibly scroll through Pinterest a little until they’re phoned and reminded about a meeting. The artist then takes a quick shower and gets ready to face the day. They order their Uber black and drive to a place pretty close to where they already stay. After long meetings about negotiations and plans for their art the artist treats themselves and a few friends to lunch brunch at a local trendy restaurant. The artist then decides to go home and rest for a bit before creating something. After a short nap they wonder to their studio, put on music that sonically resembles classical opera and paints a few lines on a canvas before calling it a day. The artist then cuddles up cozily on their couch and watches a documentary on Netflix about something that will hopefully inspire them tomorrow.

3. The ‘I’m young, working and trying my best’ artist.

Suddenly an alarm goes off, they’re going to be late for work! The artist rushes out of bed, frantically gets dressed and grabs an apple on their way out to catch the bus. The artist then arrives at deckle edge, 1 of 2 Jobs of the day. In the breaks they are constantly doodling or having some sort of creative outlet. After working there, the artist rushes off to do a house sitting job that keeps them busy till 6pm the night. The artist while working is constantly reading through articles and researching to better their practice. They have a solo show coming up soon.. it’s a shared show but it’s still a show! After 6pm the artist is free to do as they please. With the little money they have, they go to a youthful trendy spot so get the grips of local talent and aesthetic. After this they find their way home where they start mapping out and brainstorming new artworks and how it’s going to be done. Near 2am the artist decides it’s s time to sleep. The work they’ve started will have to wait till the next day.

[caroline--wright]

Contract 

Concept

I have kept the aesthetics and materials of my former direction, but I have changed the concept.  I realized that the work I was gravitating towards making all dealt with an interaction between humans and nature.  Over the past few weeks, I have been hyper aware of how we treat the earth and what kind of a footprint we leave through our decisions on whether or not to recycle or conserve energy.  I think that the majority of humans are near oblivious to their negative effect on the earth, and of how much they could do to remedy it if they just tried.  I want to bring these environmental issues to light, and call people out on their ignorance and show them how foolish it is to turn a blind eye to the harm they are creating for the plant world.  My hope is that by showing this disparity, I will be able to evoke real change in individuals and in turn the world. I think that my process of collaging fits with my concept, because it is taking disparate parts and putting them together into one piece, just like we think about ourselves and the natural plant world in separate ways, but in reality we occupy the same earth.

Formal

This semester I am creating collages.  These collages will be entirely hand drawn and watercolored as separate pieces.  I will then use a xacto to do paper cut and take some of the drawings and paintings and mount them to a white paper to create a minimal collage.  I have let the process inform my concept, which deals with taking separate parts to create a whole.  I want to become better at rendering small figures this semester, but mostly become more creative, brave, and exploratory with my work.

Specifics

8 total collages for the semester.  They will all be 10x10 square pieces mounted on watercolor paper with a deckled edge.  These minimal collages will all contain a juxtaposition of a representationally rendered human with a flat, abstract, plant to show how we think of ourselves and the material world, vs how we consider plant life.

Goals

This class gives me the opportunity to explore without being worries about receiving a grade for each individual drawing, which will allow me to push myself further creatively without “playing it safe.” My main goal for this semester is to create a body of work that is both aesthetically beautiful and that evokes a desire to change in the viewer.

[doxampage]

Book Printing: Paper for a Client’s Digital Print Book

A print brokering client came to me recently with a book project. She wants to print 300 or 500 initial copies of her 432-page, 6” X 9”, perfect bound book (potentially with our without such high production values as French flaps and deckle edges on the text pages). She plans to follow this initial press run with a print on demand contract through one of the online POD (print on demand) vendors.

The Paper Specifications for My Client’s Print Book

My client specifically requested 100# gloss text for the interior of the book. I suggested a 12pt cover (rather than a thinner option of 10pt). I noted that with or without the French flaps (an extended cover folded in on the back and front of the book, making the perfect-bound book appear to have a dust cover), the overall feel of the cover paper would be more substantial at 12pt. I said this heavier cover stock would be consistent with the heft of the text block (at 432 pages, as noted above).

So I sent the specifications to six book printers.

The vendors that offered digital printing all limited the paper choices, and some sent me an email restricting these paper choices to just an uncoated 80# cover stock and 50# or 60# uncoated text stock. Based on my knowledge of commercial printing, I believe the printers did so to keep prices down (fewer paper choices allow print suppliers to buy only a few kinds of paper in bulk, at a lower rate, while avoiding specialty stocks that would require costly minimum purchases).

In addition, based on notations on one of the estimates from one book printer (a reference to inkjet compatibility), it seems that paper choices are limited in some cases to ensure that the printer’s digital printing technology will be effective on the specific paper chosen for the job.

So, to summarize, paper limitations seem to reflect two things: the economy of scale in paper purchasing and the desire to choose paper that readily accepts either toner or inkjet inks.

In spite of these paper limitations, two of the printers agreed to bid the text of the job on coated paper: an 80# gloss text, closer to what my client had specified. This drove up the overall price by just under $1,000.00, even for the short press run (300 or 500 copies). Granted, the text was long at 432 pages, so the paper usage was substantial, but still nowhere near as high as for a 1,000-copy run one printer required to move the book from digital technology to offset printing.

One of the vendors who was willing to include an option for 80# coated text came in with exceptionally attractive pricing. So I asked him if he would produce the text blocks digitally, and then print covers with French flaps on an offset press, and marry the digital texts to the offset covers. He said he could not do this because the two printing plants (one digital, one offset, owned by the same printer) were nowhere near each other geographically.

So, in this case I learned that limits on hybrid book printing (marrying offset and digital printing technology), at least in the case of larger book printers, may be based solely on logistics. Since it’s cheaper to separate a large digital press installation from a large offset installation, marrying the output from each may be impossible (or at least financially imprudent).

To complicate matters, once the printers were already in the process of bidding on the print book, my client offered a description of the text. All text ink would be black, but, in addition, there would only be a handful of photos.

This last specification got me thinking. Why had my client specifically requested 100# coated text for the interior of the book? What was the purpose? So I asked. She thought it made for a classier looking book.

In response, I explained the reasons for selecting coated text paper. I said coated stock was ideal for a 4-color text, because the ink would sit on the surface coating of the press sheet rather than seeping into the paper fibers. Especially for 4-color images in the text, this would be essential. Gloss text is good for making photos “pop” (i.e., to appear as crisp as possible), while dull coated text would be better for printed words and other line art. A dull coating is kinder on the eyes than a gloss coating, minimizing reader eye fatigue.

The long and short of it was that my client agreed to a 60# white opaque text sheet. This will bring down the cost somewhat, and it will be thick enough (when compared to 50# white opaque paper) to minimize show-through of the photos. (This is the unwanted ability to see the photos on one side of a page through the back side of the same page.)

The one thing I should probably add at this point is that I did not immediately contact all of the printers and request adjusted estimates. Instead, I will compare all bids on 80# coated text. Then I will choose a few of the estimates I like (maybe two) and request updated estimates on 60# white opaque text paper. The initial bids on 80# coated text will provide a relative price comparison of all of the vendors. Then, by shifting one or two vendors’ bids to 60#, I can bring the price down a little. Any other approach would create chaos in the printers’ estimating departments.

What We Can Learn from This Case Study

This project is still in flux, but here are a few rules of thumb you can use in your own print buying or design work as you narrow down the specifications for a book project:

Consider an uncoated text sheet for a book that is text-heavy. You will save money, and your readers will probably be equally happy. I personally consider coated text sheets to be more appropriate for full color book interiors or photo-heavy texts.

If your print book has a 4-color interior, or a lot of large photos, consider a coated stock. Ink has better “hold out” on coated paper. That is, the ink sits up on the surface coating rather than seeping into the uncoated paper fibers of an uncoated stock (which dulls down the look of the images). If you choose a coated stock, choose gloss coated paper for a photo-heavy book and dull coated paper for a text-heavy book that still includes some photos.

Consider the weight and opacity of a commercial printing paper. A 60# white opaque press sheet is less transparent (less chance of show-through with photos) than a 50# white opaque sheet, and opaque paper in general is less transparent than offset text paper.

Don’t assume an uncoated paper will always be cheaper than a coated one. I have found some premium uncoated papers that are more expensive than lower quality coated sheets. Be safe. Ask your printer.

Start at 10pt (thickness) for a cover stock. For a weightier paper, choose 12pt. These are usually specified as C1S and C2S. The former means there is coating on one side, while the latter means there is coating on two sides. If you’re only printing on the outside covers, consider a C1S sheet. But if you’re printing on the inside covers, too, make sure you specify a C2S sheet. Otherwise the ink will look different on the inside and outside covers (because ink sits on top of the surface of a coated press sheet but seeps into the fibers of an uncoated press sheet).

Some printers will specify cover stocks in pounds rather than points (80# cover rather than 10pt, for instance). I’d encourage you to stick to 80# and 100# cover stock, but, to be safe, ask for samples. You can even request a paper dummy, which is a bound, blank paper book created at your chosen page count with the text stock and cover stock of your choice. (Your printer can have the paper merchant make one for free.) It helps to get a sense of exactly what the book will feel like in your reader’s hands.

Make all of your decisions based on what you see and feel with your hands (printed samples or paper dummies), because it’s all too easy to make a mistake if you only look at the specifications (paper weight, finish, opacity, coating, caliper or thickness, surface formation, brightness, whiteness, etc.). These specs are useful, but they ignore the fact that reading a print book is a physical, tactile experience.

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[wildlylived]

I’ve pledged to read 100 for 2017. What about you?

In 2016, I read 132 books (that I remembered to record on Goodreads. I’m sure one or two slipped by somewhere). Many factors contributed to this high number, though yes, I do read quickly. I spent half of 2016 in New Zealand, traveling around, working in hotels and hostels, and then spent the other half of 2016 almost exclusively in planes, trains, and automobiles traveling from one US college campus to another. There’s a lot of time to read when you’re traveling. Especially with these handy-dandy phones and tablets that have so many e-reader apps, and the fact that I belong to at least 4 libraries with e-book programs.

Pre-New Zealand, I was strictly a real book girl, preferably purchased from a brick-and-mortar independent bookstore. Post-New Zealand, I’m still a staunch indie supporter (THAT will never change), but I now thank my lucky stars that e-books were invented, because how would I otherwise carry the selection of books with me that I must have wherever I go?

That said, nothing could replace the feel of a real book: the smooth paper, perhaps ending in a deckle edge that’s fun to fan; the weight of it in your lap or falling on your face if you’re reading in bed; the ability to underline, make a note, dog-ear a page (yes, I’m one of those horrible people) as you read along; and most importantly, the way you proudly announce to the world the book you’re currently enjoying.

Of course, there are some books whose covers I might not want to proudly display to the world, and so I’m doubly grateful to read my bodice-rippers in the privacy of my app, thank you very much.

Two of the other reasons my numbers are high for 2016, is that 1) I did a lot of rereading and 2) I focused on series. Actually, I combined the two by rereading the entire IN DEATH series by JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts), and things sort of snowballed from there. When you’re in the world of a series, I believe you can read faster, as you’re already immersed in the characters and setting and so your brain doesn’t have to take the same time to adjust. That’s just my theory, but it seems to work for me. I breeze through them at a frantic pace, and then have to adjust to the whiplash when it’s all over.

While I don’t regret the pulpy mysteries, sleazy romances, or supernatural slashers, I also believe those read a little more quickly for me, and so I’m anticipating having read a few fewer books at the end of this year, as I declare,

2017: The Year of Non-Fiction

Clearly I’ll still sneak the occasional novel (actually, the first book I read this year was Jayne Ann Krentz‘s most recent, WHEN ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE), but I’d like to try to broaden my reading horizons by picking up more non-fiction this year. The title of this blog is Wildly Read, because I can at least claim to be wildly, if not widely, read, but I’d like to be a little more wide, strictly in the book sense, this year.

Luckily, I’m off to a great start! Before 2016 had ended, I had started Jared Diamond‘s GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL: THE FATES OF HUMAN SOCIETIES, and my partner and I are reading out loud together IVORY VIKINGS: THE MYSTERY OF THE MOST FAMOUS CHESSMEN IN THE WORLD AND THE WOMAN WHO MADE THEM by Nancy Marie Brown. My partner is reading COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED, another Diamond book, so we’ll switch when we’re done. I can’t say enough about how fun it is to share the excitement of books with your significant other, so I’ll write that one smug line and let it go.

Back on the road again for work, and I stopped into the Raleigh airport’s 2nd Edition Booksellers, a wonderful second-hand shop right in terminal 2, near the D gates. While there, I picked up THE DEAD BEAT: LOST SOULS, LUCKY STIFFS, AND THE PERVERSE PLEASURES OF OBITUARIES by Marilyn Johnson. This is my first Marilyn Johnson book, but it got me thinking about other other non-fiction female writers, especially when I realized IVORY VIKINGS was also written by a woman.

I’ve been a long-time fan of Sarah Vowell, who writes delightful political treatises (no, that’s not an oxymoron) that bring the past and present together while swirling around a central subject like Lafayette or Hawaii.

Mary Roach is another favorite, having read STIFF: THE CURIOUS LIVES OF HUMAN CADAVERS a few years ago, and I’ve wanted to pick up more of her work since. I’m not sure if I’ll be reading her latest, GRUNT: THE CURIOUS SCIENCE OF HUMANS AT WAR, as war is not my favorite subject, but that’s also partly the point of reading non-fiction this year: to gain a fresh perspective on a topic I thought I knew something about.

So, I’ve got politics/history covered, I’ve got hard sciences covered, and now that I’ve discovered Marilyn Johnson, I seem to have social science covered as well. One of the reasons I purchased THE DEAD BEAT is that in looking Ms. Johnson up on Goodreads, I saw that she had two other books about topics I adore: librarians and archaeologists. Having worked on digs and in libraries, you can imagine my excitement level.

The truly wonderful thing about this is that I hardly had to try to find female non-fiction writers. I almost can’t believe my luck, which is why my first 2017 non-fiction post is about this phenomenon. In addition, when I went back through the history of this blog, while I’ve reviewed only an embarrassing three (!) non-fiction books on here, two of them have been by women:

FURIOUSLY HAPPY by Jenny Lawson

ON MY OWN TWO FEET: A MODERN GIRL’S GUIDE TO PERSONAL FINANCE by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar

THE LOST CITY OF Z: A TALE OF DEADLY OBSESSION IN THE AMAZON by David Grann

Now, it’s true that all but one of these women authors is white, but it’s a starting point. So, that said,

What non-fiction books do YOU recommend for 2017?

Writers of color, female or transgender, from a country other than the US are all a bonus, but ultimately I’m looking for engaging non-fiction on any and every topic. Ready, set, go!

2017: The Year of Non-Fiction | Book recommendations needed, please! In 2016, I read 132 books (that I remembered to record on Goodreads. I'm sure one or two slipped by somewhere).

[kalpanahandmadepaper]

[kalpanahandmadepaper]