#binderary 2023

[sayornispress]

Two author copies delivered! Both for @bropunzeling (AO3 here).

More photos and info under the cut!

I actually did my copies of these a while ago--both in February, one in 2024 and the other in 2023. collide the spaces that divide us was one of my earliest attempts at social media formatting, and one of the last books I ever made with my inkjet printer. I did end up fixing a few things on that one's typeset, but it's nearly identical to my first copy. You may also notice in the photos that I chopped off a bit too much off the edge--I didn't yet know how to use my guillotine, and in all the time that's passed since then, it's become defunct (sharp enough to cut off a hand, but not sharp enough to cut through a stack of paper lol)

It's neat to see such a clear example of how much I've improved as a bookbinder in a year and a half--my copy on the left, author's on the right:

Also, a comparison of color ink (left) vs color laser (right):

Like this, it's easy to see how much more vibrant color toner is than ink. Ink works much better for complex images, but since I don't print a lot of photos, but do make a lot of social media typesets, this works much much better for my purposes.

Soon after that, I bought a black-only laser printer and had a whole new set of challenges. It was in this era of printing that I made only fools rush in. It has one of my most complex title pages to date, as they're not really my forte.

Below are my copy, the title page, and an example of how I did texts in this particular typeset.

My copy has a cloth spine and a different cloth as the cover, with a strip from the endpapers to hide my sins act as a bridge between them. This is one of the binds from last Binderary that I'm most proud of.

The title page is in several different pieces--sort of jigsaw-puzzled together from vectors, Google Drawings, and a few different fonts.

Black-toner-only printing meant adjusting how I did social media formatting, and this is one of my favorite ways I solved that problem. I like the simple, almost minimalist formatting that sets the texts apart but doesn't steal the show.

I'd been meaning to offer author copies for these books for as long as I'd had them, but it's hard to understate how little I wanted to use my inkjet once I got a laser XD It's both slower and more expensive to use an inkjet, so as soon as I got my color laser printer set up, I sent the DM!

I organize my handbound fics by ship--that is, every ship has a set spine cloth and title color--so one of my favorite things about author copies is that I get to be a little more creative about covers!

[gargoyleandgremlinpress]

Sportsball Lesbians anthology by Zulu

More Binderary! This A League Of Their Own anthology has a copy for me and one for @zulufic, who's one of my long-time IRL friends. (Her reaction to seeing my first set of books, "Would… you do my fic?" Me: "Yes, that is what I already have planned for your Christmas present!")

The typesetting for this book went just fine. That was almost the only step that did.

To start, I printed the wrong copy, and tried reprinting just the chapter headers but the pages were one line off. When I pressed the folded pages, I used a big wooden cutting board, conveniently forgetting that it was oiled wood, and had to reprint the top two signatures. I decided to lean into the vintage paperback vibe due to the Great Paper Fiasco of 2023 where I ended up with four reams of two-shades-more-yellow buff paper instead of cream, which meant my original cardstock endpaper plan didn't match, and went through four different options to find the right one. I mismeasured the bookcloth for the back of the case, and had to make two more pieces, and there were some minor trimming issues. When I put the stencil on the spine and weeded it, I left it overnight before painting because it was getting late, and then discovered that it had fallen off by morning.

But I persevered! And I put @zulufic's copy direct into her hands last night. WORTH IT. In the meantime, she has written exponentially more ALOTO fic, and I have some sportsball lesbian reading to catch up on.

[simply-sithel]

Gifts by @chubsonthemoon [link]

An adorable story that made me happy to read- never mind that I'm unfamiliar with the fandom, the sentiment was universal. Twas very sweet and an exceptionally well suited gem to set within the form of a crafted & gifted item.

The color guidance on this one was tropical island, a very verdant green. Always oh so pleasing to find that perfect little patch of print to fussy cut. Origami paper is excellent for the minis, being so thin and all. An extra small mini- with 2,153 words, it only came out to 39 pages (that 28lb paper really helps bulk out the wee ones)

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Fanbinding of Incendiary by lastSaskatchewanPirate

Incendiary by lastSaskatchewanPirate

Fandom: Transformers - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Megaton/Optimus Prime Characters: Megatron, Optimus Prime, Rodimus, First Aid, Ratchet Words: 9,915    

I bound this as part of Renegade Bindery’s Binderary 2023 event! A copy for me and another for the author. Another set of quarto sized books.

This is another short fic I come back to on a regular schedule. It’s sweet, and hot, and agrees with my head-canons 😂

Incendiary is a series, containing Flash Point and Blastoff. I really leaned into the flame theme with the origami paper on the cover and the imagery inside.

These are my first books with color images in the text block. Color in the text block takes almost the same number of steps as foil in the text block, and I combined those processes, so it was quite the process! The first page of each chapter has smoke in the background!

Once again, my text block was too wide for the ribbon I have on hand, but I have enjoyed the braiding and tassel making for the bookmarks!

Incendiary has a bit of everything, fluff and smut and laughs. 💖 Thank you  lastSaskatchewanPirate for a delightful story!

[nocturnus33]

Notebook made of PVC coated paper. Fern cyanotype on canvas. Binderary2023 invites you to try new techniques. I wanted to learn cyanotype and to "frame" something within the cover. The squaring was a bit wonky, I must find a way to improve that in the future.

[somedayourocean]

a smol cat journal, because bitches love cats (im bitches)

[snek-panini]

I'm somewhat late posting this one, since I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but this was Binderary Book #3! A bind of Pray for Us, Icarus by Atalan. I'm not sure this fic needs any introduction from me, but suffice it to say that it's wonderful and involves retelling the events of canon with a memory loss twist. It's one of those fics that exists in undeniable conversation with canon; you can't really separate it from the canon without losing a lot of meaning. This fic is so good it gives me story hangover when I read it. It gets pretty angsty in parts but has a happy and totally satisfying ending.

I tried so many new things with this bind, and most of them came out really well! I'm a little in love with it. More pics and process talk below the cut!

One of the reasons I waited to post is because I never got a response from the author when I reached out about binding this one. That's only happened to me once before, and last time it was on an orphaned work so I expected it. Hopefully they don't mind that I've posted pics.

The cover on this one is faux leather. It was my first time working with it and I loved it. Feels really nice, looks beautiful, holds a fold well (this brand, anyway), and takes glue and embossing powder like a champ. The front has a 3D cutout that I made with layered sheets of thin cardboard, then covered over with leather and pressed into the corners. That's another first for me (my other cutouts were all 2-material windows) and I loved it so much I did it over again on my next bind (not done yet--pics are coming). I did press too hard and tear the material in one spot; the gilding around the title is there to cover that. The other issue I had was with the rose stamp on the front cover--turns out this stuff is way more slippery that I expected, and it got shifted while I was pressing it, trying to get the details to take.I didn't notice this until after using the heat gun, at which point it was too late to re-do it, so now I'm living with it. Not ideal, but we live and learn.

Top view, spine, and endpaper. The only design choice I made on this volume that I'm not nuts about is the blue endbands. They're...fine. But I didn't have one available that was better, and I haven't taken the leap into making my own yet. They're not that bad, I just don't love them.

Title on spine! This is another first, possible because of the material. The book cloth I usually use doesn't play nice with the embossing powder so I can't use it on the cloth spines that I usually prefer. But the faux leather works fine with it, so I went for it here.

Endpapers are scrapbook paper, a really nice shade of light green that didn't shop up well in the photos. Trust me, though--they look fabulous with the green ribbon bookmark and the brown leather. Rich and warm and lovely. The case on this fits really well, which is something I continue to struggle with. At first I thought it was too big again, but in hindsight I think it's perfect actually.

Interior shots! I...still need to up my game on the title pages. I did for the bind that came after this one. I find I like the box though. Keeping that.

The illustration next to the chapter title is a sprig of rosemary. Memory loss is a major theme in the story, and the quote "rosemary for remembrance" comes up prominently in the first chapter, so I thought it was appropriate. There are a lot of flowers and plants in this story, and I really wanted to feature all of them, but finding coordinating artwork of them all was too big of a challenge so only two made it in: the rosemary and the rose on the front cover. The rose was a rubber stamp and the rosemary was a free image I found online; all I did was resize it. The same image appears at the beginning of each chapter. I finally figured out how to prevent Word from making all my images blurry, so there will be more included artwork like this in future binds.

That's a wrap! I love this bind. Like a lot. I want to show it to everyone I know but I don't want to explain fanfiction to them so it's here. My next Binderary bind is almost done and will be shared in a few days, (it needs its cover attached and to be titled) and then I owe someone an author's copy before I launch into another fanbind. I already have plans for it though. Can't sit still too long.

[nocturnus33]

So many talented people!

Oh Mercy // Oh Love by @sleeponrooftops

So I really love 00q as a pairing - when done right it's absolute perfection. After reading Oh Mercy I Implore, I knew I had to bind it.

This is the third book of binderary for me - I still have 10 more books to go!

More photos under the cut.

Statistics:

149,791 words || 475 pages

Body text: Liberation Serif, 11 points

Titling/chapter font: Bestaline Sans

I've been meaning to outline my design process for how I decide to books which I'll outline in another post.

Cover done in Neenah Illusio Laser in Cambric, headbands done in 2 colour silk, stitchery on spine using dark gold linen thread, and completed with Cricut Gold Foil HTV.

Next up for me is finishing the Hannibal bind - a bit of snafu with buying precut bookboard in the wrong direction means I have quarto books in my future.

[gargoyleandgremlinpress]

Five Dogs, One Cat by Ryfkah

"If you’ve ever believed me in anything, believe I want what’s best for Jin Ling," the first line of the letter reads. Jiang Cheng has to stop and take a moment before he continues on to the next line: "You must come to Carp Tower as soon as you can and lavish praise on the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen."

I love this fic! It's a funny, touching, post-canon MDZS story about Jin Ling's relationship with Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, and comes with an inevitable side of Yunmeng bros reconciliation.

This was another Binderary project, and a belated Christmas present. I made one copy for me, and one for the friend who introduced me to both this fic, and The Untamed. The cover is printed on a piece of cotton sheet (temporarily backed with freezer paper) with a home laser printer. The endpapers are Nepalese Lokta paper. The spine is acrylic paint using Cricut stencil vinyl. At under 14k, this fic made a cute little half-sized quarto book, just under a hundred pages.

I did my best to match up the different dogs in each chapter using public domain images. There are a few errors in the chapter opening typesetting I only caught AFTER everything was all glued (of course).

This is probably the lower limit for what I'd want to sew endbands on. The spine was skinny enough that it was decidedly fiddly.

I am a sucker for a classic 5+1 format, and I just love the ending for this one!

[simply-sithel]

The Bar at the End of the Fandom by firstlightofeos [link]

A binderary request from @daemonluna I was thrilled to bind! Not only did it turn out quite nice (that's a scrap of @epitomereally's dyed bookcloth there on the spine, cover paper from @aetherseer and end paper from... @spiderverbiclespress?) but the story was new to me and highly amusing. Haven't bound a copy for myself yet but do mean to!

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Fanbinding of A Day in the Life of Dr. Rafael Esquivel, Ph.D. by White Aster

A Day in the Life of Dr. Rafael Esquivel, Ph.D. by White Aster

Fandom: Transformers: Prime, Transformers - All Media Types Rating: Gen Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: Gen Characters: Soundwave, Rafael “Raf” Esquivel, Ratchet, Bumblebee Words: 30,737

I bound this as part of Renegade Bindery’s Binderary 2023 event! A copy for me and another for the author.

I really enjoy this fic, and come back to read it on a regular basis. It is just heart warming and gives me warm fuzzies. 

These quarto-sized books are bound in homemade bookcloth: I was aiming for rust/decay effect, given how the nanites are dismantling Cybertronians. The silver paper helps here too, as Cybertronians turn gray when they die.

I hope you can see in this photo, but I foiled all of Soundwave’s text in shiny green foil. I am very proud of the effect, and I now have a greater appreciation for special effects inside the the text block!

And I ended up making separate bookmarks, because all of the ribbon I have was too wide for this text block  😅 But I learned some new skills along the way, which is one of the goals ;)

@white-aster Thank you for a delightful fic! I hope you enjoy your copy!

I’ve also included this fanbinding in the Renegade Publishing Fanbindings collection on ao3, located here.

[nocturnus33]

Fantastic work of art.

Fanbinding: Inside the River by yeaka

Starfleet sends Jim a spouse and an oddly vacant honeymoon.

When I saw the lovely typeset and bind @ashmouthbooks did of "Inside the River" for the @renegadepublishing annual exchange, I was struck by inspiration. They had done this gorgeous two page spread for the title, and between that, it being a TOS/AOS fic I hadn't read yet but looked amazing, and the idea for the case, I *immediately* set to work on my first book of 2023.

I have this very pretty marbled paper that I wanted to try contouring a green fabric against, and that is what I ended up doing!

I am VERY happy with the end result, but it was a complete pain in the ass to make this happen. Each of the green pieces was separately cut out and worked together with cloth and then layered over the base with the blue marbled paper.

I also decided to test hubris and see how thin of a book I could round and back. I was mostly successful!

Thank you @ashmouthbooks for the lovely typeset and thank you Yeaka for the beautiful story!

[nocturnus33]

A simple black notebook as a gift for a dear friend. The pages are also completely black: Bond 104 grs.

[gargoyleandgremlinpress]

Freedom's Just Another Word by Synecdochic

This was a great opportunity for some nostalgia revisiting a fandom! Freedom's Just Another Word (For Nothing Left to Lose) is a Stargate: Atlantis canon-divergent future fic where Rodney comes back to earth alone, and is about grief, regret, and coming to terms.

Blobby little flower on the spine is to cover a paint smudge. Endpapers are scavenged from my wife's gel plate printing experiments, and the cover and spine are stenciled on with acrylic paint. Cover pattern is on cotton cloth sent through the printer and is left over from another project.

The gate symbol text dividers read "hope."

I did the typeset for this one as part of the @renegadepublishing 2022 exchange, and made two versions for my recipient, @rhipidurafan. This little quarto (quarter of a letter-size sheet of paper) is the full text of the story, and a full half-letter version includes a second copy with Synedochic's DVD commentary version. (So many text boxes… so many…) You can see a screencap of that below here.

True fact: I dropped it on the floor right after taking pictures, and now I need to glue it back into the case on one side. I cut the cloth the wrong way when making the case, and the pull on the covers from the grain direction is definitely visible. I am pretty happy with it regardless!

This was one of my Binderary books in February. I'm glad to have it finished on my shelf!

[nocturnus33]

Adding titles to my books. Trying to master the technique.

[nocturnus33]

A labour of love.

Binderary week 3! This is the magical Flower King by @landwriter <3 Gorgeous art by @fishfingersandscarves (thank you for letting me include it!)

This fic is the epitome of fairy tale Dreamling! It plays with the traditional fairy tale structure in delightful ways and has just the most beautiful winter atmosphere. Gloam's prose is so musical and haunting--truly the best kind of story to tell around a fire, or tucked up warm in bed!

Details and more pics under the cut <3

This one was so much fun to design! The fic takes place in the winter so I really wanted to give the book a pale blue/silver color scheme, but the title is also Flower King (and for good reason ehe--the cold has to give way to warmth at some point :3), so I also went for a green/red title page. I also leaned into the fairy tale setting with these really pretty border assets to separate each section of the fic:

The first section pictured above--and YES it ends with "THE END" but it is certainly not the end ehe. Some of that delightful play with the traditional fairy tale structure I mentioned earlier!

I also tried to mirror the progression of the events of fic with the colors of the borders. It starts out with pale/frosty blue for part I, turns to stark black and white for the very short part II, then to increasingly richer hues of blue with parts III and IV, until finally green for the return of spring/summer in part V:

I also had a lot fun with the decals on the cover, which I painted with metallic acrylic in silver, green, and blue! Not a perfect paint job baha but I really liked how it came out. You can also see the ~rainbow~ effect of the holographic HTV I used for the cover/spine titling here as well:

The edges are also fake gilded with the same metallic acrylic paint, buuuuuuut the lighting in my bathroom (where I took these photos, crouched and muttering over the fabric I used for the backdrop LOL (which I bought on clearance at Joann's for a dress I will make...one day ajslkdfjs)) made it kind of hard to photograph T_T so here it is again at my desk!

And that's all from me for this week! One more Binderary book to go, which I hope to have up before the month is out :3 (Well, hopefully. Four days may be a bit optimistic but by god I am going to try XD)

And of course, all my love and thanks to Gloam for giving me permission to bind her fantastic work <333 It was a pleasure, and I'm so happy to have your writing on my shelf!