#bookbinding guide

[lucrezianoin]

How to bookbind your fanfic!

Part 1: From AO3 to printing

The necessary first step is turning your AO3 fanfic into booklets. Your whole book will be a bunch of booklets piled on top of each others and stitched together.

Booklet examples:

Btw, this is the official Word tutorial on how to make a booklet.

You can see there are different options. I usually do 8 pages, which is what you will see in the video. This means that a booklet of 8 pages is two sheets of paper, printed front and back, folded and one put inside the other. To have your word pages in the correct order you will need to format your word document.

Everything is in the video but here is the text for easy reading (btw the fanfic I used is Exit by schwutthing, an amazing Valjean/Javert fic)

Do not download the fanfic on AO3. Click on "Entire work" and copy paste it on word.

Format your word document. Click on File-> Margins. Select "Multiple pages: Book fold" and "Sheets per booklet: 8". Put "Gutter" to 1cm.

Double click on the empty area just above your text, on a random page of the document. This will make the "Do not download the fanfic on AO3. Click on "Entire work" and copy paste it on word.

Format your word document. Click on File-> Margins. Select "Multiple pages: Book fold" and "Sheets per booklet: 8". Put "Gutter" to 1cm.

Double click on the empty area just above your text, on a random page of the document. This will make the "Header and Footer" option appear. You can click on "Footer" and select the format for the pages' number. Always add the pages number, it will make your life easier.

Now you can justify your book. I usually justify (select all text with CTRL+A and click on Justify), but keep in mind that some documents might not enjoy passing through "justify" so double check your final document. For example, if there are lines of poetry and the author wrote into the next line without starting a new paragraph the justify option will make it weird.

Make your book pretty! I added some illustrations and blank pages. I also made the title of the fanfic bigger.

Fix the chapters' titles and notes. I clicked on Home-> Find and searched for "Chapter", so I could select on each chapter title and make it bold, and also delete the "Chapter text" added just after. You can do the same with "notes" in case you want to delete notes.

Now it is time to print! I prefer to save in pdf before, so I will do that.

IF YOU HAVE A PRINTER THAT DOES NOT PRINT BOTH SIDES

Click on print

Select "Microsoft print to pdf"

Select "Manually print on both sides"

This will create two different files pdf, one for the front pages, and one for the back pages.

Click on the file for the front pages and print them all. Do not panic if you see the pages number all over it.

Now take your printed (only on one side) block of pages and load it into your printer again, making sure that you will now print on the blank back. Open your back pages pdf file and print.

(you can do a trial with a few pages to see if everything is lining up correctly).

IF YOU HAVE A PRINTER THAT PRINT BOTH SIDES

"Click on print

Select "Microsoft print to pdf"

Select "Print on one side"

This will create a single pdf that you can print on your both-sides printer. You will see that the page are not in the order you had on the word document, but the whole file will start with page 8 (see video).

Now print!

What you want is this:

You can see that on the front you have page 8 first, page 1 after, because when folded it will end up with page 1 at the start of your booklet! And on the back of this first sheet you have 7 and 2, that will end up in the correct position.

Now you will have a lot of pages... time to fold and create your booklet! Every two sheets... you will fold as you see above.

Next post will be specifically about folding the booklet, making the holes and sewing them together.

[selfmedblves]

Pages 38-41 of Making Stuff and Doing Things by Kyle Bravo

Book Binding for Beginners by Merrydeath Stern

[szynkaaa]

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

I remember when I first read the book during the pandemic and I ate up all three books within one week - what can I say I'm a sucker for crime stories.

Knowing that a series will be released soon on BBC and Netflix, I had to do a rebind of the first book!

I decided not to include the title on the front cover because I feel like the body cutout leaves a good impression already.

About the rebind: ✦ first time working with linen book cloth, I'm loving it so far ✦ cut out is supposed to represent the shape of a body outlines with chalk, and I added red HTV for the pool of blood ✦The pins were painted with acrylic because the shop didn't sell red pins, only wooden ones! I pulled out the needle and used superglue to glue it onto the cover ✦ endpaper inside features eyes staring at you. The eyes on the cover I freestyled it with a POSCA marker

[getfuckedblr]

here’s my guide to making typesets! I use Word to make my typesets, Canva for designs, and Adobe to insert the majority of my designs.

this is a ton of info and I tried to make it as readable as possible, but plz let me know if u need any clarification!

Word: always use the app, the online program doesn't have all of the options needed

paper size: US Letter Borderless

then i flip it landscape, do custom borders, and select book fold. I do 1 inch on top and bottom, .75 in inside, and .5 in outside. i leave the gutter option alone and leave it set to 0. You can choose how large you want your signatures to be (sheets in booklet option on the margins page): I normally do 40 page signatures, but if it's a smaller text you'll want to go smaller for stability. after that, you should have a half page to start your typeset!

Inserting your fic:

the next thing you’ll do is insert your fic; on ao3 click entire story, CTRL A to select all, CTRL C to copy it all. Paste it into your document. word automatically detects the headings, and you should be able to see all your chapters on the left side bar (if you can’t see it, click the page numbers on the bottom left to open the tab).

Formatting:

you can do the next few steps in any order, but we’re going to fix the formatting now. you’ll want to CTRL A everything, pick a font and a font size. I normally use georgia and size 10, going smaller or larger depending on the file size.

To have an indent on every line: CTRL A your work to select all, right click the “normal” style, on the home tab. go to the bottom left, open the drop-down menu, and select “paragraph”. next to special, hit first line. i like to do .3, you can do whatever you want. i then like to make sure the space after is set to 0, the line spacing to single, and then hit save. it should automatically adjust your lines to start at whatever indent you picked.

To fix the spacing: go into the layout tab, and go to spacing. There'll be a before and after option: write in 0, then click enter for both of them. Word is a little bit bitchy so you have to force it do things sometimes. after this you can choose if you want single spacing, or 1.5, or whatever you want.

*sometimes, the way the fic was formatted when posted to ao3 means that even after setting the line spacing to zero, there will still be a space in between each line. this is where you have to troubleshoot. you can either go line by line to delete the excess space (yes, for real. and yes, it's just as awful as it sounds) or, sometimes, not every-time but sometimes, you can highlight the chapter text, go into the home tab on top, click the A with the purple eraser to erase all formatting, and then do all the beginning steps again, and it will get rid of the extra space.*

Now that your format is mostly fixed, delete the archive of our own beta, and anything else you don't want. I normally delete everything up to the title of the work, and leave that for creating my copyright page. Remember to do the same for the end of the work!

Page Breaks and Section Breaks:

the next part is the most crucial. it's how we format both the chapters, but also how we format the headings and footer. this was the part that took me the longest to figure out: it's the page breaks and section breaks. page breaks mark the place where one page ends, and another begins. section breaks will create a new section in your document, so you can break the beginning few pages from the rest of your textblock. This will allow you to insert page numbers that start on page one, instead of at the first page of the document.

I like to go the end of the description, and then click on the first chapter. then I'll add a section break. you can find this in the layout tab, click breaks, and then click section break. so now our section 2 starts with chapter one. After this, add a blank page after the description and before your new section, and then click on the first chapter. (adding a blank page allows for smoother formatting later with headers and footers)

I then go to each chapter, delete the authors notes at the start and end of each chapter, and add a page break at the start of each chapter. i like to use the heading tab on the left to click each chapter, so I know I'm actually starting the new page right where I need to, and other formatting won't delete the page break.

when I create a compilation fic, where I have muitlple fics in one typeset, I use section breaks at the starts of each new fic. this will allow the page numbers to continue, but I can then edit each sectio to change the fic title and the authors name. if you're really fancy, you can do this for each chapter title as well, you would just hve to use a section break for each chapter instead of page break. *Remember to click link to previous to turn it off, so you are only editing that section, and not all the other sections. this can be found in the heading and footer tab on the top, which will automatically open when you click on the heading or footer.*

Adding page numbers, authors name, text name:

To add a page number, I click the footer, which automatically opens the header/footer tab on top. Then, I click page numbers, add page numbers. I turn on different odd and even pages, which is also found in the header/footer tab. you'll have to insert page numbers on both an even and odd age to get them to show up once you click that option. Page one should be an odd page, page two should be an even page. I like to put the page numbers on the outside of the page. Then you'll click format page numbers, click "start at" instead of "continue from previous section", and write in 1. now your typeset starts at 1 on chapter one instead of the start of your document! you'll need to go back and delete the numbers that showed up on the first section, but remember to deselect link to previous before you do that! or you'll end up deleting your page numbers again.

to add text on page numbers:

click into the header/footer again. double click directly on the page number, then start typing. You ca highlight the whole thing to change the font, font seize, etc. I normally do the same size as my text, and I'll either do georgia font or garamond font. I google "copy paste line for text" to get that line dividing the page number from whatever text I have next to it.

to add graphics on an entire work:

you can go into the header or footer, go to the insert tab, and insert a picture. Doing it in the header or footer will ensure it's on every single page that shares that header or footer. I have done this in the past, and find it's cute, but it's also tricky because it needs to be small enough to fit inside the header or footer, and won't really be able to interact with the text because it's different on each page, while the graphic will stay in the same position regardless.

Blank Pages:

you want blank pages at the start and end of your textblock: this is what you'll be glueing your end papers to. even more, you'll want to ensure your total page number is both divisible by 4 (each page of paper will have four pages of your text on it, two to each side) and fits into your signature count. If you're working with a 40 page signature, and you have 420 pages, that's fine. You'll end up having the last signature only be 5 regular pages instead of 10, which is plenty enough to sew. you really just want to try and avoid only having one of two pages in that last signature, as that won't be very strong in holding up your end page, or be very stable in sewing on to your book block.

to make sure they're blank, with no page numbers, you'll want to insert a section break on the last page of text. Deselect link to previous, delete the page numbers and you should be all good!

Printing/Saving:

I'm on a mac. I don't know how you would do this on anything but a mac. let that be a warning lmao. but I will CTRL A everything, ensure it's US Letter Borderless, and then hit print. if you don't tell the document it's the right size, it'll be funky when you go to print because of the margins. to insert images, i click save as pdf. it'll save it in the correct order to print for your signatures, and then I upload it into adobe to edit further. that'll have to be a different post bc this is entirely too long already.

If you want to print directly from here, ensure it's printing the right size, flip on short edge, double sided. and you're all done!

[assignedclownatcheckout]

And now my masterpiece, which I affectionately refer to as a monstrosity, an abomination.

A little context here, so I decided that I wanted to bind a copy of Clouds' Viridian: The Green Guide for my sister, @vilesssserpent Christmas. The important context here is that I thought it would be funny if I bound it as a single volume rather than splitting it into multiple volumes of much more reasonable size. I committed to the bit. Also, in my infinite wisdom I made this decision like two weeks before Christmas 😔.

Anyways it's a fucking behemoth and I love it dearly. I think it's truly one of the best books I've made, the case turned out fantastic 🤌

[blackholebindery]

This finally arrived (curse you international post!) so I can post photos!

I typeset and bound this for leo7066 for the the 2023 Renegade Bindery Bound Book Exchange.

It was tons of fun, especially doing the rips on the cover!

[elijah-loyal]

my dudes, i am so happy rn i just started working on repairs for my 1880's "Flora Orientalis" (language mixed in French, German, and Latin) and ohmygod it's beautiful

Like, I get to help fix this!! I get to help this book!!

Currently, it's in 4 pieces:

solid textblock (all one piece thank GOD)

back cover, severed

front cover, severed

half of the spine (the previous owner decided to put PACKING TAPE over the ENTIRE spine to hold it together. Needless to say, that did Not work)

My friend let me take some nice leather that I'll see if I can work with, since it's very thick and so unfortunately strong that neither of my boxcutters or my X-Acto blade can bevel the edges.

[stoertebeker]

Soo what if I got into bookbinding

[morganali-books]

Somewhere along the line, I had the startling realisation that I could print and bind digitally archived old books that are nigh impossible to find print copies of.

I've had a copy of "The Workwoman's Guide" sitting on my computer for some time - it's a great resource if your looking at patterns for clothing in the 1830s specifically - a lot of more modern books that cover historical costuming don't tend to cover this period overmuch. Being written in that period as well though, finding a physical copy is very unlikely for me.

Now, Adobe Reader does have a pamphlet folding option in its print settings, but it does not have the knowhow to figure out multiple signatures all by itself. As long as you're willing to do a little maths however, it's actually pretty simple to convert a .pdf document into bookfold signatures.

The fancy leaf paper came back for the endsheets on this one, and I lined them up so that the fold of the endsheet was right down the middle of the mirrored pattern, which I think looks so nice :)

I still need to decorate the cover, but still not 100% what I want to do with it. It's a good solid book though, you can give someone a good whack with it.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb: A witchy, witty, wickedly sexy romance about love, books, friendship and the unexpected connections that bind us together…

Bookbinding (verb): the art of creating something magical out of fabric, leather and paper.

As a lonely foster kid, Serafina Conte sought refuge in handmaking journals—and writing her wishes within their pages. Now, in the quirky new age store she shares with her two best friends, Sera’s intentions have paid off. Her journals are in the spotlight—and rumored to manifest great things. Whether it’s witchy skills, real magic or not, Sera’s finally ready to be the leading lady of her life story…

Until her plot hits a twist.

After the death of her mentor, Ford Sitwell, all the loneliness and insecurity of her past returns. The only balm is the box of antique books he left to her. But Ford’s suspicious brooding grandson, Wes, is ready to think the worst of her—and get his grandfather’s books back! The first part doesn’t bother her. The second? Forget it. Sera won’t give Wes the books so easily. But it’s clear he’s seeking something more, an emotional connection no book can replace. So she offers a deal—work in her store for six weeks, and in return, she’ll help him get closure by sharing memories of his late grandfather.

Yes, Wes seems grumpy, but actually he’s hot…and maybe kind? Deep down? And when desire and vulnerability work their charms, Sera begins to wonder if the best stories aren’t the ones you intend, but the ones that take you where you least expected…

Review:

Serafina Conte has found solace in her handmaking journal talent, but when the death of her mentor brings one of his grandsons to confront her regarding his will, she never expects to fall for him. Serafina handmakes journals, she loves doing it and has found a way to make a successful business of it with her two best friends. Yet when the death of her mentor, Ford Sitwell, happens, Serafina feels lonelier than ever and the last thing she needs is Ford's suspicious grandson coming into her life demanding that the books Ford left in his will actually belong to him. Wes Sitwell thinks the worst of Serafina and Ford's friendship and thinks she was sleeping with his grandpa, and thinks that Ford made a mistake giving away his books to her rather than to Wes. Wes and Serafina get off on the wrong foot but the more time they spend together the more they begin to fall for one another. But can a relationship work when they both are new to relationships and have their own issues? Unfortunately this one was not for me. It was a short read but it felt like it dragged and I'm going to be honest, I did not like Wes at all. I really did not like the last minute breakup/makeup in the last few pages and honestly, dont think that Wes and Serafina have any chemistry at all. I really did not believe their relationship and did not really feel it. The romance just wasn't there for me unfortunately. If you like unlikely romances give this one a go, maybe it'll work out better for you than it did for me.

*Thanks Netgalley and HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada), Afterglow Books by Harlequin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[private-bryan]

Book 1 done, although it needs to live in the press overnight while the glue dries

I'm really happy with how it turned out, what with the custom endpapers and hand stitched endbands. Not bad considering the books were only £1 each in a charity shop

[lucrezianoin]

Pause the video to read. Sorry for the crappy videos and awkward setting, I am moving and HAVE NO TABLE, so I am on the ground.

Here is part 1: from AO3 to printing

Part 2: Folding and stitching together the booklets

You will now have a pile of printed sheets (pages), front and back, previously organized in booklets. I used an 8-page booklet, which means that I will need to fold together 2 sheets, one inside the other.

Follow the numbers, so that you will have the lower number on the outside (on the starting point of the booklet, so on the left) and the higher number on the outside at the end of the booklet (on the right). Each booklet will basically be a "mini book" of only 8 pages.

Fold all the booklets and make sure to pile them in the correct order. Your pile will be your printed book!

Now that you have everything folded make sure to check that your first page and your very last page are blank. I forgot so I added a blank sheet (folded) at the start and at the end of my pile. The blank pages will be needed because they will be glued to the cover!

Now you can use a pencil to mark where to poke your holes. I usually choose 2,5 cm from each border and then divide the remaining page by marking every 4 cm, but it is up to you!

Next you will need to mark each single booklet. You can do that by measuring each with a ruler, or just using the rule while poking the holes - or, you can pile them all up, make sure they are well aligned, use a ruler as a guide to mark a vertical line that follows your previous measurements.

In this video I did a mix of the two, as some of my mark were not too visible, so while I was poking the holes I guided myself with the ruler.

Now, time to poke the holes! You will poke each booklet (two sheets, one inside the other) together. Open the booklet facing down so you can see the pencil marks. Make sure to add a soft surface underneath (I used some foam), and then use a needle or an awl to poke the 5 holes. At the end you should have a pile of booklets, all with 5 holes that can more or less (more is better!) align with each other's.

TIME TO STITCH THE BOOKLETS TOGETHER.

Stitching is probably the most time consuming step.

There are different way to stitch the booklets together but each one is fundamentally a version of a thread passing inside and out the holes you made in a booklet and then connecting to the next booklet and the next and the next. For this reason it is important to make sure you are stitching your booklets in the correct order.

As I said, there are different stitches so it is up to you what to choose. I personally use:

The video will also teach you:

How to start with the first booklet

How to change the thread when you finish it

How to secure the thread at the end

Other examples are the French stitch (video here) which is particularly pretty so probably best to use if you do not fully add a cover (covering the spine) but stitch a cover at the start and end like you see in the video.

The thread you use also depends on what you prefer. I personally use a waxed thread (more resistant) if I have very big paper. In the example I filmed I have extremely thin paper so I am stitching the booklet together with a simple embroidery thread.

I also recommend using a small curved needle!

[ae3qe27u]

Sometimes I forget how long fanfictions are

And then I realize that I read the equivalent of a Lot each day

Also this is INCREDIBLY impressive like wow

Title: How To Design Your Own Prosthesis And Turn The Project Into A Bonding Experience (link)

Author: @jackdaw-kraai , Jackdaw_Kraai on AO3 (link)

Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy

Length: 210 093 words, 656 pages in total.

My first rounded book! Sewed the headbands with silk thread, and wow it’s slipperier than the embroidery floss I was using before. For the cover I went back and forth with various illustrations I was working on, but eventually settled on this so I can change the colour and title and make matching covers for the series! Figuring out how I wanted to do the comm messages took some playing around, as there isn’t really an established way of formatting texting and group chat conversations. I learned how to round a book, figured out a way to make casing in much less stressful (binder clips. 10/10 would recommend), and the cover printed better than expected! I’m happy with how it turned out, though next time I’ll make the headers a bit bigger.

[biscuityskies]

With the impending implementation of Project 2025, I suspect that AO3 will come under fire as well. And given that it’s a US based organisation, and the US has wedged itself somehow into every possible thing, I would also suspect that this will have global impacts. I cannot be certain of it - I’m certainly not an expert on political things and Trump remains, frankly, unpredictable - but I have personally found it’s more helpful to prepare beforehand than to scramble to keep myself afloat in the midst of a crisis. Knowing how important our favourite stories are to so many of us, here’s what I suggest:

Readers, I recommend you find your favourite stories again. Go all the way back in your bookmarks. Tell the authors you appreciate them, and you love their work. I think we could all use some nice words right now. If you want to keep the story, I recommend downloading it: here’s a guide on how to do so from the AO3 FAQ. I personally have wanted to take up bookbinding for a hot second; I might print off my favourite fics for myself and figure out how to bind them. The OTW also recommends downloading your favourites - see link below.

Authors, I recommend you keep your manuscripts. Download them onto an external flash drive and save them for a rainy day four or so years from now. Even the ones you don’t like are worth keeping - I guarantee you somebody else likes them even if you don’t. (I’m speaking to myself here, too.) Project 2025 has blatantly laid out a ban of pornography, and they will take that to mean whatever they want it to; I suggest you don’t even keep your fics on a Google drive if possible it’s definitely easier to keep them all online, trust me, I know, but so does the government. Corporations do not care about you: they will sell you out to whoever is willing to pay. Remember also to turn off AI scraping wherever possible, or better yet use sites that don’t engage in that behaviour.

For further reading from people more qualified than I, here’s the OTW’s statement on what their plans are so far.

I hope I’m wrong. I honestly would love nothing more. But more importantly, we will get through this. Humanity has told stories and put blorbos in situations for literal millennia. We’ll see the other side of this.

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: The Bookbinder's Guide To Love by Katherine Garbera

Books, witchy vibes and a cute romance? Safe to say that this book was always going to be high on my list. I think I've only ever read one other Mills & Boon book before and I don't remember it being particularly spicy but for all I know, this level of spice could be par for their course.

Sera grew up as a lonely foster child, bouncing from home to home. That was until she found the wonders of bookbinding and set up a witchy store with her two best friends Liberty and Poppy. Sera's handmade journals are highly sought after and are thought to bring only good things to those who buy them. But when Sera's friend and mentor Ford, a wealthy bibliophile, dies and leaves a large box of rare books to her, she appears to have ruffled some feathers within Ford's family. So, when his angry yet handsome grandson Wes shows up at the store with plenty of suspicions about Sera and demands his grandfather's books back, she isn't giving in easily.

The bond between Sera, Poppy and Liberty was one of my favourite parts of the book. There is a real found family/sisterhood vibe between them and although they're not really witches, it's easy to see why so many of the town suspect that they're a coven. It was really lovely to spend time with the three of them in their cosy store and I honestly felt like I fitted in with them.

I would have really liked to have known more about Sera's journals. I wasn't entirely sure what gave them so much power, as I knew there was no real magic going into them. Perhaps it was just the power of belief in good things manifesting into those good things but it was all quite vague.

Sera is determined to channel main character energy, as she feels that she has always taken a back seat in her own life. I'm always really admirable of women who suddenly decide to do this and I can definitely relate, as I never feel like the main event myself. I think this is the first book in a series and I suspect that the subsequent books will follow Poppy and Liberty (just a guess!), so I like that Sera got to be the heroine first.

Wes starts with the horniness immediately and I was instantly turned off by it. I've realised that I like romantic heroes to be respectful and reserved, so that strong ick rears its head when they get sexual right away. I also totally get that it's probably a very realistic urge for a straight man but I hate being reminded of it.

I also thought having Sera resemble Hermione because she's bookish and witchy was really lazy. Why did she have to look like that? She could have had literally any other physical feature other than brown curls, delicate features, white skin and a slim body but she didn't because that's apparently not what bookish, witchy women look like.

Once Wes had calmed his hormones down, he actually started to fall for Sera. Wes is also a bookbinder and apparently saw her as an old book in need of repair, which is perhaps one of the least romantic similes I've ever read in a romance novel! However, I somehow didn't mind their relationship as it progressed. It just took quite a while for me to start shipping them.

I do think that Sera and Wes may have been better as friends. They could have helped each other through their shared grief of Ford just as well as friends as they did as a couple. I was never hugely excited about their romance but I did like and believe in their connection. I just wish it had contained a different energy.

The Bookbinder's Guide To Love is about finding joy in unexpected places and learning to put yourself first. It didn't quite land as a romance for me but I loved it as a celebration of women and friendship. It's witchy, bookish and spicy, so if those are your buzzwords, grab a copy!

[beckysbook5]

Waiting on Wednesday!

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on! Happy hump day! I hope you’ve all had a great week so far. We’ve…