Binderary is getting me off my butt to finish my 2023 projects, thank goodness; three volumes finished and four more on their way. This one was just for me: a collection of scholarship and primary sources on fanbinding!
I've been busily writing all over it since I took it out of the press 😂
keeping it real with you chief this is a bunch of online stuff i could read through tumblr, open access, or JSTOR (thanks local library!). the product is for personal use only, but for those of you who want to read the same literature, voilà, my mock-academic citations:
(they lack "accessed on" because i am a hack fraud)
ArmoredSuperHeavy. (2020, May 22). “I bind fanfic and other underground writing into real books.” Tumblr. https://armoredsuperheavy.tumblr.com/post/618861265189732352/i-bind-fanfic-and-other-underground-writing-into.
bettsfic. (2019, May 18). “socknography: the importance of preserving fan creator biographical data.” Tumblr. https://bettsfic.tumblr.com/post/184971117987/socknography-the-importance-of-preserving-fan.
Buchsbaum, Shira Belén. 2022. “Binding Fan Fiction and Reexamining Book Production Models.” In “Fandom Histories,” edited by Philipp Dominik Keidl and Abby Waysdorf, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 37. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2022.2129.
charcubed. (2012, December 13b). “Details of the hardcover book I made out of scifigrl47’s fanfiction, The Act of Creation Will Be Your Salvation, are under the cut :).” Tumblr. https://charcubed.tumblr.com/post/37885747717.
charcubed. (2012, December 13a). “From Fanfic to 340 pg. Hardcover Book.” Tumblr. https://charcubed.tumblr.com/post/37885742673.
Chen, Grace. (2021, August). “The Slow Burn that Lasts Forever: Bookbinding Transformative Fiction.” Honors thesis. Available at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjbyuzJ9p__AhV0EVkFHUQXD80QFnoECAwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbaylor-ir.tdl.org%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F2104%2F11527%2FGrace%2520Chen%2520Honors%2520Thesis%2520Formatted.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1&usg=AOvVaw3Vlkm-oSwhTWyBd65kKSUx.
Coker, Catherine. 2017. “The Margins of Print? Fan Fiction as Book History.” Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 25. http://dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2017.1053.
Collier, Peter. (2009, September 7). “Interview with Benjamin Harff, upcoming Tolkien illustrator and creator of the Edel-Silmarillion.” Tolkien Library. https://tolkienlibrary.com/press/902-benjaminharff-interview-edel-silmarillion.php.
Duane, Diane (dduane). (2022, December 24). “…And this is exactly how some of us got onto the path toward getting into SOMUCH [GOOD] TROUBLE later in our lives.” Tumblr. https://dduane.tumblr.com/post/685582259872530432/and-this-is-exactly-how-someof-us-got-onto-the.
elarra. (2011, October 8). LiveJournal. “Making of ‘The Seventeenth Step’ twin binding.” https://elarra.livejournal.com/4018.html. elarra. (2011, October 7). “Twin binding of the Seventeenth Step.” LiveJournal. https://elarra.livejournal.com/3666.html.
**Gilesbie, Tara (runawaymarbles). (2022, July 9). “Handbinding My Immortal.” Tumblr. https://runawaymarbles.tumblr.com/post/689360615700070401/handbinding-project-my-immortal-by-tara-gilesbie
**i fucked this one up, Tara Gilesbie is the purported author of My Immortal, NOT tumblr user runawaymarbles. Sorry tumblr user runawaymarbles 😓
ihni. (2018, March 20). “This is my current library of printed fanfics.” Tumblr. https://ihni.tumblr.com/post/172061304327/bugtongue-transformativeworks.
Jacobs, Naomi and Lowe, JSA. 2022. “The Design of Printed Fanfiction: A Case Study of Down to Agincourt Fanbinding,” Proceedings from the Document Academy: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35492/docam/9/1/5.
Jenkins, Henry. (2016, October 10). “Why Study Fan Archives?: An Interview with Abigail De Kosnik Part Three.” Pop Junction. https://henryjenkins.org/blog/2016/10/why-study-fan-archives-an-interviewwith-gail-dekosnik-part-three.html.
Jenkins, Henry. (2016, October 6). “Why Study Fan Archives?: An Interview with Abigail De Kosnik Part Two.” Pop Junction. https://henryjenkins.org/blog/2016/10/why-study-fan-archives-an-interview-withabigail-de-kosnik-part-two.html.
Jenkins, Henry. (2016, October 4). “Why Study Fan Archives: An Interview with Abigail De Kosnik Part One.” Pop Junction. https://henryjenkins.org/2016/10/why-study-fan-archives-an-interview-with-abigail-de-kosnik-part-one.html.
Kennedy, Kimberly. 2022. “Fan Binding as a Method of Fan Work Preservation.” In “Fandom Histories,” edited by Philipp Dominik Keidl and Abby S. Waysdorf, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 37. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2022.2107.
Kennedy, Kimberly, and Shira Buchsbaum. 2022. “Reframing Monetization: Compensatory Practices and Generating a Hybrid Economy in Fanbinding Commissions” Humanities 11, no. 3: 67. https://doi.org/10.3390/h11030067.
Kennedy, Kimberly and Buchsbaum, Shira Belén. 2022. “Fanbinding and a Community-Generated Information Environment,” Proceedings from the Document Academy: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35492/docam/9/1/6.
Lee, Adam (2021, October 7). “Fanbinding: Creating physical copies of fanfiction for your bookshelf.” FanFicable. https://www.fanficable.com/post/fanbinding-creating-physical-copies-of-fanfiction-for-yourbookshelf.
liapher. (2021). “that’s 6262 pages worth of formatting etc plus a small booklet with illustrations and such.” Tumblr. https://liapher.tumblr.com/post/662607545312165888/thats-6262-pages-worth-of-formattingetc-plus-a.
liapher. (2021, September 17). “oh haha you know when you hand in your thesis and then shift into rabid design mode.” Tumblr. https://liapher.tumblr.com/post/657880125210263552/oh-haha-you-know-whenyou-hand-in-your-thesis-and.
lifeaftermeteor. (2022, December). “The Fandom Binder.” Tumblr. https://lifeaftermeteor.tumblr.com/post/705093324862898176/for-those-of-you-among-the-fandom-olds-you-may.
Price, Ludi and Robinson, Lyn. 2022. "Fan Futures—Beyond the Archive: Papers from the FanLIS 2022 Symposium," Proceedings from the Document Academy: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35492/docam/9/1/1.
Price, Ludi and Robinson, Lyn. 2017. “Fan Fiction in the Library.” Transformative Works and Cultures: no. 25 http://dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2017.1090.
Renegade Bindery. (2020, August 18). “Renegade Publishing” https://renegadepublishing.tumblr.com/.
sailorvfan10.(2011, September 25). LiveJournal. https://kirakiraunmei.livejournal.com/8490.html?utm_source=3userpost.
the_shoshanna. (2009, October 14). “Preserving and sharing fanfiction: the Archive of Our Own.” Dreamwidth. https://the-shoshanna.dreamwidth.org/261377.html. Accessed April 12, 2023.
spockandawe. (2023, February 27). “Binderary!” Tumblr. https://spockandawe.tumblr.com/post/710434216445394944/binderary-i-already-spoiled-how-thiswent-last.
spockandawe. (2021, December 12). “One more round of 1) books, and 2) drawing on books before the official releases start dropping and I can begin buying those instead!” Tumblr. https://renegadepublishing.org/post/670416583721615360.
Write Dragon. (2019, June 13). “I formatted, printed, and hand-bound all the due South fanfic I’ve written to date.” Tumblr. https://www.tumblr.com/writedragon/185571313295/due-south-hand-bound-books-iformatted-printed?source=share.
Write Dragon. (2019, June 4). “I am teaching myself to make books by hand.” Tumblr. https://www.tumblr.com/writedragon/185367196625
@delazeur 's Questions Answered features a prickly 'red' Hawke and the most organic emergence of a throuple I've ever seen (plus, there's never enough Alistair/Anders in my book).
Caralyn's thorn motif ended up on the cover (very fun to paint, I'll have to do more painted covers) and title page(s); & red and gold honestly work for all three of them.
Binderary is getting me off my butt to finish my 2023 projects, thank goodness; three volumes finished and four more on their way. This one was just for me: a collection of scholarship and primary sources on fanbinding!
I've been busily writing all over it since I took it out of the press 😂
I had a blast with this project, @sorrelchestnut's series everybody wants to be a cat! Post-apocalyptic spycraft in the 1950s-flavoured 2280s has never looked so good.
Of course I'm unreasonably fond of the title page cat, look at it :3
Thank you to both @needlesslycryptic and @rayeliann for permission to include their wonderful art!
August 21 is Fan Fiction Writer's Appreciation Day, and this year I'm showing mardia and their Knives Out story If I'm Haunting You, You Must Be Haunting Me some love!
Okay, so I’ve been wanting to try fic/book binding for ages.
The problem for me however isn’t the physical aspect of putting the book together, it’s the typesetting.
I’ve tried looking for guides, but I’ve got ADD and the guides I can find, through google and the renegade publishing guide/advice/FAQ google doc, can’t hold my attention, and it makes me want to gnaw my own hands off.
In all honesty I just want the suggested margin measurements best for your basic A4 printer paper. (I know there’s more to typesetting, but header/footer/side margins seem to be where my mind decides to throw a fit)
I’m probably making it harder then it needs to be tbh but nothing else has helped.
Thank you for your time
Hello, and thanks for reaching out! The more community members, the merrier 😄 !
(Please note that if you'd like an expert opinion, feel free to ask in the discord/reach out to my fellow Renegade members kate2kat & pleasantboatpress here on tumblr - they work primarily in A sizes, whereas I am a filthy US american.)
When I started out, I took my software's default margins and tweaked them til they looked okay to me.
"Default": 2.5 cm for every margin.
Tweaked: 2.5 cm for the top OR bottom margin, 2 cm for all other margins.
I know these are very basic, but it's a good place to start playing around to see what works for you.
A rule of thumb is to have 10-12 (maybe up to 14) words in an average line of text. Narrow margins and small font sizes reduce the final page count, but can make the page crowded/more difficult to read, and whether that tradeoff is worth it is up to you - a test print of a page or two really helps me here.
Give your page numbers and running header/footer with the title & author info (if included) breathing room. Look at the page proportions: even if top & bottom margins are exactly the same, when there's something interrupting the white space up top it makes the bottom margin seem wider by comparison.
Look at the innards of all kinds of books and make a note of what you do and don't like in the layouts; plus, copying examples is a great way to produce a period look. The golden ratio, for instance, can be used to imitate certain medieval/renaissance manuscripts!
TL;DR: start with the measurements above & then change them as needed based on the following:
What is being printed (are you replicating a look? Trying to save paper or stretch a short fic?)
Personal preference (where do you want the page #s/ author or title info, if any? Does a crowded page or any big blank space bother you?)
Your printer (most won't print to the paper's edge, leaving a 0.5 in. wide border of untouchable space) & the peculiarities of the software you use to typeset
Hope this or one of my fellow bookbinders helps! I'd love to see what you end up making :)
Before I started making hardcover books, I played around with pamphlets - this is a House MD fic my best friend rec'd to me all the way back in 2010. (!) It has since been deleted; I was very lucky to get hold of the text through the wayback machine.
It's written in a pseudo-bible style, so I had a fantastic time using typesetting elements from old bibles: blackletter fonts, rubricated letters, no standard spelling and hyphenation wherever i damn well please, and my good friend the pilcrow <3
The design process of making a book - picking the materials I'm going to use and matching them to a particular story - is half the fun, and when I saw this gorgeous red lacquered paper, I knew exactly which fic it belonged with: @glimmerglanger's A Treatise on Breaking and Repairs!
(the texture on the waves is bananas <3)
(yes this hits like every warning. that recovery arc tho 😏)
For the Renegade holiday gift exchange this year, I bound This Place at the Crossroads for my giftee, @robins-egg-bindery, and the author, alpha_hydra!
The Kirk/Spock pairing was the perfect excuse to go ham on blue and gold yet again.
In addition, there's a dash of Art Deco geometry to go with all the gilding:
According to the postal system, this book has been delivered, so I can finally share pics! I knew I wanted to bind @far-sector's Clone Wars AU fic (feat. force-sensitive, POW Cody) False Dichotomy by the time I reached the end of the first chapter. I love (love, LOVE) this work, and it's the first in an ongoing series!!
Thank you to the author for letting me include their wonderful art!
edit 3/6/22: I forgot to post the credits, for shame!
I got a book in the mail today from the 2022 @renegadepublishing holiday gift exchange!! It's so perfect and palm-sized... I can't stop looking at it 🥰
My request was Mixing It Up, a Check Please! AU by sinspiration on ao3:
The reminiscent-of-baking-cups paper...😢 the clean and professional back cover blurb!!
The adorable endpaper pattern...!
I apologize for making my giftee, @sherezades, format text message conversations 😅 , but they're handled really well:
Lol so I didn't meet my goals in the least, but I finished three books, almost managed to complete two more, made four notebook text blocks and...did less typesetting than I should have. But then, I only had six days off in February. I did my best! Better luck next year :)
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