My personal goal is to try and make fanfic binding as accessible to everyone as possible, so here are some resources on how to make a fanfic hardcover for under $25.
This is a barebones bind for the broke college students and such. Happy to field questions, too!
Here's a proposed budget breakdown:
Loosely organized thoughts:
Fanfic bookbinders often share typesets amongst each other. Never pay for a typeset for a fanfic. (A typeset is shorthand in fic binding circles for a fanfic that has been formatted/designed and paginated like a book, to be printed out.)
You'll hear a lot about grain direction for your printer paper, but as a newbie on a budget without your own printer, settle for some nice 92 bright or cream colored paper. If you like the hobby, splurge after but expect to pay at least 2-3x more for short grain paper.
Printing is a pain because some copy shops won't let you print intellectual property smut, and it's very expensive. You are better off bartering instead or looking for a free printer on Buy Nothing.
You know the thick paper wrapping that comes with online orders? It's a good weight for endpapers if you need to scrounge. Paper grocery bags or gift bags (birthday presents) might work, too.
Ask your local library to give you covers from books they are throwing out. Ask for outdated textbooks (those covers are built like tanks) or three-ring binders that are too busted to be binders anymore.
Obtain a used book that was mass produced (so your destruction of it does not impede anyone's access) and maybe even become a little vindictive with it.
If you can afford it, I recommend the Olfa SVR knife (~$10)
If you can afford it, upgrade your ruler to a t-square.
(Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links)
I really hope this resource is helpful! I want to stress how possible this is and encourage people to cherish what they love through art.
If you are interested in fanfic binding and have a little more disposable income, I have an affordable Fan Fiction Bookbinding Starter Pack that I carry on my site. I pack them myself and drop them 1x/month on the 15th.
Midnight Strangers by Mitos (@seriouslycalamitous)
It’s finally done!!! This is officially the thickest book I’ve bound to date, coming in at 828 pages (796 of the fic itself). The Oxford hollow + bradel combination worked so well to support the textblock’s weight, and the foiled faux leather is super pretty, so I’m really happy with how everything turned out! I’ve learned a lot over the course of binding this that I will absolutely be using for my next thick bind.
So I’ve finally finished creating my own physical copy of “Beyond Repair”!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you to @manofthepipis for allowing me permission to create this and @ink-ami for the cover art.
At first, I wanted to bind it myself, but I ended up getting help from Office Depot instead. It ended up being cheaper than I expected (and I also got a refund after they messed up the page order. 😂)
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.
"The flame cast strange shadows on his face and made the Dark Mark dance on his pale skin. It had been ten years since he’d last seen Draco Malfoy."
It's hard to believe that I started working on the typeset for this bind in October of last year. Nearly eleven months later, I have finally managed to bring my vision to life.
This bind has a foiled cover and spine, hand sewn silk endbands, and edges that have been painted and gauffered. It also includes my first attempt at a hollow.
You can find more pictures and information about my process under the cut.
***this fic is an unfinished WIP on Ao3***
For the cover and spine, I recreated Albert Angus Turbayne's design for the Macmillan Peacock Series (1896).
Macmillan reused this cover for multiple titles over the course of several years. From what I can tell, it was initially created for the works of Thomas Love Peacock. If you look at the left corner by the edge of the peacock's tail feather, you can see Turbayne's unique signature.
Choosing this cover locked me into an 1890s Art Nouveau theme for the typeset, and I spent a considerable amount of time tracking down potential chapter headers that harmonized visually.
Peacocks are a distinctive motif in this fic, and I tried to choose images that matched the individual tones of each act. I represented Harry's presence with warm browns, yellows, and oranges, and Edwin Selwyn's with imposing blues and blacks.
A full list of the artists used in my typeset can be found at the bottom of this post.
Predictably, everything that could go wrong with this bind did go wrong. I botched the rounding and backing on my first textblock, and had to reprint it. It also took me a long time to find endpapers that could play nicely with the yellows, blues, and browns. Luckily, Jemma Lewis had exactly what I needed!
I had never sanded or painted the edges of a book before, so I spent several weeks practicing on scrap textblocks while I waited for my brass tool to arrive. None of this would have been possible without the incredible tutorials made by @copticcowgirl and @duran-binding. Their guidance (along with @pleasantboatpress!) helped me figure out a method that worked for me. Duran Binding even sent me some pages about gauffering from a book she had!
Unfortunately, I lost my goddamn mind when I started trying to figure out the gauffering.
There aren't any comprehensive gauffering tutorials online, and the information about it is scant. I had to piece together my method from stray book pages, stalked instagram comments, and weeks upon weeks of trial and error. Heating the tool correctly was far more difficult than I anticipated, and I didn't have a proper finishing stove, so I just stuck it in the flame of my gas stove (thanks to @pleasantboatpress for the heating advice!). Even more difficult was figuring out the correct amount of pressure to put down without burning my foil or edges. Pictured above is the cardstock grid I made to ensure my lines were even.
I also couldn't fit my textblock in my guillotine, so it took me roughly 5 hours of sanding per edge to get the mirror finish I needed. I didn't want to give myself carpal tunnel, so I limited myself to 1-2 hours of sanding per day. Each edge took me a full week to complete. In total, my edge decoration journey took me about three months.
So please, LOOK AT THEM! LOOK! MY BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS!
DOES MY AGONY PLEASE YOU?
I was also too chickenshit to try gauffering on my good textblock without testing, so I also finished two edges on my reject. I also tested my endbands on it. I will probably finish it when I'm feeling less raw.
Unfortunately, gauffering was only the beginning of my suffering. The file for the cover was a challenge to create and adapt. I knew that it was a bit of a pipe dream, and I knew that it would be hard on my machine. I usually do a series of cardstock tests while refining my files before I commit to bookcloth. It proved to be too much for my Cameo 4, and it started gouging my foil and paper after completing a few runs of the cover.
After two weeks of troubleshooting and emailing support, I accepted that my Cameo 4 was dead. Queue a month of depression, and some of the greatest frustration I've ever experienced with a project. I eventually sucked it up and bought a Cameo 5, and had to do extensive testing to figure out the best settings for their native heat pen system.
These are the vast majority of my cover tests (most of them are double sided). Foiling the cover took 12.5 nail biting hours, but my Cameo 5 finally pulled through! Hooray! I love you Cameo 5! Please don't die on me! There was one odd area that refused to foil, so I cracked open my old WRMK pen and filled it in by hand. Pro tip: separate every design element in as many layers as possible so you can double up on foil and redo problem areas easily.
After this, everything began to move along quite quickly.
@copticcowgirl convinced me to put a hollow on my book, and sent me some absolutely incredible notes and videos to help me along! She was also incredibly gracious when I barged into her DMs wailing about millimeter and half millimeter increments, and gently guided me towards the finish line. So much of this bind would not have been possible without her!
Mummifying the hollow was my favorite part, and I really do believe that it helps my book open beautifully. After that, it was a small matter of casing in, and I was free from my seemingly eternal torment!
I would also like to extend my thanks to @tsurashi-bindery, who has been by my side every step of the way. She is the world's best tie breaker, and she patted me on the back every time I told her that I was really, truly, totally going to quit binding for real this time. Her aesthetic sense is fantastic, and she spent hours helping me pick, edit, and arrange my photos. Thank you for being my cheerleader. <3
I also genuinely appreciate everyone that reached out to me on Insta and Discord while I was posting WIPs- your encouragement truly kept me going!
I will likely be posting a gauffering video at some point when I have the time. I don't currently have any plans to share the typeset unless the fic is completed, but you're welcome to DM me.
If you've read this far you're a superstar! This fic is incredibly close to my heart, and I'm relieved that I was able to properly express how I feel about it through this bind. Here's hoping my next project is a bit shorter!
Art credits:
Cover: Macmillan Peacock Series, Albert Angus Turbayne (1896)
Title: Untitled book plate, Alfred Petrasch (1857-1910)
Act I title: Macmillan’s Illustrated Standard Novels, Albert Turbayne (1896)
Act I chapter: Cigales et lis, paons et cytise, bordures, M. P. Verneuil (1897)
Act II title: Charles Scribner’s Sons the Modern Poster, Will H. Bradley (1895)
Act II chapter: Kunst en Samenleving, G.W. Dijsselhof (1893)
Act III title: Bradley, His Book, Will H. Bradley (1896)
Act III chapter: Poissons et algues, coq, écoinçon; paons et vigne; lièvres, chiens et ronces, bordure, M. P. Verneuil (1897)
Dinkus: Fonderie Typographique Française: Caractères et vignettes bois (1922)
Act ender: Combinaisons ornementales, M. P. Verneuil (1901)
A Thing with Wings by paperpuffin (@clockwayswrites)
This is an amazing fic by one of my favourite fanfic authors. It follows a BruceXDanny ship which I’d not actually read before. This was one of my favourite covers of the previous year and I really like the style I have continued throughout. It is based of of the A thing with Feathers book by Edgar Allen Poe. The additional pages I made for the chapter pages and title pages took me 45 minutes to make and I am super happy with them! The cover took me about 1 hour & 15 minutes though I will be spending more time on it in the furture as I would like to continue the style of the inspo cover and have quotes surrounding my ‘bird’ Danny. and the typeset took me about 1 hour & 40 minutes to complete. All together the digital side of this bind took me approx 3 hours and 40 minutes - with the changes it will likley be around 4 hours spent total.
This story is truly one of the most unique fics I have ever read! It is an absolute masterclass in temporal storytelling where one point of view moves forward in time while the other moves backwards...
In this fic Ilya and Shane spend four months playing hockey in Switzerland during an NHL lockout, suddenly sharing not only a hockey team but also a house, routines, a life. And then abruptly need to return to their separate realities.
Already while reading I knew that I absolutely wanted to bind this story and immediately envisioned a Switzerland-focused cover design. Which was further inspired by the Swiss flag mug that Shane remembers as one of the things he collected while living in Zürich.
And then luckily I stumbled across the absolutely gorgeous and special art that @isolabellz created for the fic - look at those Zürich skyline vibes and the whole NYE scene comic, I mean.... Thank you so, so much for letting me use your pieces!
I really like that not having a Cricut or the option to print on canvas always challenges me to get creative with my covers - this time I chose to use stickers for the title which mirror the block font of the typeset and the cutout made it possible to still show the art on the cover.
Anon author, wherever you are - thank you for this absolute masterpiece that will stay with me for a long time!! [and also thank you for inspiring me to get out of my binding hibernation and motivating me to make my second ever typeset]
As always, bound for personal use only - keep fanfiction free!
this my artwork for the cover of “you took my heart (i was sleeping)” by lameparties on AO3 that i’m bookbinding!! it’s kinda shitty cause i have no idea what im doing with oil pastels, and it’s probably not gonna be perfectly binded cause i don’t have all the right materials and am kinda improvising BUT it makes me feel like even more of a fangirl to try to hold on to my interest in a physical form anyway i can
