#narentabindery commissions

[narentabindery]

Folding, pressing, punching, (soon to be) sewing...

[narentabindery]

Fanbinding

Below are some links to the pages that don’t show up on the app.

Available commissions

⁂ Fanbinding ⁂ Journals and sketchbooks ⁂

⁂ Ebru (paper marbling) ⁂ Teshib (Persian illumination) ⁂

⁂ Support me on Ko-fi ⁂ RedBubble shop ⁂

Available materials

Bookbinding materials - bookcloth for the spine, paper for the covers

Application forms

Fanbinding commission form ⁂ Original work commission form

The post below is from a reblog I did as @valiha on a post by veliseraptor; I’m reposting it here as a reference on fanbinding, commissions and personal practice. Other binders will have different practices. I will put it after a cut as it got rather long!

When it comes to the costs associated with binding a book on your own, it can vary greatly depending on the length of the fic, the amount of paper, toner, cover & other materials, as well as time spent/cost of labor. I’d say the cost of the finished book might be anywhere between $50 - $200 and more, not including shipping. If one is to accept commissions, does one charge just for the materials, or for the labor as well? Or materials + shipping? Materials + shipping + a fraction of the cost of labor/full cost of labor?

Most of the books I did were personal copies, because I spend the whole day in front of the computer at work, and I read a lot of fic at home. My eyes aren’t what they used to be, so I wanted to read them in book form. If you have a hobby, then naturally you will cover all the costs yourself. Other books were gifts to authors, so I was happy to take on the associated costs. (I want to emphasize that authors are in no way obligated to send anything back, whether it’s money or materials. They have also spent countless hours of unpaid labor, producing something I enjoyed enough to want to repay them in some way.)

But even when fanbinders do take on commissions, they’re not for profit, and are often at cost, simply because charging realistic prices for materials and labor would result in amounts that would make your head spin. As an example, I’m currently working on personal copies of a series which is over a million words long, and is a WIP - how does one charge for that? In fact, let’s do an experiment using the numbers from https://www.damienelliott.com/1-million-words-ready-to-copy-and-paste-lorem-ipsum/:

Statistics generated by 1000000 words of text:

typesetting 1000000 words = 6830395 CWS = 1796 pages x $3.00 per page* = $5,388.00

Calculations based on that:

printing (ex. FedEx) = 1796 pages x $0.49** = $880.04 binding ~ 20 hours x $7.25*** = $174.00 materials (average) = $25.00 shipping (average) = $25.00 Total = $6,492.04

* typesetting prices range from $3-5 ** other places may offer cheaper or higher rates, or it might cost you more or less to print on your own personal printer *** US federal minimum wage, according to https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/minimumwage

(materials and shipping are average; as with printing, the cost might be higher or lower depending on many factors)

So in the end, the books we make will either be personal copies, gifts, or will have a price that an individual binder has decided will be fair. To many others these prices might seem excessive, and they might accuse fanbinders of trying to make a profit, but… (points up). Like I said, we’re more than happy to share our knowledge; but if one doesn’t have the time or inclination to do this, then they should be aware of the associated costs and other issues (e.g. author permissions etc.) and communicate clearly with the fanbinder. These are handbound, bespoke items, not comparable to POD services. Those may indeed cost $30-50, and the services may impose restrictions on what they’re willing to print.

Sorry this got so long! It’s just that I’ve been seeing more and more people being surprised by these costs, and I wanted to clarify things. This has been my personal experience; those by other binders will vary.

[narentabindery]

Open for commissions

Now that I am somewhat recovered from Covid-19 and have moved back to my own place, I’m planning to re-post the previous works I had posted at my main blog @valiha . This is so I have them all in one place, and so that they can serve as a reference to the design choices and material options for anyone who might be interested in commissioning me.

I’m binding fics mostly for myself and for favorite authors, but I’m also happy to work with anyone who would like a favorite fic handbound, as long as it’s a finished product with approval from the writer (and artist, if one did any illustrations for the work) that will be shipped once bound.

I’m currently CLOSED for commissions as I currently have several projects in various stages of completeness, as well as more work obligations in October. Commissions should open again in November, though you can still send inquiries.

You can check out the bookbinding materials I have: bookcloth is for the spine, and papers for the boards I use single color heavier paper as endpapers.

I have no limits when it comes to the word count, fandom, or pairing. I do reserve the right to decline a work that crosses a personal discomfort level. Please state which fic you would like to have bound when you message me, as that will help me calculate the correct rate.

I also offer blank notebooks and planners designed with your input, as well as Persian illumination prints or originals. I’m still very much a student of that particular art, but I’m constantly practicing and improving.

[narentabindery]

Good news, good news! After plenty of setbacks which included sleeples nights worrying over workplace, a mutinous printer and a worldwide lack of paper, as well as a blood sacrifice, I am finally completing the big fic two separate folks requested within weeks of each other. The printer is delivering the final pages, I’m sitting here folding them with my trusty bonefolder, and setting each pile aside.

Last time I did this I ended up sewing several signatures of one volume out of order, so I’ll be reprinting those pages and re-sewing them. I am now keeping a close eye on the order of each signature.

I also had some time to give a short presentation on paper marbling, and in the process make a few more papers available for covers. The next order of business is this: If you’ve contacted me before about binding some books for you, lets touch base again now that my work schedule is back to normal, just to confirm if you’re still interested or you’ve gone in another direction. Things should be running much more smoothly this time around. It’s a good opportunity to also discuss paper choices so I can enter them into my records (this is so I know what materials to prepare for whom).

I’m always open for questions so don’t be shy :)

[narentabindery]

Some news! The new laser toner cartridge has arrived, so I'll be reprinting the 2nd volume of the large book. I had gone through the pages to see if anything could be salvaged; unfortunately almost every page has unsightly streaks. This has cemented my decision to keep the laser printer for shorter FICS, but get an ink tank for - let's call them behemoths (affectionate).

On the other hand, I went for my third vaccine today, and my arm is sore and I have a slight fever, so I won't be able to reprint it all just yet. The important thing is I'm getting there.

Universe, pls no more throwing unexpected things at me ok? Gotta keep my word.

[narentabindery]

Another set - volume 1: black bookcloth and red marbled paper, volume 2: red bookcloth and gold marbled paper. Each volume is over 500 pages, printed on Fabriano Avorio paper, with handsewn headbands (variegated red/black and beige crochet thread).

[narentabindery]

Another commission completed. Photos to come after the recipient has it in their possession.