In our modern world of computers, I am aware that self-publishing has become increasingly easier through e-books and the internet. But there’s something very attractive about paper and ink, something you can flip through, smell and even cut your fingertips on that zillions of zeroes and ones can’t replicate. Even when it comes to editing, I find paper makes finding mistakes easier. And if you are of the same mindset as me read on.
There is always self-publishing the old fashion way, by this I mean printing, folding and binding a book on your own. I get a very special satisfaction out of doing this and here I’ll show you how to print, fold and sew your own book…
I don’t want this method to be an alternative to “real” publishing, but I find it very useful for personal copies and rough drafts of my own writing. But if you are still a closet poet yet to create any larger work, or just someone who likes reconnecting with their inner kindergartener by cutting and pasting, you can still use these instructions to make a blank book.
I would like to thank the people who taught me some of the skills I’ll be demonstrating here. I don’t want to mention names without their permission, but if you ever read this post, guys, you know who you are.
Coptic Bound Book: (Blank)
Need:
· Paper for Pages: (as much as desired) 8.5 x 11 or ledger size folded in half are good. You can make as many signatures as you like of twelve folded sheets of paper. Acid free paper is optimal.
· Paper for Cover: you have the freedom to do just about anything here. I’ve done it with three sheets of fancy paper for the front cover and three for the back (if you do this at least one of the three sheets should be pretty sturdy). Or, if your book is just a quick printed rough draft you can choose to skip the cover, just treat the first and last signatures like the covers in the instructions. The width of your cover pages should be the width of your signatures plus an inch. Acid free paper is optimal.
· Embroidery Thread :(acid free optimal but not necessary)
· Sewing Needle: should not be too flimsy (it will break) or to fat (it won’t fit through your holes). They make special book binding needles but you can get away with a regular needle as long is the eye is big enough for the thread.
· Awl: This is a tool for poking holes in the paper. They are made with different thicknesses. Use your best judgment for what thickness will work best with your paper and project. I believe you can find them at any craft store.
· Ruler: accuracy is everything. I highly suggest using a metal ruler that starts zero at the very tip instead of a quarter inch down the ruler.
· Bone Folder: used for folding paper quickly and neatly. If you can’t find one, I think any flat, wooden stick would do.
· Piece of Beeswax: (such as a candle)
To fold paper:
Fold you paper in half one by one in groups of twelve (this will be a signature). Match corners of the paper, use bones folder to crease paper fold in the center and fold working from the center out. This will make the folds more accurate.
Paper Grain: paper has a grain just like fabric and idealy the paper grain should run parallel to the spine. You can determine the direction of the grain by "bouncing" the paper (bending it in your hands) you will feel more resistence in one direction (against the grain) than in the direction of the grain. It will also be harder to fold cleanly against the grain. It may be too difficult or wasteful to pay attention to paper grain in your book, but at least you'll sound smart.
To punch holes:
The measurements depend on the size of your paper but here are the measurements for 8.5 x 11 and ledger paper.
Take one signature and make sure it is stacked neatly and cleanly. Open to center page. Measure the center point of the page (8.5 x 11 = 4.25 inches, ledger = 5.5 inches). Measure out from each side of the center point (8.5 x 11 = 0.75 inches, ledger = 1 inch). From each of these two points, measure (8.5 x 11 = 1.75 inches, ledger = 1.5 inches). From these points measure an additional (8.5 x 11 = 0.75 inches, ledger 1 inch). You can choose your own measurements if you want just make sure that your stick to them. Once you’re certain your measurements are accurate, punch holes through your marks with the awl, all the way through the signature. Make sure the holes go through the crease in the paper. Repeat process with each signature.
Make sure all the holes of your signatures line up straight. They may line up one way more than another, in that case, make a light pencil mark on the top corner of all your signatures so you know which way is up/down/front/back. If your hole are accurate enough then it’s not necessary.
To sew:
Measure the length of the height of you paper. Multiply this by the number of signatures and covers going into the book plus two extra. This is the thread length you need. It probably will be really long and might be a bit hard to manage, but just watch out for tangles.
Run the thread across the beeswax a few times before you thread the needle.
Below are instructions for sewing. Sorry the drawings are a bit shabby.
Printing your book to be bound using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher sorry Apple people
This is for a Coptic bound book with 8.5 x 11 papers. You will need a printer that has “duplex” (can print on both sides). Sorry, I’m sure there is a way to print it without the duplex, by double siding pages by hand, but it would be INCREDIBLY tedious. I highly recommend this printer investment; it saves trees too.
Open a new publication. It should give you many options like advertisements, business cards, invitations, etc. Go to “Blank Pages”. Scroll down to “Booklets” Select and double click “½ Letter Booklet 5.5 x 8.5”. A new window should open with a 5.5 x 8.5 page. Click on the “change page size” option (should be on the sidebar). Change the margins to 0.5 inches all around.
Meanwhile, open a Microsoft Word document with your entire manuscript text on it. Select All. This is a good time to change the font size, line spacing, tabs/paragraph indentations. For my 78,000 page novel, I used Times New Roman font, 10 pt. (twelve looked too big), double spaced, 0.5 inch paragraph indentations. Copy.
Return to your publication. Go to the “Edit” tab, under it, click “Paste Special.” A new window should pop up with options. Select the “New Text Box” option before clicking “Ok.” If your manuscript is long, it may take awhile for the program to copy it. It may even say, “not responding” but just wait until it’s done. It will ask about auto flow and adding pages but just click “yes.”
* Note: the text boxes it makes will fill out to the page margins always except for the first page. You will need to go back and enlarge it later.
My 78,000 word novel created 305 “pages”. Take this number and divide it by four (because there are four pages per sheet of paper). This will be an approximate number of the total sheets of paper needed. Mine was 76.25 (77). Knowing that each signature should be about twelve sheets of paper, 72.25 divided by 12 gives 6.35… you will need about seven signatures (always round up), so each signature will contain one seventh of the 305 pages (about 43.5 pages). You will probably need to change to number of sheets of paper per signature by a little more or less to fit just right. Your number of pages in Microsoft publisher should be a number divisible by four. (40 pages means ten sheets per signature, 44 pages means eleven sheets per signature). I used 40. This is so that there are no blank pages in the middle of the book. You will probably have a couple blank pages at the end. In fact, because of this method your last signature might be a little longer or shorter than the others, but that’s fine.
Open a new publication and format it the same as before ( ½ Letter 5.5x8.5 booklet with 0.5 inch margins). You may want to name it “signature #1”. Go to your manuscript in Microsoft Word. Take your number of pages in Microsoft Word and divide it by your approximate number of signatures. Go to this page number and select all the text up to this point. Copy and Paste Special (New textbox) in publication “signature #1”. It should give you the number of pages you expected. You may need to tweak it a bit, adding some, deleting some until you have perfectly 40 (10 sheets), 44(11 sheets), or 48 (12sheets) pages (just make sure it’s divisible by four). Keep track of where your first signature will end. It may be in the middle of a sentence. I suggest writing it down.
* Note: I have not been able to work the Microsoft publisher page numbering system to my satisfaction (can’t figure out how to change the starting number). If you can figure it out, great, if not, do it manually or keep close track of your page numbers.
Go to print preview. You will know you’ve done it right if the last page of the signature is on the same side and sheet of paper as your first page, with your last page on the left and your first page on the right. Go to “print” (not “quick print”) and under printer properties, select your “duplex” option and the “flip on left edge” option. Print.
Immediately mark your first signature with a post it note labeling the numbers of pages, signature number and the last sentence.
Repeat process with all other signatures, remembering to start exactly where the last signature stopped in Microsoft Word.
Bind according to the blank Coptic binding instructions.
