Book Binding | All the Young Dudes Book One – MsKingBean89

Hello everyone!

This post is a little different than what I usually do, but I wanted to share my experience binding my first book.

Before getting to that, I wanted to talk about what interested me in binding to begin with. My first exposure to book binding was through fan fiction, more specifically Harry Potter fan fiction. I discovered All the Young Dudes and started reading it immediately. Check out my review HERE! I looked into getting physical copies and found myself on book binding Instagram. Trying to get a commission spot was very difficult and I didn’t succeed. I then discovered a physical copy of A Court of Mist and Fury: Rhysand’s POV by IlyrianTremors and that cemented a decision to begin binding my own books.

You can follow along with my book binding journey in real time through my Instagram: Nadine’s Book Bindery.

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Typeset

One of the first things you need to bind a book is a typeset. A typeset is the format in which you print the book. I learned how to format Word then got to work.

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Printing

I decided to go with a Brother laser monochrome duplex printer. Laser printers are more ink efficient and the text comes out crisper. Since it’s monochrome, I won’t be able to print colour but I’ll find somewhere to print in colour when I need it.

For this book, I used Hammermill Colored Paper, 20 lb Ivory Printer Paper, 8.5 x 11 paper. You don’t have to buy any special paper to print a book, but I wanted the cream coloured paper because I thought it would match the book.

After All the Young Dudes, I plan on trying regular white paper.

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Signatures

Next step is to fold the papers into signatures. My signatures are ten pages each. Once folded, I put them in my DIY book press for a couple days to make them as flat as possible for sewing.

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Sewing

Sewing is easily my favourite part of the process. It’s also very frustrating at first. Pictured here is my first attempted at sewing. I followed Sea Lemon’s tutorial for stitching.

Sewing is all about experience, so it gets easier and cleaner the more books you stitch.

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Hardcover

So far, the hardcover is what’s given me the most difficulty. It’s important to measure. I can’t stress that enough. Precise measurements are REQUIRED for book binding otherwise you’ll end up restarting a few times. Like I did. I also learned some valuable lessons…

The importance of measuring, too much glue, and the important of using the right paper otherwise it will rip.

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Embellishments

This is where book binding can get expensive. I ended up buying a Cricut Joy at Costco so that I could add vinyl stickers to the spine and covers. I’m also in the process of getting a dust jacket printed. A lot of artists allow people to use their art for personal use only, but you can also commission something if you feel so inclined.

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Final Product