DIY Book, Episode 23
Interview with indie comic strip artist Denny Riccelli, who talks about the role of comics in his life,
and how he's come to draw, write, and publish his own.
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My first zine
How freeing, to be able to produce my own little publication by hand! I deliberately resisted the urge to clean it up, and have reproduced it exactly as it appears in the original paste-up.
I'd informed my sweetie well in advance that I'd be working on this project, and it really did take all day, from 1PM to 8:30PM, to do it. Still, he looked sad when I rejoined him in the evening, and I felt bad for abandoning him on a sunny Sunday. This town's too small and we're still a bit too isolated for me to lock myself away from him on the weekend.
But at least it worked! I've never done this before, so I didn't really know if it would turn out.
The end result is equal parts rant and confession, and I don't know who'd want to read it. I'm happy with how it looks, though — and that was really the exercise, to play with the form.
Here’s how I did it:
- I started by brainstorming what I thought belonged in it, then clumped those ideas into section-headings.
I made a little mock-up of the booklet so I would know which pages belonged where — since I’d be doing the imposition by hand.
Then I sat and doodled all afternoon.
My best friend when I was little had Muscular Dystrophy and was in a wheelchair, so we spent all our time together drawing cartoons. Spending yesterday drawing felt like being ten years old again, and memories from childhood kept floating up all day.
When I was finished the drawings, I pasted them onto pages to make a rough layout.
Then I typed up the text to go with them. Good thing I’ve been using Twitter for a while, because brevity was a definite challenge!
I used my scanner/printer as a photocopier to reproduce the pages and make them double-sided (by putting the paper back through the printer).
Finally, I cut the pages in half, folded them, nested them together, poked three holes through the spine, and bound them together with a simple pretzel-knot.
Here’s the result:
This morning I made some corrections to the originals and copied them twenty times. The plans was to make and sell limited run. Will they sell out at the Alternative Press Fair? Will they sell out through Twitter? Or will they end up in a drawer?
We’ll see.
Boxes and cases for books
This morning I'm sending off a book I’m donating to a zine fair in aid of Japan, and it’s going out in a perfectly-fitting box. Yay!
FlexBond Glue
As you know by now, I’m a sucker for finding the next better thing, so I bought some — though I was a bit taken aback that you have to buy it by the gallon! (That’s 3.79 litres for my metric friends.)
My big jug of glue arrived two days ago...
...so I set about folding pages new-style for three books last night, then glued them before bed. When I got up this morning, the glue had dried along the spine into a really pleasing rubbery coating. When I’ve used other PVA glues in the past, they would hold but they disappeared into the paper. Why I’d turned to hot-glue was I wanted to make sure the spines were both secure and also filled in solidly. Even though this new glue is very runny and wet at first, it dries fairly quickly and is thick enough that I think it could take over this job.
Why switch from hot-glue? Well, I’ve never stopped feeling freaked-out by having to work so quickly with it. Here’s this thick lava-plastic oozing out of an electric gun, leaving spider-web threads everywhere. It comes out of the gun in round blobs and starts cooling into unworkableness as soon as it’s applied.
This glue, by contrast, can just be lazily painted on, brushed into every corner where I want it to go. Like I said, it’s very wet, so I need to figure out how to deal with the paper rippling from the moisture. The effect smoothed out a bit as the spines dried, through. (EDIT: For the next bunch of books I used a thicker card-stock, and there was no warping at all.) 
Thanks, Doc, for the tip!
EDIT: Doc has created her own step-by-step demonstration of how she glues her spines.
My Paper Folding Saga - And a New Shortcut
For a while I was using a Martin-Yale 7200 paper-folding machine — a piece of mailroom office equipment. It wasn’t cheap, and it did an okay job of folding the pages, but occasionally it would fan one out at a wonky angle as it folded it, or, worse, crumple it entirely. That one page came from a complex, imposed, printed and cut document, and finding and reprinting the right front and back pages could be a pain in the bahookey. And when static built up in the exit tray, the pages would stick together and fall in clumps into the basket. Despite my diligence, a few customers told me their books had a couple of pages out of order. Ouch!
Then that machine just refused to deal with my pages — which were, admittedly, A5, not the A4 sheets it was intended to fold.
Okay, fine: I gave it away to someone local, who, when he came around to my house to pick it up, insisted on going back to his truck and giving me a big clear bag of cabbages and a huge paper sack of potatoes to say thank you. (Some of the potatoes are still in the shed, and have somehow managed to survive the winter.)
Determined to make books as efficiently as I could, I went online and I found a different kind of paper folding machine on sale at a discount on eBay. It cost twice as much, but, hey, the description said it would handle A5 pages. Sorted!
But not. It turned out to be even worse at folding my book-pages than the first machine.
I felt the embarrassed grief of the stupid consumer. (And I kept trying to make it work beyond the point where it was reasonable to ask to return the thing.)
So I did the only thing I could: I folded pages by hand. Sitting in front of the telly after dinner with my honey, I’d put a coffee-table book on my lap and fold sheet after sheet in half, one by one. It took forever, but I actually didn’t mind, because at least it was accurate!
(I’m finding myself less and less inclined towards automated solutions that end up causing hassle.)
Then the other day I took the infernal machine off my desk — getting back acres of prime desk farmland! — packaged it up, and listed it on eBay. Searching for product categories, I happened to bump into a listing for a card folder — yes, another piece of scrapbooking equipment. (“But bookbinding is not scrapbooking!” I keep repeating this to myself, despite acquiring more and more of their stuff.)
I got my board today. Really, it is just a board: MDF “wood” with some slices cut into it. Price? £4.50. I tried it out, and I love it. There’s something strangely satisfying about following the ridges with a bone folder to put the creases in, and I can pre-crease four or five pages at once, rather than having to do that thing with every piece of paper where you carefully line up one edge to the other then flatten the fold.
Here’s a video of the process:
Like learning to write in shorthand, this is only about four or five times faster than the other manual method, but it means I’m not reliant on some expensive, fallible machine to practice my art.
I hope you find this helpful!
Making a Gluing Station
I adapted this tool from something I’d seen in Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine?
I’m interested in zines, although, like poetry, the form has always eluded me. Most books on the subject are just profiles of what’s been done by others, but this one goes into depth about how to come up with ideas for a zine and take on the various aspects of producing one. The imposition guides it gives alone would be a big help to anyone who wants to create a small-format publication, and the section on “square binding” (pp 88-89) gave me the idea for this project.
My woodworking skills make Doctor Frankenstein look like a plastic surgeon, so forgive how rough this is, but I gave it a try and it does the trick. The idea was to create a base with one fixed side and one adjustable side that I could wedge a book cover into, fill the cover with hot glue, then shove a book-block down into the glue — as opposed to laying it on top of the spine and folding the cover over. With that method, the glue can leak out the sides and it’s a problem, whereas with this method that would just hold the cover on tighter.
Note that this is for using with a book-block that’s already been glued together. I’m finding that’s the best way to ensure all the pages are secure — plus I would never try to do this with a handful of loose sheets!
Here’s what it looks like:
(I put bulldog clips on either cover to keep it out of the way of the glue-gun.)
(Then I lay down several thick strips of hot glue and push a book-block down into them. When it cools, I trim off the excess rubbery glue.)
Making a Stand... And a Jig
I’ve been given a place at an alternative press fair in London this May, but was a bit surprised to learn that I’d been assigned a third of a table. For my last show, I just took along the box I keep my books in at home — a wooden Ikea dresser-drawer insert. That won’t fit into a third of a table, so I wondered how else I could disply my books in a small space.
This is what I came up with:
It’s a little stand that works like an easel, with a knotted piece of waxed linen thread running from the front to a leg in the back. I also put little shims on the back to hold the leg in place, and glued a small piece of bookbinding cloth to the leg, which acts as a hinge.
My dad gave me a “reciprocating saw” for Christmas — a cross between a jigsaw and a gun — which suddenly makes it possible for me to cut straighter lines through thicker pieces of wood. So, now that I’ve finished the instructional part of the podcast, I find myself coming back to the very beginning: I made my own bookbinding jig, just like the one my mum first told me about, which got me started on this whole adventure. Only now I could make one that’s perfectly tailored to the dimensions of the books I’m making.
The bookbinding jig works on the same principle as the simpler perfect-binding press I demonstrated a while back. It’s a bit more complicated to make, but it stands up on its own, which is very handy.
I stuck a book in it just for illustrative purposes. How I’m binding books now has changed — again — just slightly, and I’m finally able to get a much more reliable result. Here’s how I’m doing it now:
- Print out the imposed pages.
- Cut them in half on the guillotine.
- Fold them by hand. (Yes, it takes forever, but I replaced one bad paper-folding machine with another, and simply don’t believe any contraption that’s available to consumers can reliably fold A5 pages without scrunching them or folding them at wonky angles. Save your money, folks. Now I fold my pages while watching the idiot-box, and I don’t have to feel so guilty because the time’s not wasted.)
- Clamp the folded pages in the bookbinding jig.
- Glue the pages along the spine, and allow this to dry. The result will be a nice, solid “book block”.
- Trim the top and bottom of the book block on the guillotine, but not the outside edge. Note that I haven’t put a cardstock cover on the book block yet: I found that, once the cover was on, the spine would have a bit of a lip on the front and the back, and no matter how tightly I clamped it down in the guillotine, I would get wonky, unpredictable cuts — sometimes ruining the whole book.
- Trim a piece of black card to the height of the book, and score it so it will fold around the spine.
- Re-clamp the book block and the scored card in the bookbinding jig. Bend the card back so the spine is exposed, ready to be glued.
- Hot-glue the spine and fold the cover over it.
- Let dry, then trim off any excess glue, and re-melt any bits I need to with a heat gun.
- Trim the outside edge of the book-block and card.
- Stamp the book with my logo on the back, the title on the front, and a unique serial number inside.
- Print the overleaf.
- Trim the overleaf to fit the height of the book.
- Score the overleaf to fit around the spine, and fold it around the book.
It’s a slight variation on what I showed in the Perfect Binding Supplemental video. The important difference is that I’m trimming the book before I put the cardstock cover on. Between that and folding the pages by hand, I’m getting a much more reliable result, which makes the whole process a lot more fun!
DIY Book, Episode Twenty-Two
Finding Your “Dear Reader”
The conclusion of the DIY Book Process:
Finding the people who love to read the things you write.
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Additional resources:
- Becoming an Indie Author, by Zoe Winters
- Booklife, by Jeff Vandermeer
- How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead, by Ariel Gore
- “Twenty-three ways to Promote and Sell Books” from ReadWriteWeb
- Self-Publishing Resources
- The Book Marketing Network
- Bob Baker
- Artist, performer, and creativity coach Lisa Pijuan-Nomura
DIY Book, Episode Twenty-One
A Place to Call Home
A look at what's involved in creating a website — to serve as a platform for you as an author and your books.
(In which I say the word “increasingly” far too often — sorry!)
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Additional resources:
Digital Commerce Toolkit
from Hi~Arts (Highlands & Islands Arts website)
Goes into more detail about considerations when building a website and developing e-commerce, and points to specific site-building tools.
DIY Book, Episode Twenty
Part Three, Introduction
It’s time for the third and final part of the DIY Book Process:
The Book-to-Reader Process.
In this episode, I outline the two parts this approach will take: making your book available by developing a web presence and online store, and reaching out to your audience. I also come clean about my own fears and shortcomings in this third step in the process.
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Perfect Binding, Supplemental
The DIY Book Press!
In this episode, I demonstrate a simpler kind of perfect-binding press I’ve made myself — which you can make, too, from very basic materials, or at least use the principles of to come up with your own solution for making paperbacks.
Watch the video
(you may need the QuickTime plug-in)
...or subscribe on iTunes:
At a listener’s request, I’ve created a DIY Book Press instruction guide: how to build one and use it to make paperback books!
(PDF download)
Or if you just want to skip to making books, you can buy a DIY Book Press in my shop.
The Zoe Winters Special
The
Special
We take a break from the regular podcasts for a special interview with Zoe Winters,
one of the Web’s most fervent and fun advocates of indie publishing.
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DIY Book, Episode Nineteen
Buying Stuff
This time around, we look at the possibilities — and perils — of running a micropress,
along with some strategies for staying focused on what matters to you.
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DIY Book, Episode Eighteen
How to Make a Hardcover Book
A video episode in which I demonstrate how you can make a hardcover book with basic materials.
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(you may need the QuickTime plug-in)
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Printed guide:
Quick’n’Dirty Bookbinding (A4)
Quick’n’Dirty Bookbinding (Letter)
Here are some other folks’ guides to making stitched signature books (in case mine left you confused):
- Curiously Crafty
- Kvasir House Press: “How I Wrought Certain of My Books”
- About Bookbinding - online bookbinding texts
- “Make a Moleskine-Like Notebook”
DIY Book, Episode Seventeen
Perfect Binding
(Or as Close as We Can Get)
In this video episode, I demonstrate three ways to make a perfect-bound book.
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(you may need the QuickTime plug-in)
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DIY Book, Episode Sixteen
A Simple Chapbook
In this first video episode, I’ll show you how to print and bind two types of simple books.
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DIY Book, Episode Fifteen
E-books & Imposition
In this episode, you'll learn how to create an e-book from your manuscript, and how to use software to do the "imposition" of your book's pages so they can be printed out, folded, and stacked into a book.
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Podcast notes:
Smashwords
Scribd
ManyBooks
Sigil
Calibre
ClickBook
CocoaBooklet
Cheap Impostor
PDF Clerk Pro
CommandPDF (From the maker of PDF Clerk Pro; reorders pages so you can just print, cut, and stack them.)
Pulp paper stock
Bookbinder Java app (thanks to Takeshi for pointing this one out!)
DIY Book, Episode Fourteen
Cover Yourself!
Coming up with your book's cover design and getting it on paper.
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Podcast notes:
The Book Cover Archive
The Pelican Project
CrowdSpring
Barcode generator
MyFonts.com
QVectors
123FreeVectors
TinEye
Public domain images on Wikipedia
CompFight
DIY Book, Episode Thirteen
Making Your Pages
In this episode, we look at how to prepare the pages of your novel for printing as a book.
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Podcast notes:
The Book Designer Blog - The Parts of a Book
The Book Designer Blog - The Copyright Page
DIY Book, Episode Twelve
Your Publishing Options
A look at the four main publishing options available for getting your book out into the world.
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Podcast notes:
The Future of Publishing
Booklife
Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook
Nathan Bransford’s blog
The Burry Man
Preditors & Editors
One New York Times Bestseller Per Year Will Barely Keep You Above The Poverty Line
Show Me the Money, Bitches
Print-on-Demand resources:
Café Press
Lulu
Lightning Source
Blurb
Writer Beware
e-Book creation software:
Calibre
Sigil
Lib2Go
Smashwords
Additional e-book creation software, sent in by listener ‘Camy’:
Jutoh - WYSIWYG, cross-platform (PC, Mac, Linux), outputs multiple formats (this one’s my top choice now!)
eCub - freeware ePub creation software by the maker of Jutoh (more complicated, but free)
Cory Doctorow
DIY Book, Episode Eleven
Fully Licensed
In this episode, we'll review all the bits of legality and registration involved in do-it-yourself publishing — from protecting your ideas to making sure your book can be found anywhere in the world.
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Podcast notes:
ISBN registration
Obtaining an ISBN - UK
Obtaining an ISBN - US
Obtaining an ISBN - Canada
Obtaining an ISBN - Other countries
Independent single ISBN resellers (not recommended, as they will be identified by the ISBN prefix as the publisher when you’re doing all the work!):
Aardvark Global Publishing
My Identifiers
Cataloguing-in-Publication, Legal Deposit
UK CIP programme
UK legal deposit programme
Copyright & Creative Commons
Copyright overview on the Wikipedia
UK copyright office
Canadian copyright office
US copyright office
Creative Commons
DIY Book - Episode Ten
Preview of the Novel-to-Book Process
A preview of the next series of podcasts which will teach you how to take your finished work and turn it into a physical product you can share — in other words, a book!
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DIY Book - Episode Nine
Fin!
At last, your beloved novel is finished! But here are a few final touches to add before you go on.
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Show notes:
Editing cheat-sheet
Further self-editing resources
DIY Book - Episode Eight
Serialise Like the Dickens
Your novel is underway, and sharing your work in progress can be a great way to keep it alive. But beware the lurking murderers!
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DIY Book - Episode Seven
The Writing Session
In this episode, we look at ways to outsmart mental obstacles and get down to writing your novel.
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DIY Book - Episode Six
The Novel Timeline
How long will take you to write your novel? And how do you balance this with the rest of your life?
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Show notes:
Exercise sheets
DIY Book - Episode Five
Chaptermath!
In this session, you'll break your story arc into individual chapters, then divide those chapters into scenes — leaving you ready to start writing your book!
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Show notes:
Exercise sheets
DIY Book - Episode Four
The Shape of Your Story
In this episode, you'll get to work defining what particular story you're telling, and starting to map it out.
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Show notes:
Exercise sheets
DIY Book - Episode Three
Strength of Character
This episode contains several exercises to help you define the characters who will populate your novel.
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Show notes:
Exercise sheets
DIY Book - Episode Two
Snapshots, Archetypes, Themes, & Gumption
We take a look at the way ideas begin to connect after you've been gathering them for a while, the major story archetypes, and some ways to prepare for the task ahead.
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Show notes:
Exercise One
The Archetypal Stories:
http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/plotFARQ.html
http://everything2.com/title/Basic%2520plots
John Vorhaus:
http://vorza.com/
http://vorza.com/comicthroughline.htm
DIY Book - Episode One
Where do you get your ideas?
In this episode, we take a look at where you’ll get the ideas that will ultimately become your book. This involves training yourself to notice and capture ideas, as well as finding a way to store them and work with them that's effective for you.
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Show notes:
Thematic Apperception Test
Quick'n'Dirty Bookbinding(A4)
Quick'n'Dirty Bookbinding(Letter)
Software mentioned:
DIY Book - Introduction
This introductory episode of “DIY Book” provides an overview of what you can look forward to getting out of this podcast series about Do-It-Yourself publishing — writing, making, and selling your own novels. (Also commonly referred to as indie publishing, self-publishing.)
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Show notes:
Exercise One
DIY Book
You can take your chances with this:
(Thanks, David Hewson.)
Or you can go about it this way:
Here’s what I’m proposing:
- Write your story.
- Make your own books.
- Find your readers.
- Make your books available to them.
Become a ‘zine novelist. Forget the nonsense about becoming a rich and famous celebrity. Forget about contests and meat-grinder submissions and the industry’s awful advice to reverse-engineer putrid bestsellers. Keep your day job, keep your soul, cut out the middlemen and do you own thing!
This series is FREE. It’s not a “super-secret industry report” or a teaser to entice you to buy something else, and I’m not selling or representing Print-on-Demand services; I’m actually going to teach you how to make books yourself at home. Sure, feel free to buy my novels, but, honestly, this series is just me giving back what I’ve learned because I want to see more people realise and exercise their creative freedom.
You don’t need anyone’s permission!
If you'd like to be informed when I post new episodes, please send a message using the contact page. In the meantime, start thinking about that book you've always wanted to write!
(Series title illustrations by Manhattan, used under a Creative Commons license.)