A variety of GORGEOUS handmade books

One of the most popular posts we ever wrote was about how to create a zine – an 8-page booklet created out of a single letter-size sheet of paper. They are certainly fun to make, and quite easy. And they are a simplistic version of a handmade book.

The images below come from a book by Lark Crafts that contains creative, sophisticated, intricate, and interesting handmade books of all shapes and sizes. The books, juried by Julie Chen, are among the 500 books in the aptly titled 500 Handmade Books, Volume 2.

This is the description of 500 Handmade Books, Volume 1, from the Lark website:

Interest in bookbinding and the related arts has exploded in the past decade, inspiring artists to explore the unlimited possibilities of the form – and delighting collectors, crafters, and gallery owners. [T]his collection is a provocative on-the-page-gallery of show-stopping artistry from finely tooled leather covers to books with mysterious accordion folds.

I’m thinking I want to try one or two of these – particularly the ones that lend themselves to the use of postcards – as collector book perks for my forthcoming PubSlush campaign for Stan Finds Himself on the Other Side of the World.

I love the multimedia aspect of these books, the dimensionality, the texture, the colors. OK – I’m not a big fan of smoking, but the concept is clever. And the love interest in Stan is an artist, so I love the watercolor tray idea!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. And keep in  mind, this is just a taste of the 15 I really liked. there are 485 others in this book, and 500 more in the first book, so check them out!

p. 18

p. 79

p. 88

p. 137

p. 156

p. 173

p. 219

p. 223

p. 237

p. 240

p. 245

p. 268

p. 373

p. 67

 

 

p. 55

 

If you have handmade books you’d like to share, please put the links in the comments below.

Laura

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

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Check out Laura’s newest book, Practical Philanthropy: How ‘Giving Back’ Helps You, Your Business, and the World Around You. A percentage of all book sales is donated to Art4TheHomeless.org and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

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How to Make a Zine: First of 5 easy ways to give away samples of your writing

We already went through the 5 easy ways to give away FREE SAMPLES of your writing to readers and prospective readers. Now it’s time to get down to business. Today we’re going to focus on #1, learning how to create a zine. This really couldn’t be an easier project, but you can make it as simple or elaborate as you like. Some traditionalists prefer to hand-letter and draw their pages. I find it easier to print the pages, not to mention that you wind up with a more professional looking result.

The necessary supplies are quite basic:

• 8-1/2 by 11 sheet of paper
• Scissors
• Tape (optional)

STEP 1 Get a sheet on 8-1/2 by 11 paper.

STEP 2 Fold in half horizontally.

STEP 3Fold each of those halves to the middle to create 4 equal sections.

STEP 4 Fold in half vertically to create 8 equal sections.

STEP 5 Pay attention to the numbering of the pages. Also pay attention to the gray line in the very middle of these sections, as this is where you will make your single cut to create the zine.

STEP 6 Fold the sheet into an accordion fold and make one cut along the red lines.

STEP 7 Now you can see where your cut gapes as an opening.

STEP 8 Push the sides together to form a cross.

TADA Voila! Fold the pages over to form your zine.

If you choose, you can tape closed the open sides of your zine to give it a little more finished look. And that’s all there is to it!

If you’d like to see the steps of folding a zine in progress, take a look at this video.

Make sure to check in on Monday when we’ll be discussing the process of using a PDF as a means for giving away free samples of your work. In the meantime, if you try to make a zine, come back and share you pictures and/or tell us how it worked for you!

MARCIE

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Visit Write | Market | Design to download your Marketing Skills Evaluation. This will help you determine how close you are to SBM status, and where you may need a little extra boost.

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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

If you’d like us to add a link to your writing/self-publishing/book marketing blog, please send us a note. If we think it’s a good fit, we’ll be happy to add you. Of course, we’d appreciate the reciprocity of the same!

Additionally, Marcie would be happy to make a guest appearance on your writing/self-publishing/book marketing blog. Just let us know the theme or your idea (preferably including a 6-panel concept), and we’ll see what we can draft for you.

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PREVIOUS POSTS

Monday, August 8 – 5 easy ways to give away FREE SAMPLES of your writing

Thursday, August 4 – A Savvy Book Marketer embraces the idea of giving freely

Monday, August 1 – Every Savvy Book Marketer has an attitude of GRATITUDE

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5 easy ways to give away FREE SAMPLES of your writing

(Please click on image to enlarge.)

Last time, we discussed the importance of getting your work in front of prospective readers by giving away sample chapters and other writings for free. The most obvious way to do this is with a blog, and in future posts, we will explore some interesting ideas for the kinds of blog posts SBMs* can use to keep their readers interested and invested.

Today, we’re going to examine 5 other easy ways to give your readers and potential readers access to your work.

One-page Zine

Seen more often in underground publishing than in general use by traditional authors, a zine is a single 8-1/2 by 11 sheet of paper, folded into 8 “pages.” These make great leave-behind materials for coffee shops and bookstores.

PDF	Making a PDF from a Word or InDesign or almost any other kind of file is a simple process. Many eReaders will even read .TXT files, so you may be able to keep it simpler still. You can make these files available for download through your blog or Web site.

Amazon’s “Look Inside” Feature

Check almost any topic on Amazon, and you may be amazed at how few authors take advantage of the “Look Inside” program that gives potential buyers a way to see your TOC, sample chapters, and a “surprise” page.

DVD	Take that PDF from the earlier example, and load it onto a CD or DVD and put it in a DVD case. Reprint your cover, or design a new one for this purpose and slide it under the plastic protector. Now you can carry your ebook with you.

Minibük

Literally a mini book, this tiny book is the size of an index card. Page counts can range from 8 pages to 200 pages, with either saddle stitch or perfect binding, depending on the page count.

Choose any of these methods that works for you – or develop your own idea! Regardless of how you get them out there, get those sample chapters out there into the wide, wide world. Embrace giving. We’re not all going to be the next Amanda Hawking, but our success is guaranteed to increase the more we give people a chance to see samples of our work.

For the next 5 posts, we’re going to look at the mechanics of each of these formats for book samples (with illustrations, where applicable), so come back and tell your friends!

MARCIE

*Savvy Book Marketer

__________________

Visit Write | Market | Design to download your Marketing Skills Evaluation. This will help you determine how close you are to SBM status, and where you may need a little extra boost.

__________________

We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.

__________________

If you’d like us to add a link to your writing/self-publishing/book marketing blog, please send us a note. If we think it’s a good fit, we’ll be happy to add you. Of course, we’d appreciate the reciprocity of the same!

Additionally, Marcie would be happy to make a guest appearance on your writing/self-publishing/book marketing blog. Just let us know the theme or your idea (preferably including a 6-panel concept), and we’ll see what we can draft for you.

__________________

PREVIOUS POSTS

Thursday, August 4 – A Savvy Book Marketer embraces the idea of giving freely

Monday, August 1 – Every Savvy Book Marketer has an attitude of GRATITUDE

Thursday, July 28 – Is your book a word-of-mouth worthy Purple Cow?

Read Full Post »