#fanbinding

[ensorskulledbindery]

A bind for @renegadeguild 's 2025 Tiny Book Exchange! [An exchange where you typeset a smaller fic and then someone binds it for you! [or you only typeset a fic or just bind someone else's submitted typeset, ya got options]]

typeset made | bind made (you're here)

I got to bind @bossbot97 's lovely typeset of @croik 's Kane & Feels / Ghost Wax crossover: The Title of this Fic has been Redacted for your Safety! (which i'm realizing now I didn't get any other interior pictures ahhhh)

The finished book measures approx. 2"x 3"

This fic features the characters from both audio dramas hunting/being hunted down by a creature with a bird-like skull covered in feather-like shapes, so I took that aspect and ran with it.

I initially wanted to have more to the cover of this bind but life got a bit in the way and I was honestly quite liking the more simple look for this. Makes it feel more like a mysterious and ominous book you'd just... find somewhere, yaknow?

Overall, the chisel trimming turned out alright. Surprisingly harder to do on a smaller book than a full sized one! (At least for me lol). First time sanding/edge-coloring and that turned out not bad!

Materials: I actually got this bookcloth from a Talas sampler pack (and they don't label their samples) but I believe it's Asahi Bookcloth in #2379 Black. (And it adds such a neat texture for this bind.) The endpapers are black cardstock with overlapping feather textures printed on it, so the pattern is subtle until it catches the light. Bound using linen thread and archival pva glue, endbands sewn using single strand embroidery thread in a faux-double core style. Printed on Hammermill 20lb cream paper.

Cover: An inset window that holds a paper cut bird-like skull. Made with cardstock cut into different layer silhouettes, painted details, glued together, waxed, and then glued into the window (which took so many little tabs to get that shape lol)

[phoenixortheflame]

Bound: Rookie Moves by peu_a_peu

Typeset and bound by: me, @phoenixortheflame

About a month ago, my five year old said, "What if you did a bind of Rookie Moves, but instead of Rookie Moves you called it 'Rookie Moooooooos'."

I'm telling you, my kid is a genius.

My dust jacket design came together pretty quickly. I knew I wanted to use black and white photos with punchy pops of colour. I even managed photos ft. Draco- and Harry-coded cows (and if you zoom in closely on the front cover you'll see I gave them some props).

I've been really into printing designs on the inside covers of my paperbacks, and so I thought, why not do that on the dust jackets, too?? This was a last-minute addition and I'm so happy with how it turned out.

Cover material is Verona book cloth in 509 Orange Blast. I've been wanting to use this colour forever, but didn't have the right fic for it.

I was originally going to also put cow print on the front and back covers with HTV, but decided against it and went with just a simple spine title using layered black and white HTV.

This was my first time rounding and backing, and I think it turned out quite well for a first attempt.

There are some mistakes made. I used PVA instead of paste to case it in and hadn't yet gotten to the part of DAS's video where he said to set the shoulders first so the text block doesn't shift. There are some wrinkles in the endpapers on the inside-front cover, but otherwise it looks (and more importantly functions) nicely.

The typeset is all brand new as well. I leaned hard into the cow theme, but tried to keep it minimalist, too. I'm really happy how the newspaper formatting turned out — as well as my chapter heads.

This bind is a gift for a friend. I messaged her yesterday to say, "It's simultaneously the most beautiful and dumbest thing I've ever made."

As ever, a huge thanks goes out to my pals who helped me if not with guidance then definitely with moral support (not to be confused with "morale" support). @sits-bound @maleekamolscreates @epitomereally @citrusses @copticcowgirl @plor-bindery, you are all wonderful.

[celestial-sphere-press]

Book Decoration: AKA All The Ways I Don't Use a Cricut

(this post is for people who don't want to buy an expensive cutting tool, or for those that do have an expensive cutting tool that would like to mix things up a little)

1. Print That Shit

If you're already printing your own textblocks, an easy step for titles is to print them. Above is a title printed onto an "obi" of decorative paper. I measured out where I wanted things on the finished book and laid it out in Affinity, then printed it on a full sheet & trimmed it down to wrap around the book. A more simple method is to print & glue on the label into a slight indent in the cover (to protect it). A third option is to do the spine in bookcloth, while you print on paper for the cover and then glue that paper onto the boards (this usually looks even better when it is a three-piece bradel bind).

2. Foil Quill / Heat Pens

The heat pen is one of my go-to tools, but it can be a bit touchy about materials. The most popular version is the We R Memory Keepers' Foil Quill (which is one of the most ergonomic), but other pens exist that can get you to a higher heat temp, finer lines, or more consistent foil. For example, I have a pen created by a local Japanese bookbinding studio that fares way better on leathers than the WRMK quill & with a finer tip, but it's hell to control. Best results in general are on paper or smooth bookcloth (starched linen, arrestox, colibri - even duo will work but its less solid). The fuzzier a bookcloth is, the less your foil quill wants to deal with it. This means the heat n bond method of making bookcloth does not play nice with a heat pen usually, but there are two solutions: 1) use this tutorial on paste + acrylic medium coated bookcloth instead that will get you a perfect surface for the heat pen, or 2) use the pen on paper & then glue onto the cloth. I did a video tutorial for both foil quill use and this type of homemade bookcloth for @renegadeguild Binderary in 2023.

You get the most consistent results by tracing through a printed template that is taped in place, as I do in the video above.

3. Paint That Shit

Acrylic paints will do you fine! The above is free-handed with a circle template, because I wanted that vibe. If you need straight lines that won't seep, lay them down with tape first & then paint over it first with a clear Acrylic medium, then your color. Same goes for stencils. Two more examples of painted bookcloth:

4. IT'S GOT LAYERS

By using layers of thinner boards, you can create interesting depths & contrasts on your cover. You can also make cutouts that peep through to the decorative paper behind. The most important part to this technique is the order in which each edge is wrapped. To get a good wrapped inside edge, you will split the turn in into tabs to get them to conform to a curve. You can also layer multiple colors of bookcloth without multiple layers of board, as seen below left, so long as you mind your cut edges for fraying.

5. Inlaid... anything

Mirrors! Marbled paper! I saw someone do a pretty metal bookmark once! The key is creating a little home for it to live in, which is pretty similar to the above layering method. On one layer you cut the shape, & glue that layer onto the bottom solid board before covering. You can do the top layer as an entire 1 mm board (like I did for the mirrors) or a sheet of cardstock, like I would use for inlaid paper.

6. Decorative Paper

Decorative paper is always helpful & adds to the paper hoard... & its effects can be layers with other techniques, as below. Marbles, chiyogami, momi, or prints & maps of all kinds can be great additions. Some papers may need a protective coating (such as wax or a sealer).

7. Stamps (with optional linocut)

While I've not used many more regular rubber stamps, I do know some who have, successfully! And I've used one once or twice with embossing powder (see photo 3 up, the gold anchor on the little pamphlet bind). What also works is to carve your own linocut or stamp, & then use block printing ink to ink it onto your fabric (as i did above). A bit time intensive, but it was nice how easily reproducible it was, and I liked the effect I got for this particular bind.

These methods are not exhaustive, just ones I've used, and there are of course many others. I haven't gone too into detail on any of these for the sake of length (& post photo limits) but feel free to ask about more specifics. Usually I'm using them in combination with other options.

[ashmouthbooks]

Tiny Books Bang 2025 @renegadeguild - I bound @perfectlynormalbooks’s typeset of Alan Turing’s Computing Machinery and Intelligence.

Sextodecimo, printed to be A8 size and trimmed down somewhat due to printer margins being a pain to deal with, so this is also the tiniest book I have ever made!

The cover papers are marbled by Jemma Lewis and chosen for the wooshy bits, which to me feel very sci-fi (space travel, anyone?). The endpapers I chose because they reminded me of binary code and the “falling” text in The Matrix. I was trying to combine a digital feel with a very traditional medium!

I wanted the copies to match, but not be identical, so the typesetter’s copy has blue bookcloth, a blue bookmark ribbon, and blue and golden endbands, while mine has green.

I also made a miscalculation when I cut the marbled paper down, so I was short - and so the back of my copy wound up looking like that 😂 in addition to all the other little flaws as my copy was also the practice copy. I’m really happy with how both copies came out though!

[officialjayonnaise]

IT'S DONE IT'S DONE! I've wanted to bind the Portal fanfiction "Blue Sky" by Wafflestories for years but finally learned to skills to do it in graphic design class. I formatted, printed, and hand sewed the whole thing from start to finish. I will make a full color dustjacket for it sometime as well. My favorite detail is changing the font of the technical lines in the story to something computery. The story is 170k words and came out to be 641 pages after adding some bonus material, which includes some of the associated short stories from the same author. Thanks again to Waffles for writing the greatest fanfiction ever!

(More images under cut!)

[starblightbindery]

My personal goal is to try and make fanfic binding as accessible to everyone as possible, so here are some resources on how to make a fanfic hardcover for under $25.

This is a barebones bind for the broke college students and such. Happy to field questions, too!

Here's a proposed budget breakdown:

Loosely organized thoughts:

Fanfic bookbinders often share typesets amongst each other. Never pay for a typeset for a fanfic. (A typeset is shorthand in fic binding circles for a fanfic that has been formatted/designed and paginated like a book, to be printed out.)

You'll hear a lot about grain direction for your printer paper, but as a newbie on a budget without your own printer, settle for some nice 92 bright or cream colored paper. If you like the hobby, splurge after but expect to pay at least 2-3x more for short grain paper.

Printing is a pain because some copy shops won't let you print intellectual property smut, and it's very expensive. You are better off bartering instead or looking for a free printer on Buy Nothing.

You know the thick paper wrapping that comes with online orders? It's a good weight for endpapers if you need to scrounge. Paper grocery bags or gift bags (birthday presents) might work, too.

Ask your local library to give you covers from books they are throwing out. Ask for outdated textbooks (those covers are built like tanks) or three-ring binders that are too busted to be binders anymore.

Obtain a used book that was mass produced (so your destruction of it does not impede anyone's access) and maybe even become a little vindictive with it.

If you can afford it, I recommend the Olfa SVR knife (~$10)

If you can afford it, upgrade your ruler to a t-square.

(Links to Amazon products above are affiliate links)

I really hope this resource is helpful! I want to stress how possible this is and encourage people to cherish what they love through art.

If you are interested in fanfic binding and have a little more disposable income, I have an affordable Fan Fiction Bookbinding Starter Pack that I carry on my site. I pack them myself and drop them 1x/month on the 15th.

[paintedwarpony]

My very first The Last of Us fan bind. I am so deep in the sauce on this series now and I am a scramble to find fics to bind for it. This one is 'No Alarms and No Surprises' by Notmeifincaseanyoneasks. Its an excellent foster care AU over on ao3.

I decided any and all fics I bind of TLOU will have mushroom themes and motifs because I can.

Its a 3 piece bradle bind, which has become my favorite and I think I have fully figured out how to do it (mostly) correctly now. I'm gonna keep doing it. Bradle bind specialist. I also am gonna keep up with the bright colors I've been using lately. I like em.

[sits-bound]

Two years of binding!

I still feel like I'm new to all this, it's hard to believe I finished my first bind two years ago. But then I look at that bind and realize, yeah, I've come pretty far. 😅

I wish I could come up with some stats easily, I love stats, but I haven't been great about tracking how many binds I've done. And for some I've done several copies. So obviously I've made many more books than just the number of my tumblr posts would indicate.

But here are some favorites from the past 12 months (images link to posts):

Rookie Moves by peu_a_peu

Steinway!verse by @toomuchplor

Close Behind by @oflights

22 Cards by peu_a_peu

First Watch of Night by @tackytigerfic

Collected Cricklets by @cricketnationrise

All Our Gifts At Once or, the Young Sea-Man by @tiltedsyllogism

Drarry as written by GallaPlacidia

Soulmates by @dodgerkedavra

Okay I have to make myself stop here or I'll just list every bind I made in the past year! But it makes me happy that so many of my binds make me happy!

Also, I have a few that I'm really excited about that haven't made it to their recipients yet, so this is definitely not exhaustive.

I just got back from a trip to London where I bought a lot of bookcloth and beautiful paper, so I am very much looking forward to making more beautiful books with my new supplies!

[thingsidrawgohere]

Alright. I'm calling it done before it kills me. This is Second Head. It's an Art Book containing instances of the phrase "second head" in fanfics found on AO3. I'll explain much, MUCH more in the cut.

So when I say 'art book', I mean this is an intrinsic piece. I have no motivations aside from personal amusement and interest in outcome. A lot of money was lost/transmuted into free frustration in this project and I have no claims, obviously. I will prolly be the only person alive to read this.

THAT SAID. I have noticed in my years reading fanfic, there's a few linguistic shibboleths that arise in authors who also have experience in the mines. I think there's not a soul alive who hadn't wandered across a 'ministrations' when reading Narutos oral sexing. There's- Hold on. Here's some pix.

There's an impulse, I think, to in-group even when performing a creative act. A feeling that there are certain ways one Should go about the act, by virtue of seeing it performed that way. Especially so when 'training' at the act is often just Doing. Double Dog Especially when the act is exclusively for oneself with very little oversight. Which is to say, we make what we see and we make what we think we should make. At least, at first.

Now, I've been noticing 'grew a second head' (to insinuate surprise) in fanfic for some time. I've never seen it used Outside of fanfic. (Edit to add: I am not making the argument the phrase is from fanfic. Nor do I Believe it is from fanfic. Jesus Hopping Christ, people. That's not what this project is about.) That may speak to my own bad habits but it got me curious. So a friend and myself downloaded a mirror of AO3 from July of 2024. He did some code- Stuff to scan the mirror for "second head" and of the ~13 million works, ~70k (English) results were returned. That's a rounding error, honestly, but Far FAR more than I expected.

This book is 401 such examples that I personally selected for a variety of reasons. The number itself was arbitrarily chosen. Each page is separate fic, the roughly 300 words around our key phrase.

I don't think repetition or mirroring is a negative thing. I think it's quite charming. Nor do I think it's a sign of a 'bad' artist or 'bad' art. I think it's a signifier of personhood, of belonging, of enthusiasm. Of culture shared and wishing to share. I think it's real sweet. I always smile when I catch a 'grown a second head' in a work.

And it's really fucking funny when it's John Sherlock getting a sloppy toppy. Bless.

Edit: Fixed a very VERY funny error.

Edit: I am not making the argument that the phrase is exclusive to fanfic or, fucking forbid, FROM fanfic. I'm stating this Again because we skim here. Also- If you would like slamdunk my ass by stating the phrase predates the Internet or your GenX parents use it, please use 'sailboat' in your comment so I know you're specifically trying to kill me.

Edit Edit: You know what? Fine. I DO think this phrase came from fandom. I think ENGLISH came from fandom. I think YOU came from fandom. I think EVERYTHING came from fandom. The Sun, the Moon, the Seas- Fandom. Specifically Sonic Mpreg. The second head was Shadow the Hedgehog crowning. Congrats!

[jazdoesbooks]

chew me up, but don't spit me out

by damagecontrol

Another repeat bind! (and also an author copy) Photographer who?? Look what happens when I actually try. I'm super happy with how it turned out. I called this one the "French edition" just because it's centered around Paris and has lighter imagery, as opposed to the heavy themes of the fic.

[ensorskulledbindery]

My typeset for @renegadeguild 's 2025 Tiny Book Exchange!

[An exchange where you typeset a smaller fic and then someone binds it for you! [or you only typeset a fic or just bind someone else's submitted typeset, ya got options]]

typeset made (you're here) | bind made

This fic is such a treat to read and felt perfect for making a small, hand-sized book of! @ironfamjam 's Give Me Your Fear, I'll Give You My Faith

Summary: "Hit with a spell meant for Arthur, Merlin loses his senses one by one and all Arthur can do is watch."

I made 9 small, woodcut-style drawings for the different hand signs in this fic

and I finally got to use some of the medieval-esk fonts I've been stashing, hehe (and here's the book notes pages for credits:)

[phoenixortheflame]

Bound: Nothing Gold Can Stay by @moonflower-rose

Typeset, bind, and illustrations by: me, @phoenixortheflame.

One summer evening, Harry Potter vanished in the middle of dinner with his friends. Four days later he came back. Sort of. Draco Malfoy is on the case.

Well that got out of hand.

So — I planned to bind this for myself and then another for the author. But then, I had to make one for @reveriepi whose recording lulls me to sleep so very often. And one for @sits-bound because she’s a good girl who deserves good things. And of course one for @maleekamolscreates because the fic begins ON OUR BIRTHDAY!

Anyway, paperbacks are dope. Made using the double-fan method. I think I have the process fully memorized now, but if you're interested in learning how, I highly recommend checking out Mally's video on it, which I've watched a dozen times at least.

Cover is 48-lb glossy photo paper covered with soft-touch laminate. The inside cover design is printed directly onto the back of the photo paper and is not finished in any way.

Cover illustrations done by me in Procreate. Cover design done in Canva. Inside cover design as well as full-title page done in Affinity Designer; typeset done in Publisher.

[zerosconsort]

Zero's Book Binding - Seasons

Seasons by @stinglesswasp

Fandom: Call of Duty (Video Games) Ship: John "Soap" MacTavish/Simon "Ghost" Riley Start Date: 01/03/2025 End Date: 02/24/2025 Second Printing: 07/11/2025 Pages: 127

Ok. So, surprise, it's a paperback.

Season's provided a very specific challenge for me that I haven't face before - which is, technically, that it's a short fic. 'Short' as in this fic is 51K words - so it's not actually a sort fic, it's just shorter then the fics I have bound till now. Additionally - Wasp is a artists as well as a writer. I found them on twitter when I first fell into Ghost/Soap, and I instantly was obsessed. So when I asked if I could bind their fic, I also asked if I could use their art as well.

So! I spent a lot of time weaving the fic art into the typeset. I….need the practice, truly - there is a skill to inlaying images that i have not had the pleasure of practicing yet. I did the best i could and im...really happy, actually.

Ok! I pulled quite a few topographic maps from the rough areas where each chapter takes place. I jazzed them up, surprise, and added color and overlays to better matched the season that was being referenced. I did my best to match the typical font that Wasp uses for their art too in the drop caps and chapter headers - so that everything was as consistent as possible.

Should i have offset the gutter more for this print - so that I didn't cut off the word CHAPTER for every single header? Sure should have. Put it on the list of lessons learned.

Inline breaks match the cover design - which started out fucking crazy, but I pulled back with the design stuff and kept the map idea to be consistent. I printed the cover on 80LB marker paper, which…works for what i needed it to do. It's heavy enough to feel pretty good in hand, but not to heavy to go through my printer.

Is the spine text in the wrong place? Sure is. Could I have fixed this when I reprinted the fic again? Sure could have. Did the spine glue down in a curve that I couldn't fix? Yep.

I followed a DAS Bookbinding tutorial on making soft covers to put this book together. Its….easier then you think? And less expensive. Is it perfect? No, but until I get a better handled on how to do it, it'll just keep working at it. Say it with me: Ya can't be good at a thing the first time you do it.

So I need a better printer, for sure. Especially if I'm going to do more things like this. Some of the images really did not print well, and with the SotM bind in the wings I'm gonna NEED a better printer to chew threw that m o n s t e r.

Thank you again, Wasp, for being cool about me binding your stuff. If you like Goap and haven't read Seasons? My dudes - please go check it out.

[starstreampress]

Theseus’ Guide to Ruining a Perfectly Good Boat by @stump-not-found !!!

forgot to take photos of the endpaper—will do that next time i’m at home, it was so fun to figure out :) also, what a nifty fic!! can’t wait for the rest of the fic so i can do this all over again >:D

[starblightbindery]

"Gritty Kills Tony Stark" by Copulation Matrix.

Bound in April 2023

❤️‍🔥A very short fic about restorative justice. ❤️‍🔥 Cased in orange faux fur with guillotine pendant decoration ❤️‍🔥 The signs held up by the people on the endpapers are the original tags on Ao3, and they are waving banners with the Flyers logo and Ao3 logo on them. ❤️‍🔥 Modified artwork of "La mort de Maximilien de Robespierre" by Giacamo Alprandi c.1799)