About a month ago I received an e-mail inquiring if I'd be interested in a commission. There had been a first run of these books that another conservator in the area had worked on, but did not have time to do this second run. Of course, I said, Yes! I must admit that sometimes I jump in without asking the right questions first. But now I was committed, and made arrangements to get the materials.
It turns out this project was about changing a Blurb book. Blurb is a self-publishing company much like Shutterfly. It is thought to be more high-end than the others.
I was acting as a subcontractor for my client. The author of this self-published book was not happy with the end result of the book through Blurb. What he wanted changed: to take out the white end sheets at the front and back of the text block and to continue the "marbled paper that was the last fly leaf before the actual text began and add a ribbon bookmark.
I consulted with the previous person who did the first batch. She gave me several key pieces of advice and warnings. Believe me, I appreciated the information.
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| Papers cut out of book |
The first step was to cut out the white end sheets and half of the marbled sheet, leaving graduated tabs to glue down.
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| gluing first tab down |
Leaving each tab to dry before moving on.
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| Other tabs now ready to be glued down |
In the meantime, I made the book marks using scraps of paper and the ribbon he wanted.
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| Ribbons ready to go onto spine |
Once dried, I inserted the ribbon tab into the spine of the book.
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| Masking the white paper |
Another step was using a black Sharpie and masking the white paste down as it would show when the book was closed. There was a problem with the digital printout of the marbled paper that was dropped off. The color was a bit off. After checking with the client, I waited for the new corrected sheets. They arrived a few days later and then the real work began.
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| New "marbled" paper |
I cut down the sheets and decided to use all paste as it gave me more work time.
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| gluing out sheet |
This coated paper had lots of stretch. Literally, the paper stretches when it get wet. Even with trimming prior to applying the adhesive, I had to trim after the sheet was in the book. The book got a quickk nip or squeeze in the nipping press and then under a light weight to dry.
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| coloring areas |
The last steps were to trim any end sheet that was sticking outside the textblock when closed and using a colored pencil to color the thread that was now stretched a bit and showing in the gutter and any little bits of the marbled paper color that had gotten rubbed off.
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| finished books ready for delivery |
The client was happy and so I was happy but...
Lessons learned: Ask more questions before accepting a job. This job was not hard, but it was quirky. The paper was coated and digitally printed made for an interesting project. The more I worked on the book, the more I feared they would fall apart. The cover, faux leather paper, was also finicky with so much handling and could be an issue in and of itself.
If you decide to self-publish, don't think it's gong to be like a hand bound book. It is what it is. Let it be. The more it gets worked on, the more it might fall apart and then things go terribly wrong. These books are like ones you buy in the store. They are cheap for a reason in comparison to one that a book binder would do. But, if you're looking for something to give to people as a momento, and need more than one, then they might be the perfect way to go. Just remember it might not be exactly what you had in mind. Like the song, don't go changing, just to please me... Same applies here.