Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Project: Process. Part I

So I've got a new book coming out for the San Diego Comic con called Bookplate Betties. It's a collection of all the bookplate pieces I did for my Belle du Jour special editions, and then some. It's not a book I was ever planning to make but the bookplates came out really well and there were a lot of them, so I figured what the heck, it'll make a nifty book.

I'm actually already finished with the book and it's off to the printer. I should have them in my hands a couple weeks before San Diego. I've had some people ask me about self publishing and how I produce a book so I thought I'd show some parts of the process hopefully without getting too boring.

First I decided on my size and page count. I went with 7" x 5 1/2" with 192 pages. I wanted to bind the book with cloth this time and my friend Scott Morse gave me this cool idea to print a pattern or imagery on the cloth.

I did a few rough cover comps to show to my printer and ask if it was possible.
This is what I showed them:



They said that they could do it, but asked me for some art to do a test. I hadn't designed the cover yet so I gave them these pieces that represented the two different directions I was thinking.

Soon I received these printed cloth tests:



I was much happier with the red, which is the way I wound up going.

Soon the printer and I agreed on a budget and I signed a contract committing myself to the project.
After that the printer took the next step and made a dummy book for me. The dummy is a real copy of the book (made with the actual materials) only it's completely blank. This allows you to hold and feel the book to make sure this is what you want and to iron out any mistakes early before the real book production.



Next step, design the cover.

15 comments:

  1. Good good.

    I have a little question though, I am from France, will I have to pay 50€ of shipping fee or is there another solution?

    Many thanks,

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  2. wow, thats really interesting. thanks for posting this, i always wondered what the process of getting a book self-printed was. when do you agree cost/number of prints?

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  3. Bill,

    Thanks for the look inside the process. Can't wait to see the finished product!

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  4. Thanks for sharing your process Bill, I find this stuff really interesting.

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  5. Wow...book is going to be the proverbial bomb. Can't wait to see one in my hands. Beautiful cover, and a great little look into the process, which is always fascinating!

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  6. I really want to buy this.

    How much will it be? Will you sell it online?

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  7. love seeing the behind the scenes stuff as usual. This is a dream book for me, I love those watercolor bookplates so I'll be happy to have them all in one handy book ;)
    I've heard of artists getting those blank dummy books from printers and using them as sketchbooks...always makes me wish I had a buddy in the printing biz!
    Are you printing this in the US or Asia?

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  8. Yes who is your printer? I have been wanting to find out who You, Enrico and Ronnie have printed your books with .

    Why skip this info? heheh

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  9. Imagine how far this can go: If you do bookplates for THIS edition, does that mean there can be a book of bookplates that were done FOR a book of bookplates? :-)

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  10. First off, the thought of a new book from you is fantastic! Great to see the process, I would really like to put out a book one day.

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  11. Who's the printer you're going with? Is there a minimum order?

    Great stuff!

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  12. great idea with the cover! and you get a free little white sketchbook as well kekeke

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  13. Trayeur,
    There's a slim chance that there might be some early copies available at the Arludik Gallery show, but it's looking a little unlikely at this point. But if not by then there will probably be a small amount distributed in France at some point.
    But I'm sure shipping would be much less than 50€ anyway.

    Ben,
    I decide pretty early in the process the number of my print run. And that is based on several varying quotes from the printer for different size print runs. The more copies you order the cheaper each book costs.

    Brooks,
    The cover price will be $28 and yes I plan on selling it here on my blog.

    Mike, Chad and Kennon ,
    It's printing in Hong Kong by Global PSD. www.globalpsd.com
    They have local offices in New York and San Rafael, so they're pretty easy to deal with.
    I'm not sure what there minimum print run is, it's either 1,000 or 1,500. I think.

    Fiawol,
    Yes, I've thought about that. It would never ever end.

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