Self-Printing My Inktober Drawings as a Book - Need Guidance
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Hey Gang!
So with Inktober being over and the holiday season coming up - I wanted to collect all of my drawings into a single book to give out as gifts. I'm not sure where to look for the best deal vs quality - so I'm looking for some suggestions and guidance. Some things to consider:
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My book will be long (64 pages). I wrote a little text for each illustration that utilized the official word prompt for each day. I imagine the book being laid out with text on the left, illustration on the right - hence the length.
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The drawings I did where formatted for Instagram - so they were 6x6. Ideally I would like the book to be similar in size (6x6 or 7x7).
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I'm interested in both hard cover and soft cover. Most of my books would be soft, but I'd like to get a few hard covers for myself / promotion.
I'm not 100% opposed to doing a different page size so the page count can be lower (32), where the illustration takes up the top portion of the page and the text sits below it. Unfortunately, text overlaid on the image won't work well in most cases. Below is a contact sheet of my drawings for context/reference:
Any and all advice and comments are appreciated.
Thanks!
Lawrence
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The drawings are beautiful - that is definitely going to be a great gift!
What you are looking for, if I understand correctly, is basically a printing and binding service. There are several options online and I am sure you can compare prices with some research. Many have fixed format options, so you have to make sure that your layout fits into one of the available options - normally they provide pdf templates to guide you. Price depends then on number of colors, cover (soft vs hard cover), type of paper and number of pages.The number of pages also determines which binding options are open for you. Staple binding (the cheapest, has a nice fanzine look to it) is only possible up to a certain number of pages. Every provider has their specs, so you´ll need to do some comparison
The cheapest I have paid for a small booklet with staple binding was 10 USD per copy for about 24 pages by Bubu. Hardcover is way more expensive - you are probably looking at around 30 USD at least. -
@lawnz Wow - these are awesome!!
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These are beautiful. I had a kids book printed on Blurb.com. With some extended discounts, I think it came out to be about $30 for a 7x7 hardcover. Totally worth it...
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@lawnz I know nothing about printing books, but your work is amazing!!
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Now we all wish we were on your holiday list!! Ha! Ha!
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@smceccarelli - Thank you! I will check out Bubu and see what kind of options/prices they have given the format I'm looking for. I definitely don't want to do saddle stitching (staples). I've done that before, having worked in comics as a colorist for a while. I really want to do a bound book - whether that's perfect bound, lay-flat, or whatever.
What was the turn around and shipping time, if you recall?
Thanks again for the kind words and info.@Kevin-Longueil - Thanks, Kevin! It was a lot of hard work and really late nights (I work full-time). I'm very happy that I saw it through.
@moldrewes - Thank you! I did find Blurb as one option. I think where I'm going to get slammed on pricing is the page count, if I decide to stick with 64 pages. It might be worth it though, to hold something that substantial? haha - Or maybe I do a few that way and the rest as 32 pages... Decisions, decisions.
@Eli - haha, thank you so much! From the on-set, I planned on getting at least one made for myself. I've had quite a few people on Instagram ask if I planned on making a book and if they could get one (which is where I got the idea of giving them out as gifts). If this goes well and they look good in print, I may throw it up on Amazon so others can get a copy.
Thanks again, everyone! I'll keep updating this thread with what I find, pricing, experience, etc so it can serve as a resource for others.
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@lawnz By Bub,u, staple binding is turned around within 24 hours. Hardcover stitched binding takes about 3-5 days production time. Flat binding is expensive and has the most limitations in term of size and type of paper. I have never had it done, but I think it also takes the longest.
Then there is shipment, of course. -
I would recommend createspace, I was really happy with the price and quality.
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I have no guidance to give, but just wanted to tell you how stunning your work is! Every piece stands out, and they look so beautiful together like this. Great work!
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@smceccarelli Thanks for the info!
@Chip-Valecek Thanks, Chip, I'll check into it.
@bharris aww, thanks Brittany, I appreciate it.
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Just an update to bump this thread. I've searched around the interwebs a lot and found some good options; some with compromises. I have a few prints arriving in the next week or so and will post my thoughts and some photos. Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions! Hope everyone had a great holiday.
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If you are still looking for a book printer, try lulu.com
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@jimsz Yep, they are one of the sites I'm looking into getting a print from. And I have a 40% off coupon!
Thanks! -
Hey everyone! Long time, no post...
Just giving this thread a bump with an update. After doing a lot of research and comparing prices and getting test prints making adjustments and so on, I have some decent results to share. I will take some photos and do a write-up sometime this week. Sorry it took so long, but hopefully what I found out will help others with their projects.
Thanks!
