Making Books #1 - Custom Edges
First in a monthly discussion about bookmaking, publishing, special editions and all those technical details.
Welcome to my ongoing discussion about the creation of physical books. This evolved from my Kickstarter campaigns and questions from backers about the technical side of bookmaking. Once upon a time, I worked in the printing business, though I never thought that knowledge would be as relevant to me as a writer as it has turned out to be. It’s particularly relevant for creating special editions for my Kickstarter campaigns.
This first post went out in a newsletter in September, but it’s reproduced here as an introduction. Look for a new post each month.
First, let’s talk about Custom Edges.
Many of the books we see at Kickstarter are print-on-demand, and that makes for some creative challenges in offering luxe finishes. Traditionally, luxe finishes like foil stamping were only available on print runs of several thousand copies (or more.) With print-on-demand, books are literally created individually - one or a hundred. I love that this has prompted enthusiasm in customizing and embellishing print books - but it means that some processes are different for POD than for traditionally published books.
This month, we're going to look at options for custom edges on book pages. Custom edges mean that the edges of the book pages are a different colour than the paper stock. This is a very popular embellishment right now.
When a book is printed, the interior pages are gathered into signatures, compiled together and either stitched or glued on the spine into a block. The three outer edges of the block are usually trimmed. (There's also an option of a “rag edge” on the long side.) The case, which is the hard cover that wraps around the book, is created separately, then the two are secured together. End papers traditionally were inserted to cover any gap between the block and the case.
Of course, it's possible to embellish the three exposed sides of the book block and that’s where custom edges come in.
Let's take a look at some possibilities.
The two main options now are sprayed edges and formatted (or forced) edges.
Sprayed edges can be either solid or have an image and are most similar to traditional treatments of edges. Historically, page edges might be dyed a solid colour or even gilded. In homage to that gilding, when I spray edges gold, like the copies of the Dragon Diaries omnibus above, I use a paint with 18K gold in it. :-) Once upon a time, fore-edge paintings were possible decorative options for expensive books. (That's a Wiki link.) These images were created individually on the completed books. Printed edges are a similar idea but aren't done by hand.
Forced edges, in contrast, are achieved in an entirely different way.
When a page is printed - in a book or otherwise - whatever is on that page is said to either “bleed” or not. A “bleed” image is one that runs over the edge of the paper. So, if you look at a book cover or bookmark, or any item where the image goes right to the edge of the paper, that image “bleeds”. It will usually be set up to extend 1/8" or even 1/4" beyond the trim line to ensure that there's never a white line at the edge, even if the trim varies a bit. A regular book page with type in the middle doesn't bleed.
The Dragon Diaries cover above left is a bleed image. The page from Kiss of Enchantment shown above right is not a bleed image.
The hack to create forced edges uses teeny bleed images in a strategic way. Each page in the book has a slightly different bleed edge. On the actual page, you might not even notice the little bit of extra ink at the edge. When the book is closed, all those little bits line up to create an image on the outside edge of the pages.
Anthea's book - the hardcover special edition of Faerie Hearts - above has a forced edge. (I think this is a digital representation of how the finished book will look, not an actual photo of the finished book.) You can imagine that any given page in the book will have only a couple of black dots at the right edge of the paper. Those dots will "bleed" off the edge of the paper so that they show up on that edge.
Forced edges have to be the same colour as the book interior, so if the book has a black and white interior (black ink on white pages), then the forced edges can only be black and white. If the book has a colour interior, the forced edges could be in colour, but it's more common for designers who want coloured edges to use printed edges. Forced edges are tricky to line up properly and more colours means more complications.
This special edition is available through Anthea's Backerkit campaign for her Mermaid Hearts hardcover special edition.
Merrie Destefano has some beautiful forced edges on her Empire of Ruin hardcovers - this outside cover was created by the same designer who did my Dragon Diaries omnibus, Mulan Jiang. This is an illustrated book and the interiors are just gorgeous - and Merrie created many variations. This is the one with the forced edges.
You can see here that even though the book interior is in full colour, the edges are just black and white. If you click through to the campaign below, you'll also see a variation with sprayed edges in red and gold.
This campaign is completed, but you can order leftovers from Merrie. The link is on the Kickstarter page.
The other option is printed edges - as you'd expect, this means that an image is printed on the outside of the book block, or a solid colour is applied.
It's much easier for the printer to customize the edges before the book is assembled with the cover. The block can be edged before it's bound into the case. When the edges are done later on the completed book, the case and the binding have to be protected from the paint.
It's exciting that more print-on-demand printers are offering this option. The company that printed the Dragon Diaries omnibus introduced this option right after my campaign ended - many of the examples below are from them.
Here's a very pretty book for Sarah Biglow's Captivity campaign which ran on Backerkit. It has sprayed edges with an image that coordinates with the cover.
You can see the edges better in this image. Sprayed edges often appear to be a bit lighter, since the ink is just on the edge of the paper. There can't be a lot of ink or it will be visible on the page.
See the Captivity campaign for more information.
Here's a beautiful set of hardcovers with sprayed edges. They're slightly different from each other and line up to make a larger image. (Is this a photo or a digital mock-up? I'm not sure. The intensity of the colour makes me think it might be digital.)
This is the Night Wolves series from Juliana Haygert and you can order copies from her online store. She has more pictures there. The entire package is just beautiful!
Learn more about the Night Wolves special editions.
The possibilities for sprayed and printed edges are limitless and we've just had a small peek at what artists are creating. Below are some more campaigns that feature pretty edges. (Most of these campaigns are over now, but the creator may have updated their landing page with information about ordering copies. If nothing else, you can see the pretty books!)
A Hunter for Luna Special Edition HC
Dragon Meridians Special Edition HC
Monsters & Maidens Special Edition HC
Accidental Mobster Special Edition HC
That's it for my first newsletter about books.
I have a few ideas for future newsletters right now. I'd like to explore foil and shiny finishes. I'd also like to talk about variations between digital mock-ups and actual printing, and why that happens. The variations in processes between print-on-demand and traditional bookbinding by print run is fascinating to me. We're going to have to talk about book spines one day, whether they're glued or Smyth-sewn.
If there's something in particular you'd like to talk about, comment and let me know. If there's something you think I missed, let me know. The plan is that this newsletter will go out once a month. When I have sneak peeks from my upcoming campaigns, I'll share them, too.
Pssst - I'm including links to my upcoming Kickstarter campaigns in the footer. :-) You can find them all on my KS profile, right here, and follow them now to be notified on launch.
All my best -
Deborah
