Hand-bound one-of-a-kind Little Brother edition
Book-binder Abi Sutherland took one of the misprints from Pablo Defendini's limited edition prints of his concept art for a paperback edition of my young adult novel Little Brother and custom-bound a hardcover of the book with it. I am consumed with lust for this one-of-a-kind edition. I hope Abi will let me see it in person some day!
Oh, and while I'm on the subject: the book's just gone into its fifth week on the NYT bestseller list, and it's still on the Indie list (formerly the Book Sense list) and as of this week, it's also on Publishers Weekly's bestseller list! Ho-ah! Link
Update: Abi sez,
Slight corrections: it's a blank book rather than a copy of Little Brother, mostly due to printer constraints. Printing out a whole book double-sided on my printer would be soul-destroying, and I don't have signature-sewn editions to tear down.The binding is a "sewn boards" binding, about halfway between hardcover and softcover. The paper that Pablo used for the prints has such a nice feel and weight; I wanted to work with its sensual qualities.
And I confess that it's not one of a kind. I plan to make five or six of this set, one of which will be heading your way in the very near future. I was going to surprise you with it, but that requires secrecy. I got too excited about how the book came out and had to show it off: secrecy fail.
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SUPER YOWZA AWESOME! Grats on the stratospheric NYT showing!
And that's got to be one of my favorite covers of all time.
Slight corrections: it's a blank book rather than a copy of Little Brother, mostly due to printer constraints. Printing out a whole book double-sided on my printer would be soul-destroying, and I don't have signature-sewn editions to tear down.
The binding is a "sewn boards" binding, about halfway between hardcover and softcover. The paper that Pablo used for the prints has such a nice feel and weight; I wanted to work with its sensual qualities.
And I confess that it's not one of a kind. I plan to make five or six of this set, one of which will be heading your way in the very near future. I was going to surprise you with it, but that requires secrecy. I got too excited about how the book came out and had to show it off: secrecy fail.
But thanks for the compliment, even if I have just contradicted about half of what you wrote! It's one of those bindings that I have fallen quietly in love with. Those are so much fun.
Abi
h .. y hv bk t? hdn't ntcd.
Cn y thnk bt myb mkng slfpblcty.bngbng.nt sbdmn s dn't hv t b rmndd vry dy bt wht nn frmt th bk s nw n?
mn tht wth 95% rspct nd 5% gnn nnync.
The sun's not yet over the yardarm, Atomin. Have mercy on all our livers.
@3 : What's interesting here is when you've got a creative commons book, you can print it yourself and bind it in any style you like.
PS. This is exactly how I'd want LB to look in the shops if I were to buying it or giving it as a present.!
'm n 100% grmnt wth TMN, thr thn th rspct/nnync rt: 'd g 65/35, rspctvly, wth th lttr grwng wth ch nnyng pst.
Abi, that's fabulous! Well done!
ls fnd th wy h rfrs t th nvl n lng frm rmnds m f db's rdcls gdlns fr rfrrng t thr prdct.
CRRCT: Th mg ws nhncd sng db® Phtshp® sftwr.
NCRRCT: Th mg ws phtshppd.
CRRCT: My Nw Yrk Tms® Bst Sllng Yng dlt Nvl Lttl Brthr®!
NCRRCT: My bk Lttl Brthr.
My respect/annoyance ratio peaked on the negative side about three weeks ago. Then I bought the book and read it, now all is forgiven.
This has got to be a minor downside for CCing your book - just when you've settled on a design along comes the web to show you what you missed.
that's a rad book cover, for what i'm assuming is a pretty rad book. it's equally rad that people are hand making covers for your book. and admittedly it's incredibly rad to be on so many excellent book lists.
t's hwvr ncrdbly nrd tht y pst bt t vry thrtn scnds. thr s fn ln btwn prmtng yrslf nw nd gn n blg t whch y cntrbt, nd bcmng cmpltly slf ndlgd tl. 'd lk t sy y'r wlkng tht ln, bt n lngr thnk tht's th cs.
y hv sngl-hnddly trnd bng bng's drctry f wndrfl thngs nt cry dctrw's rfrgrtr cvrd n + pprs, drwngs nd vrll schl crp msh msh. t's gttng rdcls.
'm jst syng...w'r prd f yr sccss, nd trly, trly mn tht...bt f*ckng chll t wth th lttl brthr psts mn. fr th lv f ll tht s gd nd hly.
Ths s jst t mch. Y trnd m ff frm byng ths bk lng g wth yr nrlntng psts bt t. t's nt bst sllr nd t's nt th bbl. rlly thnk y cmprms th ntgrty f ths st wth ths ndlss slf-prmtn. Strt sprt wbst t prmt th bk r plcs ds fr t, bt pls stp dmntng ths st wth s mny nn-strs bt t.
As a former bookbinder (I would capitalize it if I was still earning as one, but, I'm decades past that life-stage), one can sew the pages in a number of different ways to produce a book. Sewn signatures are the easiest (allowing me to produce a bound book while still in high school), but groups of pages can be sewn together in groups, either manually or on an oversewing machine. Manually is also a great way to build up hand and arm strength, if you don't pre-drill the holes for the needle and thread. Gluing the back should be avoided at all costs- first of all, you'll only have Elmer's available to you at home, and Elmer's dries hard- you need flexible glue for all binding application. I am shuddering just thinking about about glued backs. Never pay someone to bind in this manner either.
Always round over the spine of the book. If the spine is straight/flat, it will be too much strain on the binding, and shorten the life of your effort. They had machines to do this, dating back to the early 20th century, and that was the first job I had as a binder, in the 1970's.
Producing good looking end pages were the most boring part of the process. My dad, who was a binder for 50 years, always supplied me with end pages, being easier then assembling my own. He also showed me the frame used for signature sewing, and that allowed me to make my own frame at home.
I also tended to cheat and make covers at his shop in Waltham, because finding materials to create durable covers and cutting the boards for them was a bear. They always had scraps of buckram laying around that I could use. I had quite a flashback when I just googled buckram. Same company is obviously making it since the 1960's.
Years later, I was working at another Bindery in South Boston, and by not paying attention while cutting cover boards for a Harvard Library job, I whacked off the end of my left middle finger, making me lust after that fingertip growing piggy powder that was mentioned a few weeks ago, even 30 years later.
Stamping the title on the spine or cover is obviously a job for professionals- maybe you could use a paper cover like Abi did, so it will look as nice as his example.
Maybe after talking about this for this long, I'll go down into the basement tonight and pull out some of the bound Astoundings and Analogs that I did in the 1970's ,and see how they're holding up. I worked on jobs for Isaac Asimov and Charlie Brown at that first bindery- ah, the old days...
Prepare to have all your negative comments removed! Mwah hah hah!
prepare to have all rude, ill considered and unconstructive remarks sanctioned. I'll say it yet again for the very slow learners: You don't like it? Move away to something you like. Or if there is nothing you like on BoingBoing: Piss Off.
Beautiful Job. Book binding is something I'd love to learn to do. Unfortunately I have little idea where to begin.
The sometimes frequent Little Brother posts don't bother me at all. Im just sayin'... If I'm not in the mood then I skip them. This goes for all the topics that don't interest me which are covered by the sites I frequent.
..
/sarcasm warning!!
Maybe when I start "prion's little bloggie" I can make sure ALL my posts are exactly what I want to read about. If it gets popular I can listen to people complain that they are 17% certain they don't like me anymore because of my constant posts about unicorns or whatnot. Why would I listen to those kind of jerks anyways?
/end sarcasm
Nice cover BTW
Dudes, you're envious.
Why don't you take all of the energy you're using to complain and sling mud and go and do something constructive in your own life, so that you'll feel better about your own accomplishments.
I have a really great Evil Eye jpeg I'd be happy to donate to protect the Little Brother posts. It short-circuits the envy loop.
That is truly a wonderful cover, Bravo!
even if it is simple envy, at least do it with proper style.
mr thn nvy t's rpttn. Th ndlss rtrtn ..... bcms wrng. Th ndlss rtrtn ..... bcms wrng. Th ndlss rtrtn ..... bcms wrng. Th ndlss rtrtn ..... bcms wrng.
I would carry on but I suspect you would start to get annoyed with me
The endless reiteration of envy is wearing. The endless... .
Hey! I also am a bookbinder, and I am currently formatting a few things into signatures for binding. I find oversewing strains the pages a bit too much. I had actually thought about doing up this book as well. I had no idea for the covers yet........
@8, @6, @9, etc, etc.
I think this whole issue has been pretty comprehensively addressed by Cory. To summarize: This is his site. Its primary purpose is for it to be used for whatever he wants it for. If you do not like how he uses it, he's made it very clear that you are not the intended audience for the site, and you are welcome to leave and never come back.
Personally, I'm pretty neutral on this. I neither enjoy nor am annoyed by the constant LB posts. But you'd think that you guys would eventually figure out that it's not going to change, that the guy who runs the site does not want it to change, and does not care that you want it to change.
At this point, you're pretty much complaining that the sun is bright and hot.
@24
Th gtstcl d tht t s 'hs st' s wrng. Tht s crphnd.cm. Thr r thrs n th sndbx bsds hm.
W rdrs r llwd t ffr crtcsm. Ds t bthr y tht sm f s dn't gv p nd wnt bttr BB?
hv lst lt f rspct fr th st d t n prsn's slf g-rb. Prhps h shld lstn t hs rdrs.
I've oversewn a formerly perfect bound book before. It didn't give me the desire to ever do it again, to be honest. And since I'm a hobbyist rather than a professional, I don't do things that make me lose the will to live.
(I do sometimes use Japanese styles like Yotsume Toji to rebind thin perfect bound books like graphic novels, but that's a whole 'nother story.)
This binding is a sewn boards binding, which means that the basis of the covers (called "boards" in the binding world because they used to be made of wood) is stiff cardstock sewn onto the book like signatures. One can then laminate them up, or use very little glue to produce covers that get some of their bulk from the air inside them. It's a delicate style, not really suitable for hard wear, but it has its place. Many small presses are starting to use it instead of casing in.
As for learning how, there are some great tutorials on the web. Google around and find something that doesn't require much in the way of tools and give it a go. There are also some very good binding books out there, which walk you through the steps very easily. I'm self-taught from books, but my instructional site (http://bookweb.sunpig.com) is pretty far out of date. The book recommendations may be of use, though.
I've been trying to finish Little Brother for some time. Sitting at the computer doesn't work, as the other 12 windows I have open demand attention. I bought a PDA this week for the sole purpose of dragging around in a compact form books I intend to read. Now I'm about 1/3 of the way through LB on my obsolete Palm, accomplished by stealing a few minutes here and there.
I'm enjoying reading it. I have to remember that I'm 30 years past the intended age range. It's a little heavy on explanation at the expense of action and dialogue, but from reading other YA novels I understand that's what's expected.
Marcus is a little shit sometimes but no worse than I was. I'm no authoritarian but I have to admit I'd be tempted to whack him around a bit myself for his attitude under the same circumstances. Still, I'm glad he's on our side and I suspect he will grow up in the following pages to be a worthy hero for the cause of our freedom.
Well done on the book and congrats on the continued success.
I hope some kids at the high school library actually read the copy I donated. The more subversion at that school the better.
Bibliovore: a college near you will have a course.
veffekt @25:
The egotistical idea that it is 'his site' is wrong. That is craphound.com. There are others in the sandbox besides him.
I imagine that if the other Boingers told Cory to stop blogging about Little Brother, he would. They are the other people in the sandbox, to use your analogy. We're somewhere over on the swings, or maybe a merry go round.
Look at it this way: if Cory wants to "listen to his readers", he's already got plenty of feedback to work with. What makes you think that you're adding any value? Is there a magic number of votes that would change his mind, do you think, and are you trying to push it over?
Speaking personally, I only read these threads for the amusement value of seeing how many different ways people say the same things. And even that's getting old.
So can we go back to talking about how wonderful I am now, please? I need more egoboo.
@25
I was under the impression that it was his site, and others also contribute. Honestly, though, I don't know that for sure.
And sure, you're allowed to offer criticism; everybody has their own opinion about what makes something good or not good. But isn't there a point where you have to realize that your input is not wanted, and the stakes are so fantastically low that your energy might be spent elsewhere?
I just can't wrap my brain around the idea of being vocally indignant for a long time about the mix of articles on a web site that I like to read sometimes; heck, a lot of the stuff on here doesn't interest me, and I just don't read it, I don't campaign for its removal.
Veffekt @25: Well, gee, if only Xeni, Mark, Joel and the other correspondents of boingboing could somehow make their opinions known to Cory... or is it that you want each and every one of them to come to you personally and explicitly say that they're okay with Cory talking about his books occasionally on boingboing? Is it not obvious that the boingers are happy with Cory's blogging?
It's summer, Veffekt, go outside, play frisbee, buy some ice cream. Don't spend your time indoors complaining about something you don't want to read. Just don't read it.
Those that complain about the complainers are also complainers. TAKUAN and B DAGGER LEE may do well to stop reading the comment sections that they know will upset them.
@32,
Those who complain about those who complain about complainers are super-ultra-mega complainers. Also, they have poor taste in hats.
This is a former dead-tree 'zine turned digibytes for all to enjoy. It is/was co-founded by Cory and Mark and Xeni and David (and John and Joel too now ) as a group thing - for all of them to post what they like.
Mark posts about the things near and dear to him that the BB readers might enjoy learning about (art, engineering, etc.). Xeni posts things she enjoys (civil rights, technology, sex, etc.) Cory posts about what he enjoys (lit-rature, civil disobedience, anti-DRM, etc.)
It's this mix of things, from differing perspectives, that makes BB attractive to me.
If there is a post about a subject I don't care about, I skip it, because I'm SURE I'll find the next post fascinating.
To the complainers about Cory and 'Little Brother' - scream a little louder when you watch TV, I can't quite hear you bitch about seeing another 'Head On - apply directly to the forehead!' or another damn GEICO commercial ... This is NOT a 'reader programmed' site - this is a group effort put forth by these fine folks on the masthead.
Don't like it? Go away.
Meanwhile, I'm a big fan, and I'm tired of you whiners.
Wow, abi, nice framing with the poster remix!
Cory, glad to hear you lust after hand bound copies of your work. :) Is is the hand bound part, or the one-of-a-kind part you like?
Is that gorgeous Defendi design actually going to make it onto a published edition of LB? As I recall, it was concept art for the paperback edition, but I don't recall any firm announcement. Just in case a random voice in blog comments might have any influence, I just want to say...DO WANT!
Cry, gv s brk frm yr trlss slf-prmtn. Thnk y.
Wait.. Do people actually read the other comments on BB?
JoJo, CATFOTFIC, have a drink on me.
Assistamt moderator here.
I've just disemvowelled eight comments (actually seven-and-three-quarters) in a thread with fewer than 40 comments. That means this thread was over 20% people who think Cory talking about Little Brother is boring, but themselves talking about their sense of entitlement is interesting. So I've turned off comments on this thread. I (or Teresa) might turn them back on later today; we might not.
Meanwhile, you're still free to follow the link to Abi's Flickr set and leave egoboo there.