DIY Publishing for Writers & Others

Final projects

2011-04-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

Everyone posted proposals for their final project, due in just two weeks on May 13th. I especially enjoyed the proposals that included research and inspiration... they gave me a pretty convincing idea of what the projects will be about / look like. Its also exciting to think about these projects existing in the context of other writers, artists, and places.

For example:

Kelsey K's letterpressed project inspired by many different sources from entomology to "commonplace books" to Truth with a capital T;

Stacey's zine which is inspired by a friend as well as her ongoing interest in self-published autobiographical comics;

Kelsey G's woven treasures inspired by Joseph Cornell and a chance encounter with a stranger's writing;

and Tara's edition of gel-medium transferred mini-books inspired by hands-on research at the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection.

Our last class meeting will include a book exchange! Everyone will leave with a big stack of books. For my project, I'm completing a new edition of a project from last year. The original edition didn't work out as well as I would have liked. It was over a hundred pages and I hand bound it with pamphlet stitch -- not the best idea! Also it was so time-consuming to print, collate, trim and bind that many pages that I didn't make as many as I wanted to. So this time I used Lulu to print and bind the interior and cover. The books reached yesterday and look great! Now, I'm inkjet printing 5 key pages in full color on transparency paper and attaching them to their corresponding pages. I'm still experimenting with different ways to mount the color prints to the book pages. Here is my design for the one-piece wrap around cover:

I hope everyone likes the finished product!

Some useful links for hand-stitched book techniques

2011-03-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

A few sites I recommend:

A simple hardcover book
This is a simple technique, but it turns out great after one or two practice runs.

Tutorials on Japanese stab binding
In class we'll go over a simple stitch pattern, but look at how intricate you can get!

An extensive tutorial on bookmaking
Some parts of this are really confusing, but I get a lot of great ideas just browsing through these pages.

Upcoming events over spring break

2011-03-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

Small Press and Comics Symposium, a student-organized event in SAIC's Ballroom, March 24th, starting at 4:00. Two panel discussions followed by a meet-and-greet.

Chicago Zine Fest at Columbia College and Quimby's, Friday March 25th and Saturday March 26th

Love!

2011-03-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

12 awesome zines, in a pile.

A wonderful post about all the zines and our critique.

Thanks, Wendy, for the photos and the post!

Individual blogs are coming in!

2011-01-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

Each student in this class will be creating and maintaining their own blog throughout this semester, and hopefully beyond! A list of links to each blog is on the top right of this page.

2/9 Update: All the student blogs are up!

About this blog

2011-01-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

This is a class blog for "DIY Publishing for Writers & Others," a course offered by the Writing Program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Read the course description below:

Authors and artists decide to publish their own work for countless reasons. Students in this course will explore the pros and cons of self-publishing as they produce their own printed and bound multiples. The course will introduce students to design and layout software, such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, and basic bookbinding techniques, as well as xerography, desktop publishing, print-on-demand, and blogging. While choosing the most effective among those formats, students will create and workshop new work based on their own interests in different media and genres (poetry, prose, comics, etc.) and learn to plan and work within an individual budget. No prior experience with publishing required.