anyway.

It'd be a premium edition Dogs in the Vineyard kinda thing.

Although a handmade, hardcopy edition of kill puppies for satan would be the coolest thing ever. I can already see the spooky pentagram and stuff on the cover.

Yeah, I considered doing this.

I know how to hand bind books. It's a blast. It's also a money suck unless you can charge hundreds to thousands of dollars for your books. Some books, you can do that.

His description of perfect binding is really useful to me. I've never done it, as the amount of work that goes into the book is less than stitching, but not so much less as to be worth the cost in price.

V., we could have a bookbinding workshop sometime. It would be fun. Maybe at a convention, sort of a "how to go from idea to object" kind of thing.

Dan Root, one of the guys in our game out in Seattle, had taken his Sorcerer book and the supplements and rebound them all together with a leather cover. It was very cool.

See, dig, it makes sense for one-offs because it's all about making a single precious thing.

Sorcerer really needs a better cover anyway. I don't know anyone who's kept the dust jacket on.

as an art project, i'll admit it's very cool. as a mode of production? there's a reason we had an industrial revolution. go machines.

-L

Luke, your point in the thread about our time - is it better spent designing or producing? - is a compelling one.

But such an art project it would be!

Here's a couple reasons I'd be down with making my own books, start to finish:

1. The craftsman ideal. Making things yourself is teh awesome.
2. Great gifts for your gaming buddies.
3. Limited editions, anyone?

Of course, before any of that can happen, one would need their own workspace...and time...and knowledge. I'd look at it as a longterm project.

I think if you could figure out how to do one or two without breaking the bank for startup equipment, it would be totally worth it, just for the experience.

-Nathan P.

The answer's simple, V: your time is best spent doing the one you're best at, or could get best at.

If you're good at producing, you should do that and leave the designing for others. Otherwise, you're depriving the world of your abilities.

Likewise, vice-versa.

Since we're best at designing games, that's what we do. The printhouses are best at producing. We'll let them do that. Because it costs a lot of money to screw up.

... and then there's a big EXCEPT!

If it's worth the cost to produce something beautiful in small quantities - either because you can charge enough for it, or because you're willing to pay to make something - then you can add beauty to the world.

Hand making books is a pain in the ass.  Sure it is nice when you are done and have one fine piece of work, but I can't image doing quality hand made books in the 10s let alone 100s. Fuck that noise.  Doing one sucks.

J has got it right too about it being a bit of a money sink.  Doing it right would be cost prohibitive, though this is getting me all nostalgic for college.  However, I think you might have enough folks willing to pay the cost to get nice ass leather bound copies.  DiTV would be cool with gilded pages and a nice leather bound format and layed out like a bible.  I would spend the 50 bucks for that.

Fifty bucks? Are you kidding? It takes hours to hand bind a book. It would have to cost hundreds to be worth your effort.

If it takes you 12 hours for one, 14 for two, and 16 for four, maybe I'd consider taking preorders four at a time at $300 apiece. But shit, dude, making a book and selling it for $50, that's minimum wage.

I'm not saying that you couldn't do it. I'm just saying that you'd have to charge for it.

Fifty bucks? Are you kidding? It takes hours to hand bind a book. It would have to cost hundreds to be worth your effort.

J, I'm just saying that's how much I would pay for it.  Nothing about the blood and sweat that goes into this nonsense.  If you calculated how much is cost for me to do one based on class costs we are talking at least a grand for one fuck'n book.  I ain't pay'n that shit.  You guys do one up, $50 is what you get from me... ;)