Fake it til You Make it

Backstory

The other comic I print & bind myself (Alien) is standard zine format; four pages on letter sized paper, staple in the middle, fold in half. The spreads are 10x7.5 inches with a 0.25 inch bleed so there's a safe margin from the edge of the paper and I don't need to worry about testing my printer's limits...

In August 2025 I had just finished drawing Exo for SBCF and had been wanting to apply to this Noah's Ark anthology but at this point I had like, two weeks left. :o) The page template was A5 (5.8 x 8.3 in), so that's what size I drew Real Horror at (well, bigger but same resolution. you know how it is).

Shrinking it down to fit my Alien method.... I could not bear to do it u__u;;; But if I could somehow bind it without having to fold the pages, I could make it as big as I wanted....

Feature Presentation

The finished size is 6.47 x 9 in. I think I chose it based on measuring some books I have, like those tall manga volumes (Ran and the Grey World or Gangsta). So 9" by however wide it needed to be.

Then I looked up a bunch of bookbinding tutorials on youtube to see if my dreams could come true.

This is the one! If you actually want to do this, watch this here video!!

So I made a prototype at work and it was functional. ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و

The plan was to staple it along the inside bleed line and use that space to glue it to the cover. As per the tutorial, there's a short piece of paper (the size of the bleed area) to cover the staples.

Since it worked, I got a bunch of the cover printed.

I told the print shop what I needed it for so they suggested I get it scored down the middle. I should have gotten it scored just inside the bleed so that it opens nicely, but I had to do that part myself. =w=;; Since I'm cropping it myself later, I just go the press sheets with no trimming from them.

Then several months went by! ;w;;;; (I didn't finish drawing in time for a con in February... but I have another one coming up this weekend (it's June now.......))

The pages are all printed on legal (8.5x14 in) paper because I got a bunch from the thrift store :v Then I put each book together with paperclips and staple them along the inner bleed around 2" from the top and bottom.

Even though it's so close to the edge, this ruler thing on my long arm stapler makes it easy to keep it at the right distance. (Casually bringing up that I have a long arm stapler..... /bragging)

And then!! Here we have; A. Cover, folded and pressed down the middle. B. Inside pages. Stapled and trimmed right up to the bleed on the inside. I had to cut some off the top since my paper cutter can only fit 12" =w=;; C. Masking tape. I used it to cover the staples instead of making a seam cover... Since the staples stick out a lot more than thread would having a heavier paper would be good if you want to really cover them but ¯_(ツ)_/¯ D. Bone folder my beloved. Good for folding. Good for scoring. E. Rice glue. Allegedly PVA glue (normal white glue) is best for bookbinding but rice glue won't crack if you bend it... it comes in a cute tube..... what more could you want? F. Paintbrushes for glue application.

If you think this side of my craft table looks messy.... you should (not) see the other side u__u;;;;

Since the cover and inner pages are totally different sizes right now I don't know how I would have done this if it hadn't been daytime.... orz;;; But I could see the printing through the cover and lined it up with the edge of the inner page. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ success~

Then it was just a matter of gluing along the bleed area and across the "spine". I did it on one side, flipped the book over, and did the back.

The pages were flattened with a little help from my friends(' books that I borrowed but haven't gotten around to reading yet :'D ) idk how long it takes for rice glue to dry so I just left them there for a while.... The internet said "pretty quickly" but mostly gave me recipes for making rice glue myself.

After waiting a pretty quick amount of time, I scored the pages along the staples. ...realizing neither of my rulers are visible in that supplies picture... orz I have a 6" one and a 24" metal ruler. I didn't bother marking the pages, just put the long ruler along the back of the book just past the staples and scored them with the tip of the bone folder. Then I put the short ruler along the fold line and pressed back against it with my hand from inside the book. I didn't want to fold them all the way back like the prototype, but try to avoid pulling on the glued area when they're opened ദ്ദി(ᵕ—ᴗ—) hopefully...

Last! Cutting! This paper cutter I also got from the thrift store... It was only $8 and I truly felt like someone was going to stop me when I bought it dfghj

The bleed is 0.125", which is pretty normal if you're sending your book off to a print shop where they have machines to do this. Given the completely random size I ended up going with, I'm lucky to have that much...

Anyway, I measured how far from the cut line ⅛" was with a ruler and from there I just eyeballed it orz;; They all turned out basically the same size so I guess that worked~

done! (˶ˆᗜˆ˵)

also it says 19+ bc that's the legal drinking etc age here and even tho i'm pretty sure it's been 18+ for selling mature content at cons i've been to i was like IS IT REALLY and i went to the government website to verify but it was as inscrutable as a government websites can be so i put 19+ just to be safe but now i'm like...... that's stupid........ AND! i rasterized the text files so it's going to say that on the digital version too but i DON'T CARE (<- guy who cares)

Actually, no! And since several people have replied asked for my script for negotiating lower rent, I’m gonna share that below, as well as the philosophy behind it. Full disclosure that I’m not a leasing office person or a realtor or god forbid, a landlord—I’m just someone who has been a renter for 10+ years across different states, and I know for a fact that I have saved myself thousands of dollars by successfully negotiating a lower monthly rent on almost every lease I’ve ever signed. (Also, I’ve only ever rented in the U.S., so this advice may not be as applicable elsewhere.)

THIS!!! Exactly this. I didn’t mention it above because I just couldn’t fit it neatly anywhere, but once while negotiating a lease renewal, I got as far as receiving their counteroffer, which was basically “price firm :(”, but then life happened, so I forgot to respond and accept. The email sat in my inbox for a week. And then, completely unprompted, they magically replied again saying, “actually, nvm, how’s $[number that is lower than our opening offer] sound?”

To them, it looked like I was staring them down cold as ice like

Credited to Am-uh-ris on tt

I never see anyone speaking on this and I resonated so much with these words. As someone who was raised by a Black Woman, who comes from a long line of strong beautiful black women —words can’t express how much grief I felt behind not identifying solely as a Black Woman.

I remember growing up, I grappled with my identity and initially thought I was a trans man. At first I cried not because of me being raised as a southern baptist or thinking I would shame my family or their god; my tears stemmed from the realization that all my role models, the women who inspired me, were Black.

As I got older and started being more comfortable and grounded in who I am I remember mourning over my past identity as a Black Woman, because that community brought me so much strength and solace. Black Women are resilient, nurturing, brave, funny – a source of endless inspiration.

It felt like I was losing part of myself and shedding skin as I started that journey and still find myself at times struck by grief and disgust at the things I see my family, friends, and colleagues go through just for being Black Women.