Happy Spooky Season to all who celebrate. We’ve reached the part of the year where we all must begin to think about gift shopping, and whether they have any idea where the last nine months went.
I don’t.
I do have books, though.
Today I'm launching my Halloween book drop, with a new batch of handbound novels, handmade journals and sketchbooks, all made by me in the UK and available in small quantities.
So, welcome to the latest instalment of my increasingly elaborate decision to make a small bookish business out of my hobbies.
A Small Batch of Handmade Books
This drop has been a particularly fun one to put together because I've been making with the upcoming Halloween season and darker autumn evenings in mind.
There's something about this time of year that makes me want to read old books, light an unreasonable number of candles and pretend I live in a slightly draughty library somewhere in a medieval castle. Haven’t quite achieved the castle just yet, but I can provide the books.
The novels in this collection are made by hand, from folding and sewing the text blocks to constructing the covers and finishing the details. They're intended to be books you actually keep. The sort of thing that looks at home on a bookshelf rather than something destined to be read once and then forgotten behind the television.
Journals for Your Very Important Gothic Thoughts
There are also handmade journals in the drop.
I have no idea what people actually put in journals, because whenever I buy one I spend approximately three weeks admiring the blank pages before becoming terrified of ruining them.
You don't have to do that.
Be braver than me.
And, Obviously, Sketchbooks
There are handmade sketchbooks, too. Plain paper in a book that opens flat, for your convenience.
These are made in the same small-batch spirit as everything else: carefully, by hand, and in limited quantities. They're for sketches, illustrations, notes, ideas, doodles, diagrams, elaborate plans for escaping society...
You get the idea.
Why a Halloween Drop?
Mostly because I like Halloween.
But also because seasonal drops give me an excuse to make things that feel a little different.
I like the idea of a shop changing throughout the year rather than having the exact same products sitting there permanently.
Autumn feels particularly suited to handbound books, old literature, journals and stationery. It’s getting darker earlier, it gets colder (a lie at the moment, it was 25 degrees here yesterday. deeply disappointing), and everyone starts pretending they're going to read more.
It's perfect.
Handmade, Small Batch, Slightly Ridiculous
Everything in this drop has been made in small batches.
There aren't hundreds of copies waiting in a warehouse. There is just me, my tools, my workbench, an alarming quantity of paper, and whatever I can physically make before the next market rolls around.
That's one of the things I enjoy about running a small independent business. I can make a handful of something and see what happens. Make something completely different next time, or occasionally decide that a perfectly normal product would be improved by adding a medieval castle somewhere.
It's a very flexible business model.
If You're Looking for a Halloween Gift...
The new collection is also here for anyone looking for Halloween gifts, bookish gifts, gifts for readers, handmade gifts UK, literary gifts, or just something a little different for someone who already owns approximately every book they've ever wanted.
A handbound classic novel makes a particularly nice gift for a reader. A handmade journal works for the writer, planner, list-maker or person who buys stationery because they enjoy the possibility of becoming organised. And a sketchbook is always useful, even if it spends six months being beautiful and empty.
We've all been there.
And There Are More Bookish Things in the Shop
The Halloween drop isn't the only thing happening around here.
The shop also has handmade Kindle sleeves, and for fellow bookbinders, there are now more than 20 printable typesets for bookbinding available to download.
That includes free printable typesets for Pride and Prejudice and Grimm's Fairy Tales, because I wanted to share something useful with the bookbinding community I'm so fond of.
So whether you want to buy a handbound book, make your own, find a Kindle sleeve, or simply spend an unreasonable amount of time looking at handmade stationery...
There's plenty to explore.
The Drop Is Live
So that's it.
The Halloween book drop is officially live. Handbound novels. Handmade journals. Sketchbooks. Small batches. Made in the UK. Other SEO key words.
Made by one person who has spent a frankly unreasonable amount of time surrounded by paper.
If you buy something, thank you. Every order from a small independent maker genuinely matters, and every book that leaves my workbench to go and live with somebody else is a tiny reminder that this strange little business is actually real.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, my market dates are looming. Apparently making the books wasn't enough. I also need to sell them. Smh.
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