kim693•23d ago

That time I flubbed 3 book spines at the Seattle Art Book Fair

I was at the Seattle Art Book Fair last spring showing my stuff and I had this stack of 5 journals I had bound. The first one sold right away but then this guy picked up another one and pointed right at the spine and said, 'the glue is showing at the top edge.' I looked closer and he was right. I had been in such a rush that I didn't clean up the excess PVA from the hinge area before casing in. Then I checked my other books and 2 more had the same issue. So now I run a bone folder along every spine edge after gluing and wipe with a damp rag before it dries. Has anyone else had glue sneak up on them like that during a show?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinlopez23d ago

Wait actually the spine and the hinge are two different parts of the binding.

mia74823d ago

yeah but here's the thing nobody's talking about - how the hinge gets treated when someone's fixing a book that's already falling apart. like, you can rebind a book all you want but if the hinge is busted from someone trying to tape the spine back on wrong, you're basically starting from scratch. i've seen people use duct tape on the spine thinking that'll fix the hinge and it just makes everything worse. the hinge needs to be able to move and bend without tearing, it's not just a solid piece like the spine. that's why old library books with those reinforced hinges last forever but a paperback you throw in your bag dies in a week.

thompson.nathan20d ago

That thing about the duct tape is so true. I had a guy bring in a beat up old textbook once where someone had slapped packing tape right across the hinge, and when I tried to open it the whole thing just cracked apart. The hinge was basically glued shut, no flex left in it at all. I ended up having to cut the whole cover off and start fresh, which took way longer than just fixing a normal broken hinge would have.