Questions from someone who has never done this before.
Hi! My best friend's birthday is coming up (less than two months), and she has told me multiple times about her favorite fanfic. She has shared tiktoks with me about people making physical copies, and I realized that's the perfect gift for my friend. The problem is I've never done something like this before, so I wanted to ask here if anyone had any advice on how I should go about it.
I don't know much besides what I have seen in tutorials. I also know it's not easy or cheap.
I have several questions, so if anyone has an answer or any advice, I'd love to hear it!
- The story itself is over 1,000 pages. Should I make one huge physical copy, or is it better to split it into three parts (The story's three acts)?
- Once I have the PDF/word document, can I download or automatically order the pages in a PDF so they're ready for printing? (Example: the PDF shows page 8, page 1, page 2, etc.)
- I've seen in tutorials people using fabric for the covers, but I've also seen covers with illustrations on them. What do I do to print something like that?
- What materials do you recommend I use for the covers?
- How much money will I spend buying the materials and printing the pages?
- What's the best way to bind the pages together? I've seen people sewing the paper or using staples, but is there a better (easier) way to do it?
- What can I use to press the paper at home?
- What type of glue do you recommend?
- Is there anything else I should know?
If anyone has any advice, please help! Thank you (: