Bring me the book.
I'll tell you what it needs.
Print and bind a manuscript, rebind something you've read to pieces, or mend a book that's coming apart. Every quote is a real number before you commit to anything, and every book comes with a lifetime warranty.
What i offer
Four ways in
From full custom builds to quick repairs, here's what I can do for your books.
Print & Bind
from $150
Your manuscript, thesis, or a run of poems, turned into a real hardcover: printed, hand-sewn into signatures, and bound with a cover designed with you. Your own writing, or anything in the public domain.
Rebinding
usually $150–250, or $75 for a Penguin-style rebind
A new copy in a cover you chose, or your own worn copy rebuilt from the boards up. Pick the cloth, the endpapers and the titling — or tell me the feeling and I'll design it.
Mending
$45/hour, $45 minimum per book
Loose pages, a broken hinge, a spine that's given up. Practical repair that gets a book back into use, not archival conservation, and priced accordingly.
Even a quick repair means assessing it, doing the work, and letting it dry flat overnight before it's safe to handle — so the smallest job is an hour of bench time either way.
Something Else?
let's talk
Guest books that need to lie flat, a box for something odd, an idea you can't find a name for. Ask — the answer is usually yes.
The flagship
Go ahead, judge it by the cover
The paperback you've read to pieces. A series you want matching on the shelf. A gift that should look like it cost something. Pick the cloth, the endpapers, the titling, or tell me the feeling and I'll design it. Built for the shelf or the bottom of your bag, whichever it's headed for.
Three different jobs, three different prices.
Most people aren't sure which one they need, and that's fine — send a photo and I'll tell you.
Mending — I fix what's there and your cover stays. $45/hour, $45 minimum.
Re-casing — a new cover, text block untouched. For a book that reads perfectly but looks wrecked. $110–160.
Rebinding — the binding re-sewn or re-glued and a new cover. The full rebuild. $150–250, or $450–750 in leather.
Books that deserve a second look
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Most common
A paperback you've reread until the spine cracked. Still your favorite — just no longer holding itself together.
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Sentimental
The one with someone's handwriting inside the front cover. Mending or recasing keeps that page exactly as it is.
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Gift-worthy
A book they love, made to look like an heirloom. Pick the cloth and the titling, or tell me the feeling.
No surprises
What it costs, before you ask
Custom projects are $150 minimum — that's the floor for the whole job, materials and labor together. If the hours come in under it, the price is still $150. You'll have a written estimate before anything starts, and if the work runs longer than expected, that shows up as hours, not surprises.
| Rate | What it's for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| $60/hour | Fully custom work | Two-hour minimum. Design time and project management included. |
| $45/hour | Mending & repair | $45 minimum per book — even a quick fix needs a night under weight. |
| $30/hour | Semi-custom templates | Designs from my shop. Known specs, so the time is predictable. |
| $30/hour | Typesetting | Print & bind only, if you'd like me to lay out your file. |
| $15/hour | Machine time | Foiling and engraving — I can't leave the room while it runs. |
| +50%priority | Front-of-the-Line | Optional. I set your project ahead of my queue and work on yours first to hit a tight deadline — added as 50% of the project total. |
$150 minimum on custom projects — that's the floor for the whole job, materials and labor together. Materials are quoted separately, and labor is estimated as a range and billed at the hours your book actually takes.
If $150 isn't in the budget — a Penguin-style rebind starts at $75, and a DIY kit starts at $65 if you'd rather make it yourself. Neither is a consolation prize; the kits are how a lot of people start.
Start to finish
How a commission actually goes
We talk. Book a 30-minute consultation, either on a call or in person.Bring the book or photos of it. If something comes up, just text me 30 minutes before and we'll find a new time. I only ask that you show up or let me know — after a second no-show I'll step back from the project.
You get an estimate. Written and itemized down to the thread, with a real timeline. Labor is quoted as a range and billed at the hours your book actually takes, and if it's going to run past the top of that range, I'll tell you before I carry on. You will never get an invoice you weren't expecting. Nothing starts until you say yes.
You pay the materials deposit. This covers the cloth, board, thread and paper for your book. I invoice you for the actual amount once we've settled the details.
I make it. Six to ten weeks, typically. You can follow along in Cat Tracks the whole time, and ask for more photos whenever you like.
You approve, then it ships. I post finished photos to Cat Tracks. Once you're happy, I invoice the labor hours, and your book goes out with tracking.
What people said when they got them back
You'll know exactly where your book is
Every order comes with Cat Tracks — a private page where a small cat walks your book through each stage, from estimate to doorstep. Progress notes from me, photos as it comes together, and USPS tracking once it ships.
You get the link and password after our consultation. Check it whenever you like, from anywhere, and ask for extra photos any time — I'm always glad to send them.
What people usually spend
Every book is quoted properly, so these aren't menu prices, but here's where my actual projects have landed, so you know before you ask whether we're in the same neighborhood.
A Rebind
$150–250
Your worn copy rebuilt, or a new copy in a cover you chose. Bookcloth, a custom cover design, a ribbon. This is the most common order I take, and where most people land.
Print & bind, or a designed piece
$250–350
Typesetting, sprayed or deckled edges, custom endpapers, a dust jacket, or a rebind that needs mending before I can start. Most print & bind work sits here — there's simply more of it than a rebind.
Leather & foil
$450–750
Genuine leather, hot foil work across the covers and spine, silk endpapers, raised bands. Family bibles and books meant to be handed down. Rarer, slower, and worth it.
What moves the number: genuine leather instead of cloth, hot foil or embossing, edge treatments, silk endpapers, raised bands, typesetting, and how much mending the book needs before I can rebind it.
What's always included: a written estimate itemized down to the thread, a dedication page, Cat Tracks, and the lifetime warranty.
If that's above your budget — a Penguin-style rebind starts at $75 and a DIY kit at $65. Tell me your number and I'll tell you honestly what's possible inside it.
What I can legally bind
Anything you wrote. Your manuscript, your thesis, your recipes, your family history — no restrictions, it's yours.
Books you already own. I can rebind any published book you bring me, or one I buy new for the purpose. What I can't do is print a fresh copy of something still in copyright.
Public domain works. Anything published before 1929 can be printed and bound new — which covers a great deal of very beautiful writing.
Fanfiction — I can bind it in exactly two cases: you wrote it, or you have the author's written permission. Commissioning me to bind someone else's work isn't something personal use makes okay, so that's a no even for your own shelf. It's a copyright line, not a taste one — I'd bind it if I could.
What you can do is bind it yourself. My DIY Fanfiction Binding Kit exists for exactly this, and honestly it's the more fun way to end up with the book.
A note on timing. Your six to ten weeks starts when the materials deposit is paid, not when we first talk. If a few books land at once I space them out rather than rush any of them so that the date you're given is a date I can actually keep.
Built to outlast your reading list
Every book I make comes with a lifetime warranty. If the binding fails in normal use — ever — bring it back and I'll fix it. Not a returns window, not a goodwill gesture. It's my name on the inside.
These are handmade, so there will be small marks of the hand in them, that's the point. However, a book that comes apart isn't charm, it's a fault, and I'll put it right.
Made by hand. Made to be yours.