The Art of Chapbooking by Britny Kutuchief

THE ART OF

CHAPBOOKING A CRASH COURSE BY BRITNY KUTUCHIEF

THE ART OF CHAPBOOKING A CRASH COURSE

gh BY BRITNY KUTUCHIEF

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY JOURNALISM 5050 PROFESSOR ROSLYN BERNSTEIN BARUCH COLLEGE FALL 2011

CONTENTS _

I. AN INTRODUCTION

AN EXPLANATION AND HISTORY OF CHAPBOOK MAKING

II. GALLERY & EXAMPLES

SEE WHAT CHAPBOOKS CAN LOOK LIKE AND MEET EXPERIENCED CHAPOBOOK PUBLISHER, JEAN HARTIG, AUTHOR OF AVE, MATERIA

III. A DISCUSSION ON GENRES WHAT ARE THE LIMITS OF GENRE IN CHAPBOOKS? A REPORT FROM THE ANNUAL CHAPBOOK FESTIVAL PANEL

IV. DESIGN

HOW TO USE INDESIGN AND PHOTOSHOP TO CREATE THE AESTHETICS OF A CHAPBOOK AND A BREAKDOWN OF CHAPBOOK ELEMENTS

V. BINDING

�LEARN HOW TO BIND YOUR BOOK EASILY FROM HOME.

VI. CHAPBOOKING RESOURCES

A LIST OF NOTEWORTHY CHAPBOOKS AND SMALL PRESSES AND BINDING, PUBLISHING AND WRITING RESOURCES

AN INTRODUCTION E.E. Cummings once remarked that running a literary magazine feels something like pushing your head through a straw. The endless toiling over submissions, fonts, design and going to the press is a duty unknown to modern work ethic, but it is a trade more rewarding than most and proven by the hundreds of small presses that crank out chapbooks, zines and bulletins every year. Chabooking is a literary painting, a physical execution and exhibit of one’s writing. Chapbooks have been considered a “stepping stone” for literary careers and have opened flood gates for different kinds of grassroots publishing. When given the proper devotion and a season’s time, anyone with anything to say can publish a chapbook easily distributed.

Chapbooks have been a part of literary culture since as early as 1553, when books of ballads were distributed in Cambridge, England. Because of their simple production, size and price, chapbooks (or “merryments”) became popular reading material for people of all social classes. Some chapbooks were thought subversive because they often provided new ideas, at times guided by social change and revolution. Thomas Paine’s “The Rights Of Man” was an early chapbook that sold two million copies. Chapbooks were popular among atheist, social revolutionaries, poets and artists. Today, the term “chapbook” is an umbrella word for several styles of homemade books. They can be called “chapbooks” or “zines” and are put out by small presses, small groups of people and authors looking to cheaply circulate their work. They can be small and paper and large and digital. A chapbook has no bounds, a characteristic that has probably carried it its nearly 500 years with fervor.

PHOTOS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CHAPBOOK FESTIVAL CUNY GRADUATE CENTER 2011

Q&A WITH JEAN HARTIG JEAN HARTIG IS THE ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF POETS & WRITERS MAGAZINE. SHE HAS PUBLISHED HER OWN POETRY CHAPBOOK, AVE, MATERIA, AND HAS CREATED BOOKBINDING INSTRUCTION VIDEOS FOR PW.ORG. SHE HOSTED A BOOKBINDING WORKSHOP AT THE 2011 CHAPBOOK FESTIVAL AT THE CUNY GRADUATE CENTER. Q. Your chapbook is called Ave, Materia. Is that your primary chapbook or do you have several? A. Ave, Materia is the ﬁrst chapbook published through traditional channels--that is, by someone besides myself. Before I went to grad school in 2005, with the help of a couple of friends who ran a press, I self-published a little volume called denizen/deserter so I’d have something to give to my soon-to-be cohorts at Sarah Lawrence, and to offer the writing and art-making community I was leaving behind in Baltimore. And during grad school, I made a few other little books to gather poems I’d worked on in various workshops--again, gifted to my classmates, many of whom were doing the same thing.

Q. You publish a poetry chapbook. What do you think are the boundaries for genres in chapbook making? Do you think a chapbook can be equally as effective in poetry, prose, drama, etc? A. Totally, all those things, plus art, photography, hybrid work. It’s a lovely medium for all kinds of experimentation and play. Q. Some describe chapbook making as a “stepping stone” for literary careers. Why is that? How can it help a young writer’s career? A. Well, for poets, the path to publication isn’t really guided by industry professionals/agents; there’s a lot of personal legwork to be done, and necessary community-building, in order to not only find an outlet for one’s writing, but also to find one’s audience. The great thing about a chapbook--and I’m thinking mainly of self-published books here--is it can be created cheaply, quickly, and in a tiny, giftable size, and can really offer something of the poet beyond words--a poet’s willingness to share her work, the graciousness of the artist. Speaking in more general terms, having a chapbook published through any channel can offer a beautiful form of validation, guide a poet in her process, illuminate to her the power of a certain project, and build an audience for her work. Q. In chapbook making do you have a preference for traditional or digital? Do you use a press or just software and a printer? A. I prefer the tangible, but I’ve seen some beautiful projects made using the free publishing platform Issuu (issuu.com). I’ve been fortunate to do some work at the Center for Book Arts and create broadsides using their Vandercook presses, which I’d like to do again, but at the moment, I’m confined to my desktop publishing software and printer. Q. What are some of your favorite chapbooks and small presses? A. As far as presses: Ugly Duckling Presse is consistently amazing, Small Anchor, Rope-a-Dope in Massachusetts, Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, Dusie Press, and the Poetry Society’s annual chapbooks are always stunningly well-designed (and I’m so fortunate to have my work be part of their series!)

A DISCUSSION ON GENRES & DESIGN: WHAT ARE THE LIMITS IN CHAPBOOKS?

THE BODY ATTACKS ITSELF: A MULTI-GENRE CHAPBOOK The 2011 Chapbook Festival, held at the CUNY Graduate Center, hosted scores of interested bookmakers, publishers and readers of all genres. The festival staged a temporary book festival where small presses set up shop to display their publishing gems. A panel called “Pushing Genre Boundaries of the Chapbook” was a forum that discussed the increasing interest of chapbooks of all genres. Historically, publishing chapbooks could mean publishing sermons, cautionary tales, prayers and so on. Recent history of small presses have published mostly poetry chapbooks, while some have chosen to expand to fiction, nonfiction, drama and even children’s stories. The panel featured Jacqueline Waters, Pei-Ling Lue and Jen Hyde and was hosted by Kimiko Hahn, one of the founders of the Chapbook Festival. Jacqueline Waters, author of A Minute Without Danger, defined chapbook making as “an active tradition in pamphleteering.” She went on to call the art “something you do before you make a full length book,” and “a stepping stone in poetry.”

Pei-Ling Lue, contributing editor of One Story, a pamphlet that is distributed once monthly by mail (and Kindle), said publishing chapbooks can mean publishing “anything literary.” One Story, which was inspired by MFA students who mailed each other their stories to edit, publishes one story of fiction or nonfiction every three weeks. One Story has published young adult fiction and memoirs. Jen Hyde, the founder and publisher of Small Anchor Press, seeks to expand the definition of the genre. Hyde publishes fiction and poetry, including crime stories and prose-poetry. Hyde said, “Our magazine nurtures and mentors writers. Sometimes it’s speculative and sometimes it’s traditional.” Other small presses, including 53rd State Press, publish drama. Waters has published comics, poems and critical essays in her chapbook, Physiocrats.

In discussing genres, it seems organic for the discussion to drift to design. At times, genre dictates design and vice versa. A chapbook hosts an inﬁnite mass of creative control. A designer will chose layout, paper style and size, binding and fonts. Generally, publishing is split between two styles- traditional, including letterpress and typewritten font and modern, including the use of InDesign and Photoshop.

Jen Hyde said “the reading experience must be tactile.” Waters described chapbook making as “a small physical labor that is relaxing and enjoyable in its way.” Small Anchor Press published one of Kimiko Hahn’s short stories which featured moths, butterflies and chrysalis’. The imagery was so vibrant that the publishers decided the paper must match. They chose an airy paper that was reminiscent of a moth’s wings. Many small publishers rely on discount and specialty paper stores like New York Central in Gramercy Park, though Waters said, financially, “the idea is to break even.” When deciding on a layout for a chapbook, it is valuable to use resources like Poets & Writers Magazine (PW.org) and the website for the Council for Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP.prg). Both organizations provide templates for novice bookmakers and instruct on how to choose a paper fold and a binding technique for your publication. It is common for small presses to host bookbinding workshops for a small materials fee, and the Center For Book Arts hosts on-going workshop courses that meet several times a month. While traditionally, pamphlet making has been cultivated in small letterpresses, design in bookmaking has expanded as much as the limits of genre. Some small presses, like Small Anchor Press, continue to use a traditional letterpress. This offers a tangible reading experience for consumers, as a reader can actually feel the bumps and grooves of text on the page. Some publishers, though, choose to publish entirely digitally, from layout (typically using the Adobe suite) and a home printer. The options are infinite, though, and some publishers chose to design from home and print using a rented press as they are large, costly machines. Many local presses offer the rental of their letterpress. Chapbook making is a craft like any other. It is constantly evolving and morphing into something new. It is difficult to really descibe the art, as it is one that really dictates itself by the pages and text inside, the vision of the publisher and the desires of the readers.

1. BOOKBINDING 2.FONTS 3. PAPER AND COLOR CHOICE 4. INNER LAYOUT 5. COVER DESIGN

SADDLE STICH, RING BINDER, NO BINDING, ETC.

CHOOSE A FONT THAT IS COMPLIMENTARY TO GENRE AND SPACE. PAPER MY COMPLEMENT CONTENT.

LAY WORDS WITHIN OR AROUND PHOTOS, CHOOSE COLOR SCHEME. DESIGN A COVER TO HIGHLIGHT WHAT’S INSIDE.

1. �SINGLE OR DOUBLE RING BIND THIS EASY BINDING METHOD USES A PLASTIC OR METAL COIL THAT IS INSERTED SEVERAL TIMES INTO EACH PAGE. THIS BINDING STYLE IS IDEAL IF YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO ADD OR REMOVE PAGES AS YOU GO. YOU CAN PURCHASE SPIRAL BINDING SUPPLIES (COILS OR COMBS) AT AN OFFICE SUPPLY STORE.

2. COPTIC STITCH BINDING COPTIC BINDING IS A HAND-STICHED BINDING METHOD THAT HAS BEEN USED SINCE THE FOURTH CENTURY. THE THREAD IN THIS STYLE IS WRAPPED AROUND THE SPINE OF THE BOOK AND BACK AGAIN, AND ALLOWS THE BOOK TO LAY FLAT WHILE OPEN.

3. �STAPLE BINDING USING STAPLES TO BIND YOUR BOOK IS THE SIMPLEST AND MOST VERSATILE WAY TO BIND. A STAPLE BOUND BOOK IS TYPICALLY ATTACHED WITH THREE STAPLES EQUIDISTANT FROM EACH OTHER IN THE SPINE OF THE BOOK. USING A STAPLE BIND IS IDEAL IF YOU WANT TO USE ODD SHAPED PAPER AND HAVE A MINIMAL AMOUNT OF PAGES.

4. �SIMPLE CENTER BOUND STITCH BINDING THIS SIMPLE STITCH METHOD USES A TRADITIONAL STICHING MECHANISM TO BIND THE BOOK AT THE CENTER, MEANING TWO LONG STICHES WILL BIND THE BOOK TOGETHER. A POPULAR WAY TO USE THIS BINDING METHOD IS TO COVER THE SPINE OF THE BOOK WITH A TAILORED PIECE OF FABRIC AND STITCH OVER IT.

5. �NO BINDING IF YOU REALLY WANT TO TRY A UNIQUE WAY TO BIND A BOOK, TRY NOT BINDING IT AT ALL. NONBOUND BOOKS ARE HELD TOGETHER BY UNIQUE FOLDS. SOME ARE MADE FROM ONE SINGLE SHEET OF PAPER AND SOME ARE MADE FROM SEVERAL, PERHAPS LONGER PIECES OF PAPER, FOLDED TOGETHER. SINGLE-PAGED PAMPHLET TEMPLATES ARE AVAILABLE ON PW.ORG.

6. �PERFECT BINDING PERFECT BOUND BOOKS ARE BOUND BY INSERTING A STIFF PIECE OF PAPER OR WOOD ONTO THE SPINE OF THE PAGES AND GLUING THEM IN PLACE. PERFECT BOUND BOOKS ARE TYPICAL SOFT COVER BOOKS FOUND IN BOOKSTORES. OTHER KINDS OF BINDING INCLUDE SADDLE STITCH BINDING, SECRET BELGIAN BINDING AND CHINESE BOOK BINDING. THESE BOOK BINDING STYLES INVOLVE MORE DIFFICULT STITCHING AND CREATE LASTING BINDS.

NoTEWORTHY CHAPBOOKS oNE STORY

ONE STORY LAUNCHED IN 2002 FEATURES ONE STORY THAT IS MAILED TO SUBSCRIBERS EVERY THREE WEEKS. THE MAGAZINE ACCEPTS SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLISHES BY MAIL AS WELL AS ONLINE AND WITH KINDLE. WWW.ONE-STORY.COM

�WE WERE ALL GREAT IN THE OBSERVATORY WE WERE ALL GREAT IN THE OBSERVATORY IS A PERIODICAL PUBLISHED BY UGLY DUCKLING PRESSE. EACH ISSUE FEATURES SIX POETS AND USES UNIQUE BINDING AND PRINTING TECHNIQUES. THIS ISSUE IS RUBBER BAND BOUND. WWW.UGLYDUCKLINGPRESSE.ORG

LE PETIT ZINE LE PETIT ZINE PUBLISHES POETRY, FICTION AND CREATIVE NONFICTION. PUBLISHING 2-3 ISSUES PER YEAR IN AN ONLINE FORMAT. LE PETIT ZINE ACCEPTS UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS AND HAS BEEN IN PRINT FOR TWELVE YEARS. WWW.LAPETITEZINE.ORG/

NoTEWORTHY SMALL PRESSES ROPE-A-DOPE PRESS ROPE-A-DOPE PRESS IS LOCATED IN SOUTH BOSTON, MA AND PUBLISHES POETRY AND FICTION. “BOUND BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY,” ALL PUBLICATIONS ARE HANDBOUND AND USE RECYCLED MATERIALS. HTTP://ROPE-A-DOPE-PRESS.BLOGSPOT. COM/

BROOKLYN ARTS PRESS BROOKLYN ARTS PRESS (BAP) IS A SMALL PRESS IN BROOKLYN, NY. BAP PUBLISHES POETRY, FLASH FICTION AND MONOGRAPHS. WWW.BROOKLYNARTS PRESS.COM 154 N. 9TH ST. 1 BROOKLYN, NY 11211

BRAVE MEN PRESS

BRAVE MEN PRESS (BMP) IS RUN OUT OF NORTHAMPTON, MA AND WAS FOUNDED BY AN ARTIST AND POET. BMP PUBLISHES PAMPHLET, BROADSIDES AND CHAPBOOKS AND ACCEPTS UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS. WWW.BRAVEMENPRESS.COM 6 AHWAGA AVE 1R NORTHAMPTON, MA 01060

CHAPBOOKING RESOURCES POETS & WRITERS MAGAZINE 90 BROAD STREET SUITE 2100 NEW YORK, NY 10004 WWW.PW.ORG

THE CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS 28 WEST 27TH STREET, 3RD FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10001 WWW.CENTERFORBOOKARTS.ORG

COUNCIL OF LITERARY MAGAZINES & PRESSES 154 CHRISTOPHER STREET, SUITE 3C NEW YORK, NY 10014 WWW.CLMP.ORG

INDIE PUBLISHING: HOW TO DESIGN & PRODUCE YOUR OWN BOOK ELLEN LUPTON, 2008.

THE CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES’ ANNUAL CHAPBOOK FESTIVAL CUNY GRADUATE CENTER 365 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10016 WWW.CENTERFORTHEHUMANITIESGC.ORG/FESTIVAL

THANKS FOR READING

THIS CHAPBOOK WAS MADE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. PHOTOS WERE TAKEN AT THE ANNUAL CHAPBOOK FESTIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY IN MARCH OF 2011. ALL DESIGNS AND BINDING TECHNIQUES ARE THE CREATION OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL OWNERS.

BARUCH COLLEGE SPRING 2011

COVER ART BY JON WORK AND NATALIE PETROSKY