Hit 500 bound books this week and had to sit down

I was counting up my personal projects for a portfolio and realized I've finished 500 hand bound books since I started in my garage back in 2019. Has anyone else ever tallied their total and gotten surprised by the number?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_brian14d ago

Whoa hold on. 500 books since 2019 is a ton. But honestly I have to push back a little. I don't think the number alone is that surprising. The real shock is how many hours that took. Binding one book takes way longer than most people think. 500 books is like a full-time job for a couple years if you're doing it right. The real question is how many of those are actually good or just practice runs. I bet most people would be more surprised by their scrap pile than their finished count.

mason_reed4714d ago

@the_brian nailed it. 500 books is a huge number but the real story is the time and the fails. Bet half of those first attempts had crooked spines or glue bumps everywhere. My first five were trash, total garbage. You learn more from the ugly ones than the pretty ones anyways.

jenny_lee14d ago

Does @the_brian's point about the scrap pile count actually matter more than the finished ones though? I bet a pile of 200 failed book spines would tell a better story than the 500 pretty ones on a shelf.

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