RedNook Event: Sale Ends Soon!

K.Beck books is being featured on RedNook this week! We are thrilled to be working with the good folks at RedNook. The sale ends tomorrow, so hurry over and check it out: http://www.rednook.com/index.php/k-beck-books-custom-designed-stationary-and-art.html.

Introducing Blot: the Notebook

In preparation for The Blot Event last week (huge success, thanks to all those of you who attended, photos coming soon!), we prepared some notebooks for our attendees. They were a hit and we are proud to announce that they are now available on the website.

Okay, so the wax seal plays no role,
we just find it charming.

Blot: the Notebook are 3x5 notebooks. They come in packs of 3 notebooks for $12.

Photography by JGublers Photography. Gorgeous, as always.

Do they still teach bookbinding?

It turns out they do.

When I think of trade schools, I think of HVAC repair, beauty schools, and auto mechanics. The North Bennet Street School of Boston Mass is a trade school of the classical genre. NBSS offers courses in bookbinding, furniture making, violin making, and piano technology. As an institution, NBSS has come to be one of the oldest and most respected trade schools in the country.

Here is a highlight from this article in Felt & Wire:

 “We’ve seen an interesting reaction to the rise in e-books and online publishing. There’s a heightened awareness of our work, both from people who are interested in doing it and from those who are interested in buying. People seem to have recently stopped taking physical books for granted — which might be a short-term phenomenon — as digital technology has come up. I sense a bit of a backlash — a renewed interest and appreciation of the higher end, in owning books that are of higher quality, a little better thought out, in terms of design or craft or both.” He adds, “Even Penguin Classics are beautiful right now, and I think that reflects demand. People don’t want throwaway — if it’s disposable, then electronic is fine. We’re definitely seeing people interested in taking care of their existing books — repair and conservation have been the main source of demand for bookbinding skills. We’re also seeing a growth in demand and interest in hand-bound books. I like to joke that nobody is ever going to say, ‘Oh look, here’s the Kindle that grandpa read during the war.’”

As bookbinders, this is what gets our hearts going, the inherent value of well-bound, beautiful books.

In addition to the article above, I recommend that anyone who is interested in the NBSS bookbinding program should check out Work of the Hand, a meticulous blog by current student, Henry Herbert.

For anyone local who is interested in hand-bookbinding classes, I teach those as well. In the beginner's class, we make a hardback book like this:

I also teach a coptic class:

Give me a call or send me an email to set up a private or group event.

The Blot Event

Hi All,

I just wanted to give a final plug for the Blot Event this Saturday (04.07) from 2-5 pm at the Provo Library. This event sponsored by K.Beck books and TM Publishing is in support of the local writing community. In addition to speakers, we'll be giving away journals, books, a kindle fire, and announcing the winner of the TM Publishing writing competition. Of course, there will be refreshments as well.

The event is open-house, so no need to come for the full 3 hours. If you aren't sure what time to come, here is a brief agenda:

• 2:15 - Welcome and Introduction
• 2:30 - Craft of Writing
• 3:00 - 1st round of Giveaways
• 3:15 - Book Design
• 3:45 - 2nd round of Giveaways
• 4:00 - Intro to Publishing
• 4:20 - 3rd round of Giveaways and Contest Winners

Free gifts for the first 150 people to arrive. Hope to see you there!

Kelcie

The Library Phantom!

I stumbled across this incredible story on NPR. Apparently, a very talented book artist has been leaving "gifts" all over Edinburgh, Scotland. The exceptional sculptures are, in the words of the artist, "in support of libraries, books, words, ideas..."

I highly recommend that your read the original stories on NPR:

Who Left a Tree, Then a Coffin, in the Library?

And the follow up: The Library Phantom Returns!

Here are a few of my favorites:

This tree takes my breath away and the eggs are lined with gold leaf.

"A gift in support of libraries, books, works, ideas... Once upon a time there was a book and in the book was a nest and in the nest was an egg and in the egg was a dragon and in the dragon was a story..."

Yes, those feathers are made out of paper, book paper.

O loves this little T-Rex, the story shows his tail peeking out of the back of the book.

Now Benefitting the Center for Women and Children in Crisis

K.Beck books is proud to now benefit the Center for Women and Children in Crisis. With every book or journal purchased, we donate another to CWCIC.

So now to answer the questions, why this partnership?

First, a story. I was reading an article about a gal who teaches bookbinding classes and once a year she goes to Ethiopia to teach binding to lepers. I was amazed, and a little intimidated. I have always been impressed by small business owners who give a portion of their proceeds or otherwise benefit non-profit organizations. However, I always let myself off the hook. My excuses went something like this: "My business is too small"; "Bookbinding is more of a niche market"; "Maybe when I'm more established"; and on and on. But this girl, this girl is doing some good. Real good, with real people, with bookbinding.

So, I started looking around online at the local non-profits. The CWCIC caught my eye as their list of donated items included journals. It turns out, that in addition to the necessities, these women are in need of personal possessions. Many of the women and children at this center have given up everything. The more I thought about it, the more excited and motivated I became. It isn't much, but the idea of providing a leather bound volume of Fairy Tales to a mother and child at a shelter is enough to get you up in the morning.

Thanks to the CWCIC for letting me partner with you. Hopefully, K.Beck books can contribute to the good you're already doing in our community. (For more information, you can check out our website, or CWCIC.org.)

Happy kick-off to the Holiday Season!

-Kelcie Beck

New Site!

After nearly 2 years in business, K. Beck books is launching a new site!

We have learned a lot over the last few months and years of working with you to meet individual, custom orders, as well as large, wholesale orders. Taking the collective experience of our successes, failures, and just the day in day out of operation, we have put together a new business model and a new site to better meet your needs.

I'm excited about where we're going and can't wait to launch the new site. In the meantime, here's a clip of what's to come...