Win *signed* copies of THE HIDDEN STARS

[Teresa Edgerton]

Most of the time, bookplates are pasted inside books to identify who they belong to -- particularly useful if you're in the habit of loaning out your books to friends and would like to get them back. Usually you can buy them in bookstores, and they can be plain or decorative according to your taste.

But a secondary use is when someone would like a writer to sign their book and there is little or no chance of their ever being in the same place at the same time. Sometimes a reader will send one of their own bookplates for the author to sign; sometimes they'll just ask if the writer has any bookplates to send out. Obviously, it's cheaper (and less risky) mailing little pieces of paper back and forth, rather than the books themselves (thereby inviting the post office to lose them). Once it's pasted in, you've suddenly got a signed book.

Until now, when someone asked for a bookplate I sent something generic from the bookstore, but I recently decided to print up my own -- perhaps not as pretty as the kind you buy, but as Mark says, it seems more personal. (Also, weirdly and obsessively, I decided I wanted mine to color coordinate with the cover art.)

Mark, I used the same drawing program that I used for the maps, along with some decorative fonts I downloaded, and then a lot of cutting and pasting and tinkering with colors. Whether they turned out to be worth the effort you can decide when you receive yours.

 

[Mark Robson]

Mark, I used the same drawing program that I used for the maps, along with some decorative fonts I downloaded, and then a lot of cutting and pasting and tinkering with colors. Whether they turned out to be worth the effort you can decide when you receive yours.

Sounds great. I look forward to seeing your creation. I think I managed a fancy leaf border and some calligraphy style writing on my last effort. I'm afraid artwork is not my forte at all.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Ah, thanks for the explanation Kelpie & Mark.
I am illuminated.
Just as well I asked, for some reason I had this idea it was some kind of lithograph or wood-carving...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Ah. Well full-page illustrations inside of books are also sometimes called plates (here we have the subtle difference between bookplates and plates in books -- another little quirk of our beloved English language) because those in very old books would have come from wood blocks or lithographs. As, come to think of it, early bookplates did as well. So your confusion is understandable.

For the history of bookplates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookplate

The maps I sent out, if they had been bound into the books, would qualify as full-color plates in the other sense of the term, though they're printed on an inkjet printer, not a printing press.

I tried to make the maps look old, filtering the colors through tint after tint, then printing them up on parchment paper. The illusion is not very convincing, but I hope it's at least artistically pleasing. (Ironically, if the post office is unkind, they'll probably acquire some genuine wear and tear along the way -- and maybe more than I bargained for.) Also, there are several versions of the map in various scales, with different fonts and colors and decorations, and I sent each of you a different version. So until I print more up, they are, for now, each one a unique piece of computer "art." For whatever that's worth in the great scheme of things.

Anyway, I had fun making them, except when the printer was acting up.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I wonder if any of the packages I sent out have arrived yet? Some of them should be reaching their destinations about now.

 

[Marky Lazer]

I got mine today! Thanks! I'm going to read it when I finished Truck (Katherin Dunn), which should be done by tomorow. I'll let you know what you should have done better

 

[nixie]

Mine arrived this morning

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

My book & map arrived by post today as well.
I love the map & I'll dive into the book this weekend.
It's hard to believe it was all done on a home PC - it looks very professional.
Aint technology someth'n else, tho?

Cheers Kelpie, much appreciated!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It's hard to believe it was all done on a home PC - it looks very professional.

On a home computer with a fairly crude painting program. But I've played with it a lot, and learned to work around some of the shortcomings.

I'm glad you like the end result, though. Thank you.

And thank you all for letting me know things arrived safely. I don't expect to hear from Mark until he comes back from Austria, but it looks like everything made it overseas all right. I'm a bit worried that I haven't heard from Prefx yet, since his shouldn't have taken more than two or three days.

 

[Prefx]

I just recieved the package. Mail down here is slow.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well good, just so long as they finally delivered it. I've had too many things go astray in the mail over the years.

It sounds like the postal service where you live is similar to the more remote parts of Pennsylvania. A friend of mine who used to live there always said the mail came in by mule train.