We get asked (a lot) if we could please add a “book ribbon” to all our titles (a shiny ribbon that helps you mark your place in a book). We would love to, but we cannot add one without dumb price increases and unacceptable delays.
Here’s the truth: Neither of our printing plants can add a ribbon while our book is being manufactured. They don’t have the equipment. To add a book ribbon, we have to make the book, then ship it to another plant. There it waits its turn for a ribbon. Then the books are shipped back to the plant for QC and final wrapping and tagging. Then shipped to us.
This adds considerable expense and time to a book – one that we do (begrudgingly) for “The Anarchist’s Design Book.”
But I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness. So here’s a quick tutorial on how to add ribbons to a bunch of books for about $12.
- Order these Bible ribbon bookmarks. You get six for $12. (Yes you can make your own ribbon thingies, but you don’t have to.)
- Use scissors to cut the ribbons apart if you don’t want five placeholders. The ribbons separate easily into pairs or threes.
- Jam the leatherette section between the book back and and the cover. No glue necessary. If you are a “Glue is Necessary” person, add some rubber cement to the leatherette before pushing it into the book.
- Done. Enjoy your bookmarking abilities.
These ribbons are ideal for books that are about 9” tall or so. The ribbons will stick out of both the top and bottom of the book. But you can use them with bigger books, too.
You could also staple/glue/otherwise affix a piece of ribbon to a piece of cardboard and insert the cardboard into the gap between the book block and cover. There are lots of tutorials on how to do this with a piece of string, a paperclip and a sturgeon’s swim bladder.
— Christopher Schwarz
