Today my book comes out of its pre-order bubble and goes out into the big bad world (at Amazon US and Amazon UK). Woo hoo! If you read it and enjoy it by the way, please tell someone who you think might also like it — word of mouth means life for a new book. So please share the love!
In the mean time I thought I’d celebrate my book news with a post on amazing book art — that is art made of books, not art put in or on books. Here are a few of my favourites:
This is my absolute favourite — looking past the fact that an antique book has been used (which I really don’t agree with). But the idea of making a book into lungs and blood vessels is a beautiful way to represent how important books are to life.
Giving a whole new meaning to tea and books! This would be right at home in Alice in Wonderland….
This one is achieved by carving out parts of every page.
This one reminds me of Petra, Jordan:
A whole new way of losing yourself inside a book!
Aren’t they beautiful? If you want to find more, you can see the full page here.
One of the artists calls this a way to ‘remix’ a book — like many musical artists remix old songs into something more contemporary. I love the thought of turning something as traditional as a book into something cutting edge and modern.
It makes me wish that big publishers would find a way to send unwanted books to artists rather than pulping them. Wouldn’t be amazing if unwanted books were given a new lease of life in the form of a sculpture or some other kind of 3D art?
Incidentally for anyone interested, the practice of bookstores returning books to publishers can be traced back to the Great Depression of 1929. In light of the economic crash bookstores were (understandably) nervous about ordering new books. So, to keep business going, publishers put together arrangements whereby the stores could return any unsold books, therefore passing the risk of a book not selling to the publisher.
This practice continues to this day, and it is in part why so many books get pulped (somewhere around 77million a year – that number never fails to upset me). Large book stores can place huge orders without worrying too much because they’ll be able to return anything that doesn’t sell. Which is crazy when you think about it: no other industry allows that kind of setup in this day and age.
This is why I think the advent of the ebook is the best possible thing to happen to physical books: I firmly believe physical books will eventually reach the same status as vinyl, or even these days, CDs. Slightly niche, and bought by deeply committed book lovers to add to a carefully curated personal library. Which would mean the end of huge book orders and returns, and therefore the end of or at least a massive decrease in book pulping. Books being treasured and loved can surely only be an improvement on the current model of mass order and mass wastage.
In the mean time, I really hope that one day one of my books will find its way to an artist who will make a piece of art out of it. That would be just magical. So if you’re an artist and you like to make beautiful things out of books, come say hi!!
Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
The latest from Celine 🙂
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Thank you for the reblog Jack! 🙂
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My pleasure Celine 🙂 x
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
Now HERE’S something you CAN’T do with eBooks after your READ AND REVIEWED them 😀
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I hate to see books destroyed, but if the one with the ship was cut from Moby Dick, I wouldn’t be sad. I am always amazed at the ways people find to create beauty.
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I do too normally, but if it’s to be made into art like this, so long as it’s not done with old, or out of print books, then I think it’s worth it. It’s not so much destruction then, as transformation! 🙂
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Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who really doesn’t have a problem with books being cut up or made into art. Unless it’s rare, old and/or highly sought-after, it’s an object that someone purchased to do with as they please. Changing the physical object doesn’t destroy the story when there are hundreds or thousands of copies out there, and most of the books used for this are on their way to the dump anyway. Not every book will find a home in someone’s library. I’d just as soon see them made into something beautiful.
Congratulations on release day! I can’t wait to read it.
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Oh that’s cool that most books used for this kind of art are on their way to be pulped — I’d always assumed they were normal, new books. That makes me even happier!!
And thank you! You’ll have to let me know what you think once you’ve read it 🙂
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Amazing art work.
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Right? The skill and creativity behind these is breathtaking!
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I checked my phone and there your book was!!! Congratulations, Celine!
The above art pieces are gorgeous!!!
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Woo hoo!! Very exciting! Let me know what you think once you’ve read it 🙂 I hope you enjoy it 🙂
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Truly an artform very close to my heart. Thank you for this vurtual feast!
SO looking forward to jumping into your book; congrats on your progress 😀
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Yay, thank you Sammy — I can’t wait for you to read it!!
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Reblogged this on BOOK CHAT and commented:
Readers, you have to see these books turned into amazing art.
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That book art is amazing. Like you, I wouldn’t mind seeing my books become something like that. 🙂 Congrats on your release! Very exciting. Be sure to take a moment to celebrate your success, because getting this far is indeed success!
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Thank you! And you’re absolutely right, this is definitely a success so far 🙂 Whatever happens next, I’ve just had such a good time getting here — which is the main thing!
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Stunning artwork. People are so creative 😀
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They really are — I’m always so admirative of people who can be visually creative like that. I’m all left thumbs, myself 🙂
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I’m a hack at most things I do, but I enjoy the effort 🙂
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Ah, you’re a better person than me then — I find it incredibly frustrating. I love looking at other people’s art though.
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Me too. I focus all my energy on writing, so the art is just for fun and relaxation.
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Gorgeous!
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I know, right! 🙂
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Those are stunning. That would be a good way to reuse books that don’t sell. That’s just another way the publishing industry is stuck in the past.
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Totally – I hope it will happen although I think I’m probably being a bit too optimistic and naive here. Still, we can only hope 🙂
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Truly stunning artwork. The skill and creativity behind these is breathtaking! Love them and to take books for the creation. Just wonderful Thank you for sharing.
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Isn’t it? I don’t know how anyone achieves that level of dexterity and precision — it’s mind blowing. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for stopping by!
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These really are beautiful, some people are so clever and I’d far rather books were made use of in any way rather than pulped 🙂
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Exactly, it’s a wonderful way to give an unwanted book a new life 🙂
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They are amazing!
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I know, right? 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Norah!
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Very pretty 🙂
Anna from Elements of Writing
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isn’t it? Those artists are amazing
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They’re so pretty! Happy book birthday to you. 🙂
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Haha thank you Misha! You’re right, it’s a book birthday — I’ll have to treat myself to cake then 😉
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Congratulation, Celine! And what a fantastic collection of artistic books 😉
Well, I don’t know elsewhere, but here in Italy the practice of returning books is dwindling. Publishers don’t want to risk having books returned, but this means that bookshops take all the risk and in the end, less books get in the bookshops because nobody can afford to take the risk.
I think books and ebooks will live together, in the end, tough now it’s so diffiucult to see a future.
But I an an optimist 🙂
Enjoy your launching day… though I realised that’s already passed, but… well…
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That’s great and sad to hear about Italy — less books being pulped is always good news, but it’s a shame it comes at the cost of less books making it to bookstores. It’s a tricky business – publishing. No one knows what’s going to take off and what’s going to languish on shelves.
I agree, it’s so tough to see the future. All those predictions are just guesses — at the end of the day some new piece of technology might arrive in a few years that will spin the whole industry on its head again. We’ve just got to adapt and keep going!
And thanks — launch day was lots of fun 😀
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Congrats, again, on your book release!
Amazing artistry! My favorite is the spooky castle with the owl flying above the trees.
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Thanks Lori 🙂
Yes that one is very creepy – and it looks like it should be made from a Fantasy book. Perfect for us! 😉
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Yes, definitely!
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When I saw this I was g to t
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Whoops, iPad misbehaved! I was going to tell you about the mysterious Edinburgh book sculptor but I see you have a picture of one of her works. I’ve been lucky enough to see them in person. They are even more gorgeous in real life.
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Oh which one is the Edinburgh book sculptor? I’d love to see something like that in person, they all look absolutely amazing in photo, I imagine they’re even better live!
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The tea cup one. A few years ago she left 12 anonymously round Edinburgh in book related places. They are now in the National Library and she has done more, but only one person knows who she is. Intriguing!
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Oh that is intriguing! A bit like a book version of Banksy 😉 I managed to zoom in on the label — really wonderful. I’m going to look up more about her!
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Do! She has done more since, some commissioned but still anonymous.
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Have a look at the label attached to that sculpture and you’ll see her motivation.
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Congrats again, Celine! I especially love that one with the ship, that is fantastic. 🙂
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It’s beautiful isn’t it — and such a lovely metaphor for getting lost in a book 🙂
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Reblogged this on Barrow Blogs: and commented:
Love this
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