We started, of course, with editing. Since the story was already quite polished, most of what the work was copyediting and making sure every word was chosen with care—as is important in a story with so few words to go around. From there, we discussed the cover and interior design.

I came up with several cover designs—one concrete, another abstract, and the third somewhere in the middle. We chose this image of the boy in the window to represent the boy in the story. For the interior, we went simple. The first page has a blue-toned image—but I won’t give any spoilers!

With everything set, I began the printing and binding process. With the full cover being printed as an image, I got a good quality cardstock. I also purchased a new type of paper for this and future chapbooks, which I was incredibly excited about. The texture of this new paper is perfect! Given the saddle stitch method is one of the simplest stitching patterns, binding took almost no time at all as soon as I determined the length of thread needed for each book.

We chose the saddle stitch method for this book because of its utility and simplicity. Most of the attention should be on enjoying the story, so there was no need to get fancy with the stitching. At the same time, it cuts down on material and production cost.

This chapbook was printing on quality baronial ivory Neenah linen paper and white cardstock. I used white waxed thread so that it blends nicely against the cover image.