You know what’s fun? Paper. Paper is fun.

I’m making a MONSTER COLORING BOOK and have been in contact with several printers to find the right papers, binding, print quality and (of course) price. Talking about paper is kind of like describing a color to someone without any reference. Without the paper there in front of you, the description ‘moderate weight with a subtle flecked texture 18pt c15’ doesn’t mean much.

I have several books of paper samples from various companies that I use as reference, but just like anything else, certain brands are superior. Even though they both might carry 100 Opaque Smooth White Text Caliper: 7.4, Opacity: 97.0, they could be quite different from each other and I want to make sure I’m getting the one I need for the book.

Is this exciting enough for you? I get excited, thinking about whether a Perfect Binding or a saddle-stitch will work best, if 32 or 64 pages would work better, how many colors to print the cover image, which coatings (if any) to use, what finish size will work with the images, etc. and all of that is aside from the drawing!

I’m still waiting to hear back from some printers, but it’s helpful to know that most online commercial printers are used to printing on the same paper most people have at home for their computers. They just happen to have giant, large-run printers that can handle quantities of hundreds and thousands.

Anyway, I’ll let you know what paper we end up with. Sound good?

In the meantime, you can BUY THE COLORING BOOK for just $15.