Services and Estimates
You don't need to know what's wrong with your book. That's my job. If the cover is hanging by a thread, the top of the spine is crushed, or pages are coming loose, tell me what you see in plain words and send photos. I'll explain it back the same way, with an estimate range before anything is scheduled. All interior repairs use archival, reversible materials.
Sometimes the best repair is a box. If your book shows a lifetime of use and you want to keep it that way, you don't have to fix every flaw. An archival case protects it exactly as it is, wear and all. See archival cases.
How estimates work
Your photo estimate is a range, not a final price. Books hide damage I can't see in photos: weak hinges, crumbling glue, pages that need work once the cover comes off. After your book arrives, I inspect it in hand and send a final invoice with the full repairs listed. Nothing happens without your approval.
Ranges below are estimates. Your final invoice after inspection is the price, and it only changes if you add services.
The services
Hinge repair
What you'll see: the cover is loose or pulling away at the joints, inner or outer.
Cloth spine rebuild
What you'll see: the cover is still attached, but the spine cloth is crushed, chewed, or missing. The headcaps are usually in bad shape too.
Recasing
What you'll see: the whole cover has come off, but it's still in decent shape.
Text block resewing
What you'll see: pages are falling out in bunches, or the book is breaking apart into sections.
Full rebind with a new cloth cover
What you'll see: the binding is beyond saving, but the pages are worth keeping. You get a brand-new cloth cover, front and back. The old cover comes home with the book if you want it.
New endpapers
What you'll see: the papers inside the front and back covers are torn, stained, or missing.
Torn page mending
What you'll see: a page is torn. Mends are meant to be discreet, not invisible: the history of the page stays visible.
Loose page tip-in
What you'll see: a page has come out of the book entirely.
Dust jacket repair
What you'll see: the jacket is torn, chipped, or has small losses. I don't recolor jackets: fills stay visible as repair, not passed off as original.
Archival mylar jacket cover
What you'll see: the jacket is fine and you want to keep it that way. A clear archival cover fitted to your dust jacket, so it can be handled and shelved without further wear. Sometimes the right answer isn't a repair. It's protection.
Enclosures
An archival case can be an add-on to any order, or the whole order. If the book just needs a safe home, skip the repairs and start here. Full details on the Archival Cases page.
Basic slipcase with pull tab
What you'll see: the book has no dust jacket and needs a finished look and protection on the shelf. For sturdy cloth books over 1 inch thick. (Sliding in and out can scuff a jacket, so jacketed books get clamshells.) Paper-covered, with the title and author in vinyl lettering on the front panel.
Basic clamshell box with lifting tab
What you'll see: the book has a dust jacket or a fragile binding and needs the safest possible home. It opens flat, so the book is never dragged going in and out. Paper-covered, with the title and author in vinyl lettering on the spine.
Pamphlet portfolio COMING SOON
What it's for: thin items under 1 inch that can't stand in a slipcase.
Art upgrades for enclosures
Two upgrades for either case:
- Facsimile art: jacket or cover art reproduced on high-quality paper and applied to the enclosure. Add $30 to $60
- Custom vinyl art: original art I design and cut for your enclosure. Add $60 to $100
A note on timing
Adhesive needs time to cure, and rushing it is how repairs fail early. If you have a deadline, tell me up front and I'll tell you whether it's possible.
What I focus on
My specialty is the repairs most books actually need: hinges, spines, pages, jackets, and archival cases. My repairs make your book work again and hold together; they don't make it look brand new.
Books that don't align with my services
- Books that are deteriorated throughout
- Anything with mold, heavy smoke, or water damage
Treatments I don't offer
- Washing, stain removal, or old tape removal
- Page cleaning and odor removal
- Dust jacket recoloring
- Facsimile dust jackets
- Gilt page edges and hand gold tooling
- Vellum or parchment bindings
Outside my specialty
- Thesis and document binding
- Binding magazine or newspaper runs into volumes
- Photo albums and scrapbooks
- Board books for small children
- Comic book pressing or grading
- Standalone maps, posters, and flat paper items (a folded map bound inside your book is fine)
- Appraisals (I don't value books or advise on what they're worth)
On the horizon
- Bible repairs
- Leather bindings
If your book needs any of the above, I'll let you know.
Booking
Repairs are booked with a deposit: $50 for the first book, $25 for each additional book in the same box. The deposit is non-refundable and comes off your final total if you move forward.
The deposit also covers free round-trip Media Mail shipping if you choose it, which isn't insured. For high-value or deeply sentimental books, my number one recommendation is USPS Registered Mail: declare its value and hand it to a clerk at the post office. I'll return it the same way, with the return postage on your deposit invoice.
If you decline the final invoice, or it goes unpaid after 14 days, the deposit covers the inspection and return shipping, and your book ships back as-is.