We are very proud to provide paperback and hardcover printing for many of the nonprofit regional chapters of 826 National. In 2002, the author Dave Eggers and the educator Nínive Calegari founded 826 Valencia. The organization offers free after-school tutoring, field trips, workshops, the Young Authors’ Book Project, and in-school programs. The success of 826 Valencia inspired more creative writing and tutoring centers to be founded in seven cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Ann Arbor/Detroit, Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston)—with more on the way!
Paperback Printing
We first started printing paperbacks for 826NYC in 2006. After that, 826LA, 826DC, and 826 Valencia soon followed. We primarily print anthologies of the students’ writing—such as the book pictured above, Like a Million People Smiling, by 8- to 18-year-old students from the Tenderloin Center Writing Programs at 826 Valencia. The books have great titles, from expressive ones like We Together Are Everything and Where the Ocean Holds the Sky, to funny ones like Time Travel is Nerve-Wracking and Chicken Makes the Ice Cream Taste Better.
All of the 826 books are really well-designed and fun. For instance, Beyond the Gates and Fences has a 4-color cover on uncoated white Mohawk Loop talc white cardstock, with matte lay-flat lamination and embossing. The interior printed black ink on 80-lb. matte-coated white, with five color inserts throughout.
We also printed a split run of paperback and hardcover editions of Soaring So the Past May Heal for 826LA, and just recently printed their Annual Report (32 pages, 4-color printing throughout, perfect bound, 7-1/2″ x 10″) as well.
Rachel Mendelsohn at 826LA says,
Bookmobile has brought so many of our 826LA projects to life. We have the opportunity to work with a variety of talented student writers and designers—and having a tangible book to share with our communities makes our sometimes intangible work of writing, editing and spending time in 826 spaces feel formally documented. There is something very special about opening up a box of freshly printed books and handing them to students and their families.
Interested in volunteering or donating? You can at:
Paperback and Hardcover Printing at Bookmobile
Short-run digital printing (SRDP) is the perfect fit for nonprofits like 826. SRDP has enabled the creation and printing of so many new literary and arts journals and magazines—we’ve seen their numbers increase exponentially. Once upon a time, journals and magazines were limited to either printing 2,000 copies via offset, or producing them by photocopying, folding, and stapling. But with short-run printing, they can now print anywhere from 25 to 2,000 copies and receive affordable, professionally produced issues with any of the bells and whistles Bookmobile provides. (See Twenty-One Ways to Embellish Your Print Books for examples.)