Today we’d like to introduce you to Madison Fann.
Hi Madison, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been a book nerd my whole life. Over the past few years, I had been paying for book subscription boxes that came with books with sprayed edges. I was paying a good deal of money to receive one book with solid black edges, and I began to wonder if I couldn’t just spray my own edges.
So, I invested in a cricut machine and airbrush and began practicing on personal copies and used books. Once I got the hang of things, I began to wonder if anyone else might want their book edges sprayed for cheaper than a book box. And with custom designs. Thus began the start of Custom Sprayed Edges.
I started out with simple designs, such as the person’s name or Instagram handle on the edge of the book. Then, I began to expand to more detailed designs. Now, I work with many indie authors, who may not have access to get their books digitally printed like some of the traditionally published authors.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I started book spraying there were absolutely no tutorials on how to do this online. So, I am 100% self-taught. It has been a lot of trial and error and continues to be trial and error as I attempt new things. I have had to throw out many a book that did not come out right. There are some designs I made that just were not it (attempting to freehand Sauron’s eye on a LOTR set).
But this has led me to make some really amazing book-spraying friends. I love that we lean on each other and swap tips and ideas rather than view each other as competition.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I hand spray book edges. Many people have no clue what that means when I tell them what I do. I use an airbrush and stencils that I create to airbrush designs onto the edges of books.
This is a pretty niche area that is growing in popularity with the publishing of popular books such as Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros that come with digitally sprayed edges.
Although I do take one-off customs orders when I am able, I really focus on working with indie authors. For those not familiar, indie authors are authors who are not traditionally published. This usually means self-publishing, meaning they don’t have a big publishing house paying for the author’s editors and cover artists and marketing. Indie authors oftentimes have to do everything themselves. I offer discounted pricing to indie authors looking to have sets of their books done up with sprayed edges.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Not sure if this is a lesson learned as much as something I have really come to love about the artistic and bookish community, I am in. It’s okay to lean on others, ask for help, and work with others. That has been one of my biggest joys in this journey is getting to know other artists, collaborating with other artists, and making new friends along the way. It’s okay to reach out to big-name people. The worst they can do is say no or ignore you.
Pricing:
- Custom sprayed edges start around $30-35 and go up from there depending on level of detail.
- Bulk order pricing for stenciled edges ranges from $10-20 per book depending on how many books are being sprayed and how detailed the design
- Bulk order pricing for solid edges ranges from $5-10 per book.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://customsprayededges.bigcartel.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/custom.sprayed.edges/
- Other: http://tiktok.com/@custom.sprayed.edges
