There will be 18 new writers (!!!!) which I will introduce next week. Here are the new categories of books we will be covering:

Fine Art – monographs and collections of artwork of all kinds excluding photography
Comics – any form of sequential artwork
Design – graphic design and typography
Craft and Decoration – instructional books on crafting of all kinds from sewing to woodworking and books about decorating your home
Vintage – published before 1980
Zines – small circulation artist made magazines
Children’s Books- picture books for kids and tweens
Handmade Books – artist made books with traditional techniques: letter-pressed, silkscreened, small editions, hand-sewn bindings…
Covers – books with incredible covers or special design features
Magazines – bigger circulation (but still independent) publications
Surface Design and Fashion – books on pattern design, textile and apparel
Sketchbooks – peeks into the sketchbooks of artists
Photography – all types (fine art, fashion, journalistic…)

Here’s where you can send the books:

Julia Rothman
Book By Its Cover
566 7th Street #10
Brooklyn NY 11215

I will send your books to the appropriate writers so they can get started.

Do not show up in person at the above address with your book! I won’t answer the door for unexpected guests. Write me an email first if you want to set up a time to meet.

Do not send one-of-a-kind books or anything precious. We would rather not have to send your book back to you but if it’s completely necessary, please provide a self-addressed paid mailing envelope to return your book.

If you think your sketchbook is worthy of a feature, please send me an email with the subject “bbic sketchbook” and we’ll be happy to consider sharing it on our sketchbook series. Include either three low res images or a link to images of your book. If you send me any high res photos in my email I will delete them immediately so please make sure they are 72dpi and no bigger than 1000 pixels on the longest side.

Thanks so much and looking forward to sharing more about the site soon!

xoJulia

*Image on the homepage is a drawing I made for Chronicle Books as part of their Give Books project!

Just because I haven’t been writing about all the great books out there, doesn’t mean I haven’t been coveting them. Thanks so much for continuing to send your work and recommending good finds. But until I start this blog up again, you might want to hold off on sending me anything too precious. This weekend is the NY Art Book Fair that is worth a trip to PS1 to check out.

I have continued to make books as well and wanted to at least mention our newest here. My ALSO partners and I are about to release a book we worked on with Chronicle Books called The Where, the Why and the How: 75 Artists Illustrate Wondrous Mysteries of Science. The book has 75 essays by real working scientists (physicists, anthropologists, psychologists, meteorologists, doctors…) who explore unproven questions in science. They explain the theories behind mysteries like: What came before the big bang? Why do we blush? Can cells talk to each other? What is dark matter? Why do pigeons bob their heads when they walk? and also sorts of other interesting questions about our universe, the Earth, animals and humans. Then we gave those essays to illustrators, fine artists, designers and cartoonists to create their own visual representation of the answer. We are so excited by the outcome — fascinating text and gorgeous artwork. We are so thankful to all the scientists and artists who contributed to the project. Next week well officially launch the book with a video trailer but I wanted to give you a little peek here first.

We are having a book launch party on October 11th and we hope you can make it. There will 6 talks by 3 artists and 3 scientists. Jennifer Daniel, Matt Leines and Josh Cochran will talk about their current illustration, design and artwork. Meehan Crist will talk about her research on traumatic brain injuries. My sister Jessica Rothman (!!!) will talk about what she’s discovered studying primates in Uganda, and Tim Requarth will discuss his research on the brains of electric fish.

I attached the invite below and the preview of the book underneath:

Artwork below by Dan Funderburgh (endpages), Camilla Engman, Aaron Meshon, James Ulmer, Gilbert Ford, Jon Klassen, John Hendrix and Lauren Nassef:

To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still.

Awwwwww….. the sonnets are quite romantic. Don’t you want to read them aloud to your lover? Ha. You should get a copy right here.

I often think illustration doesn’t get the credit it deserves. People don’t appreciate it as “art” because it is often commercial and for clients and is a sellout. But I don’t feel like that ever makes it feel less poignant, creative, or even genius. If anything, making good illustration work is more impressive than just making good art because there are so many more restrictions. If you can make illustrations that speaks to people emotionally as well as fulfilling all these specifics, than I think it’s even more commendable. I recently got this book from Italian illustrator Emiliano Ponzi who was one of the artists in our Exquisite Book. The book is a collection of his work paired with quotes taken from emails he received from clients of all kinds. It’s rare for an illustrator to get to publish a monograph, which seems crazy. Looking through this book, I would never question that Emiliano is making art. Emiliano’s pieces are packed with gorgeous metaphors and great storytelling. You don’t need to know what the assignment was about, the illustrations stand alone and are incredibly intriguing, often subtle and remarkably beautiful. The color palettes feel nostalgic but his style is still modern. The themes cover a huge range of topics and the characters reveal so much even without all their features. I am in awe of Emiliano’s work and hope other illustrators can continue to achieve and be recognized for the breadth of amazing work they create, as he has. You can get this book right here.