How to make a book: Miranda Dickinson at the printers
It's the moment every author dreams of - holding a physicial copy of their book. So we sent Sunday Times bestselling author Miranda Dickinson to the printers so she could watch her seventh novel A Parcel for Anna Browne as it was printed hot off the press! Blogger at One More Page and long time Miranda Dickinson fan, Amanda Moran was invited to witness the occasion.
Find out how Miranda and Amanda found the experience...
Have you ever wanted to know how a book is actually made? We sent Sunday Times bestselling author Miranda Dickinson and blogger Amanda Moran from One More Page behind the scenes to watch the printing of Miranda's seventh novel A Parcel For Anna Browne. Take a look at how they found the experience...
Amanda Moran was equally excited...
'Last month I was extremely lucky to be chosen as the blogger to accompany Miranda Dickinson on a visit to see her new novel, A Parcel for Anna Browne printed. It's safe to say there was a lot of happy dancing when I found out I'd won and then the nerves set in! Not only was I going to see a book be printed for the first time ever but I was going to meet one of my favourite authors. I've read every one of Miranda's books and we've chatted on Twitter for years so it was very strange to actually meet face-to-face finally. I needn't have worried – Miranda is as lovely and friendly in person as she is online and instantly put me at ease.
Seeing A Parcel for Anna Browne being printed was a brilliant experience. As a librarian and avid reader I've always been fascinated by books but I'd never actually seen a book made and I could have watched the process all day! From seeing the huge reels of paper in the warehouse to learning how the pages go from the screen to printed pages and how those pages are folded and cut into the pages that we read, then watching the covers be fixed on and seeing the final books packaged into boxes ready to be sent to bookshops all over the country - my day at the printers was an amazing experience. It was brilliant to see hundreds of copies of the book whizzing round the building– I couldn't believe how quickly the whole process moved with tens of thousands of books printed in just a couple of hours! It was certainly a day I won't forget and my hot off the press copy of A Parcel for Anna Browne now has pride of place on my bookshelves!'