So you've just finished reading Manacled and are wrecked, destroyed, screaming, crying, staring blankly into space, etc. I feel you. I've been there. Manacled is in fact what led me to the art of bookbinding in the first place, like many (MANY) others.
Getting a physical copy of Manacled is not as straightforward as buying any other book. If you respect SenLinYu, her work, or the fanfiction community and its authors at all, please keep reading.
Fanfiction on sites like AO3, Fanfiction.net, and others lives in a gray area, legally speaking. The only reason why it is allowed to exist is because no one is making money off it. As soon as dollars start to come into play, JK Rowling and her team of rabid lawyers at Warner Brothers are going to squash that shit like a bug—because at the end of the day, the Wizarding World is copyrighted.
That means that obtaining a physical copy through any of the following means is illegal, immoral, unethical, and frankly, incredibly selfish. It indicates that all you care about is yourself and your single copy, and SenLinYu—not to mention everyone else in the fanfiction community—can go fuck herself.
(Think I'm being a little too dramatic? SenLinYu has spoken out repeatedly against illegal fanfiction binding, and after several binders continued to produce physical copies of Manacled for exorbitant commissions and shady reasons in 2023, she was finally forced to forbid any and all methods of creation except handbinding a personal copy for yourself. See it here.)
If you're still reading and want to do the right thing, here are some examples of 'the exchange of money in direct connection with fanfiction' that should be avoided:
- mass print houses like Lulu, Amazon on Demand, Barnes & Noble, etc.
- anyone on Etsy or TikTok or Instagram or wherever selling bound copies of fanfiction. I don't care if they say it's "only for the cost of materials"; 99.9% of the time that is complete and utter bullshit, and even if they did provide an itemized list of every material they used down to the inch, chances are they've heavily padded those "costs" so that they can disguise labor cost as materials cost (and thereby make money). Feel free to email their materials list to me at ffs@themagicalmanor.com and I can let you know if it's crap or not.
- any binders that charge for commission slots, do raffles for commission slots, offer bound fanfiction or commission slots as reward tiers on Patreon, etc.
- and for Manacled specifically, giveaways and prizes. SenLinYu doesn't allow them.
However, all hope is not yet lost! I'm sure you've seen gorgeous copies of Manacled online, so it CAN be done—through handbinding.
Bookbinding (also referred to as ficbinding or fanbinding specifically in the context of fanfiction) is an incredibly rewarding, fun, fulfilling, and radical skill. It's taking back a piece of ownership over books: no, we don't have to rely on big publishing houses to recognize work worthy of being "publishable"! YOU can decide that! YOU can legitimize the work you love and elevate it to the same level as any traditionally published book or special edition.
It's easy to get started as you only need a few specialized tools that can be purchased inexpensively online. I also have several books on bookbinding in the Books & Bookbinding collection; the Introduction to Bookbinding and Custom Cases is a great entry point.
Plus, there are two (completely free) online communities that have been absolutely invaluable to me and thousands of others in their binding journey: the Amateur Fanfic Binding community on Facebook, and the Renegade Publishing Guild. Both are chock full of step-by-step guides, video tutorials, and resources to help you along your way, not to mention thousands of people standing by always ready to welcome newcomers, answer questions, and support you.
Speaking from my personal experience, beyond the satisfaction of creating something that didn't exist before (without harming the people and community I love), binding has connected me with some of the most creative, generous, kind, helpful, funny, and supportive people I've ever met. Some have become deeply cherished close friends. I know it can for you, too, if you give it a chance.
And hey, you don't have to! A lot of people get addicted to the hobby after their first one or two binds, but if you want to make your copy of Manacled and go on your merry way, by all means. Know that by doing so you have honored the author, honored the work, improved yourself by learning a new skill, and left the community undamaged and unharmed.
If you really do think that Manacled (or whatever other fanfic you're super passionate about) is as amazing and incredible and awesome as you say it is, please do not put it and the fanfiction community as a whole at risk by obtaining your physical copy in any other way.
xoxo
tig