It looks like a normal paperback, but the pages are blank. You write the story. Each book has a custom, original one of a kind cover with artwork and ISBN number so that you can slip it in to the public library. The paper would need to be a bit thicker than a standard paperback to prevent the ink from bleeding, you could write or draw or paste in pre-typed pages. Nobody cares, it’s YOUR book.

The covers could inspire you as you write the novel. Or you could just ignore the cover. There would be many to choose from at the local paper store, some with specific titles like, (“Escape From the Planet of G.W. Bush Clones” by Kevin Woo) others that give you room to make stuff up. (“THE TIRE” by Emily B. Pracket)

There would already be reviews on the back from various newspapers with quotes about how good your book is. Of course, you’d need to go to a website to register you pulp-pen-name if you wanted credit for your books… (Whatever the made up name on the cover of the book happens to be) –or you could ask to have a blank book made with your name on the cover and the title of your choice… the cover art would be left up to the designers… then you fill the book in with the story…

Just think of the surprise people will feel when they pull a copy of “Clocks I’ve Known” by Farmer John from the shelf and discover a hand-penned masterpiece!

So much fun it hurts!
-- futurebird, Mar 26 2003

The Paper Source http://www.paper-source.com/
This place has this sort of thing, although maybe not on-line [blahginger, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

I would enjoy this. And I'd like to say, before anyone leaps in: Yes. There are already blank notebooks on the market with interesting covers. But [futurebird] is proposing a combination of pulp cover, spurious reviews on the back, ISBN, etc. This makes it unique, at least to me. I've just drawn a lot of fire for an idea of mine because it combines known artistic elements in a new way. It is the nature of art to be derivative/evocative. You get a croissant from me, because I find this amusing, having read it carefully.
-- brenna, Mar 26 2003


the only drawback that I can think of is that there is only one copy and I would want to keep that, and thats the tooth. +1 anyway.
-- po, Mar 26 2003


Why would you want it to look like pulp fiction? Surely for real inspiration, you would want a big stiff hardback with quotes from Norman Mailer and Maya Angelou on the flyleaf.
-- pottedstu, Mar 26 2003


//Clocks I’ve Known//

<reading from the dust cover flap> John Vequist, writing under the halfbaker moniker FarmerJohn, has penned a lucid commentary on time and its keepers. From the simply bizarre to the sometimes bakeable, wacky timepieces are Vequist’s forte, garnering accolades and sweet buns from the yeasty denizens of the halfbakery. These bakers, never seeming to watch the clock themselves, are nevertheless fascinated by the unique timepieces invented by Vequist -- indeed a testament to the delightful whimsy that he brings to an otherwise banal subject.
-- pluterday, Mar 26 2003


4 stars says the New York Times! (It's a given – they assign everything a 4 star rating). (+)
-- Shz, Mar 26 2003


This is definitly baked to some extent. I have seen some guys take old hardcover Readers Digest Condensed Books (must date back to the 50's or 60's) and gut them and replace the contents with blank pages. They then also go the extra mile and take all the pictures from the gutted pages and paste them randomly around the blank pages. I thought they had a website but can not find it.
-- blahginger, Mar 26 2003


Wonderful idea, and nicely presented.
-- FarmerJohn, Mar 26 2003


Great idea. I posted a review of the Best Science Fiction of the Dark Ages on Amazon. Just five to seven working days and my limited humour will be available for all to see. +
-- sambwiches, Mar 26 2003



random, halfbakery