LBB size

[plazman30]

The coating is contact paper. I cover all my paperbacks in it.

I did this book using the matte finish option for the cover. That was a mistake. The matte finish feels horrible. I don't know how to describe it. It just feels "odd." So, the ones I re-ordered, I got with glossy covers. Obviously, that's not the same as the LBBs, but you have to work with what you have access to.

You can go to Lulu.com and use their pricing calculator to figure what it would cost you. I recommend the following settings:

1. Digest size
2. Book Length: 48 pages
3. Premium Black and White (trust me on this one. The price difference is minor, but it's worth it)
4. Saddle Stitched
5. Glossy cover (Matte cover feels odd in the hand. I do not recommend it.)

There are a few other services that will do a saddle stitched POD book.

This is the cover design I created for my print copy of the LBBs.

Just a warning. You can't just upload your PDF to a POD service and magically get a book back. You need to format it for their specification. You'll need to make the cover. And you'll need to open the PDF and remove the front and back cover, and any blank pages to get the book down to 48 pages. Then you probably will need to resize the book, since there's usually a bleed margin they trim off and you'll need to add that to the book.

I'm an amateur font nerd and DTP experimenter, so this was relatively easy for me. But it could be a hurdle for some others.

The other issue you face with Lulu specifically is that their process is 100% automated. Should the process require any kind of human intervention and they feel you're printing someone else's copyrighted work, even if you have the legal right to do so, they'll simply refund your money and ban your account.

I've read a few stories where a publisher specifically gives rights to print one copy of the PDF for personal use. So the person sends it off to Lulu, and something happens. Package gets lost in the mail. Print comes out bad. Anything that requires you reach out to a human being.. They reach out, and Lulu bans their account, even though you have an official letter from the publisher giving you permission to print the book.

 

[Spinward Flow]

This is saddle stitch, POD done in digest size (5.5×8.5).

Looks BEAUTIFUL!

I can tell, at a glance, that handling books printed like this will "feel authentic" to the original print run.

I think they really need to be saddle-stitched for the proper LBB experience. Saddle-stitched books will also lie flat on the table. Perfect-bound will close on you as soon as you let go of it.

THAT is the real nostalgic feeling for LBBs.
If you've never handled the real article in person, it's hard to describe the difference.

 

[plazman30]

Looks BEAUTIFUL!

I can tell, at a glance, that handling books printed like this will "feel authentic" to the original print run.

THAT is the real nostalgic feeling for LBBs.
If you've never handled the real article in person, it's hard to describe the difference.

So, here is my story about that.

I'm 56 years old. So, I am the right age to own the LBBs. But back in the early 80s, I was AD&D-only, I would not even look at another RPG. I remember walking into my local hobby shop and always seeing all the Traveller books on the shelf. But I had no interest in them. I actually bought Gamma World and Top Secret, because I felt they were at least AD&D adjacent, since they were TSR products. But they were not the almighty AD&D, so I just ignored them.

Then I got to college and met a bunch of friends and I found out they were all into RPGs also. But when we got together, they played Call of Cthulhu. And I immediately tried to find ways to "sabotage" the game, so we could end the campaign early and get back to AD&D. Problem was, by session 2, I was having way too much fun. I learned AD&D was not the end-all, be-all of role-playing games. Then I tried a few other games and immediately knew I wanted to experience as many RPGs as possible. Then things happened: job, wife, kids. Of course, by then, GDW either folded or was in sad shape, so I could not get any Classic Traveller products anymore. I honestly hadn't thought about getting Classic Traveller until a few years ago when I joined a Mongoose Traveller game. Well, by then prices were through the roof. So, I ordered the CD-ROM and just watched videos on YouTube of people's Classic Traveller material and hoped I'd find some books in a thrift store one day, or on Craigslist.

POD will let me relive the "good old days" I never got to experience because I was an idiot.