Invoice templates for bookbinders billing publishers, institutions, and private clients for hand-binding, conservation, and restoration.
A bookbinder invoice is issued by a professional bookbinder to a publisher, institution, private collector, or individual for bookbinding services including hand-binding, book restoration and conservation, archival binding, edition binding, and bespoke decorative binding. Bookbinding is a skilled craft combining knowledge of paper, board, adhesives, leather, and cloth with manual dexterity and an understanding of book construction and book history. Professional bookbinders in the UK may specialise in fine hand-binding, library and archival binding, book conservation and restoration, or edition binding for publishers. Pricing is highly variable and depends on the complexity of the construction, the quality of materials, and the level of decorative work required. Simple paperback or library binding is significantly less expensive than full leather hand-tooled fine binding.
| Service | Typical Rate | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Hand-sewn paperback rebind | 45 | volume |
| Full cloth case binding | 80 | volume |
| Full leather binding (hand-sewn) | 250 | volume |
| Book restoration (per hour) | 60 | hour |
| Archival clamshell box | 120 | box |
| Gold tooling (per hour) | 80 | hour |
For commission work, take a 50% deposit before beginning. Fine binding work is labour and materials intensive; the deposit covers your initial costs. For institutional clients (university libraries, archives, museums), invoice on completion of the work and delivery. Institutional clients typically have 30-day payment terms and may have purchase order requirements. For book restoration and conservation, provide a condition report and estimated cost before beginning work. Issue a supplementary invoice if additional issues are discovered during the treatment that require extra work. For edition binding (binding multiple identical copies for a publisher), invoice per volume with a volume discount for larger quantities.