How Not to Decorate Your Dorm, Or Printed Ponyfic Reviews, Part the First · 12:37am Aug 25th, 2019
Hi, first week of university is the most fast-paced shit. Since I couldn't hammer out any horsewords, or really any non-academic ones until just now, here's a blog about pony books. With all the hype around the printed horse books floating around in blogs from pre-con and post-con stuff, you might have been on the fence about buying some, especially with so many titles and options. Me, being me, I decided to buy a modest amount of printed ponyfic for myself. I'll be showing off some of the titles and quality here.
For context: all pictures are of stories I haven't read but intrigued me well enough to buy them or from stories I will re-re-read the hell out of. Others are anthologies with a mix of the two. Authors and titles will be tagged and listed below the pictures. As for the sauces of these sales, it ranges from @RBDash47's Ponyfeather Publishing for some, non-PFP affiliated Lulu entries for others, and a set from Russia's Ministry of Image.
Read below the break for the images, and be aware that as I'm taking pictures from random pages in the books, some stories might be spoiled through illustrations and the like.
Pictured are the Russian books, and yes they really are mailed from Russia. Compared to the other prices per book, the titles offered by the MoI are fewer and more expensive. However, their prices compare with well with what could be expected from custom hardback books. They have no soft cover options, and often come in multiple volumes. However, each is free from any bar code (if that bugs you) and all books are filled with a variety of custom black and white (and sometimes color) illustrations made just for each story. As shown, there are even bookmarks in the form of nice little ribbons. Depending on what you can deal with for shipping, their books are a very nice buy. Uh, and if you don't mind them coming all the way from Belarus.
My copy of Background Pony's first volume arrived a bit damaged. The books are well-made and very sturdy, so while this here doesn't mean I'd freak out and return it, a smooshed book is worth noting.
Here's another example of the books. Just ignore the spots of blood, please.
Any and all colored font found in stories are replaced with varying fonts in Ministry of Image books. As shown, this can still give good character to the books without the flair from the colors. I'm not sure if there are non-English options for fancy fonts of pony stories from this seller, but they respond to emails fairly quickly, so shooting them one about it shouldn't be a problem.
Background Pony is illustrated by the chapter, and the quality printing of the art and frequency of it gives my copies a classical story-book feeling.
Because they craft, ship, and manage their own book distribution, there's surprise goodies inside. Postcards and (not-pictured) pony-art bookmarks were in mine. Also, promo stuff.
That's it for this installment. Yes - I am creating these in installments. Your modest amount differs vastly from my modest amount, and if you really need any bit of elaboration on that: I'm 5'7 and the amount of pony books I bought goes slightly past my knees if stacked from the floor up.
I had thought, for a while, that there wouldn't be much point in printed fanfiction when you can read everything online, but when I got PaulAsaran's book at Bronycon, I was pleasantly surprised by how reading it on paper made for a fresh reading experience, so I'm definitely of the mind to get more if budget and interest should align on that front.
So this is a neat idea for a blog series, and I'm excited to see more! Have not read Background Pony, though, so I doubt I'll be picking up this one regardless
Omg. They look so good. I am jelly.
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Thanks! There’s still about a dozen or so more books to showcase, including a piece of Paul’s. Background Pony is a story I can’t recommend enough, especially if you’re in the mood to be emotionally destroyed in the best way possible.
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There’s an Octavia and Vinyl collection! If that aligns with your interests, that is. 👀
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Say whaaaaaaat? You know it.
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80 bucks for Background Pony? I know what my next paycheck is investing in.
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I would say you had me at emotionally destroyed... but I’ve done that to myself twice just today, so I need a bit of a break. Will consider that one the next time I think of getting into a longthing, though!
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A damn good investment, that’s what!
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It’s super hella long so be prepared.
Thanks for the update, and congrats for surviving the first week at uni.
Hope everything keeps going well for you!