SINCE 2001 • 42,000+ BOOKS • 5,000+ REVIEWS • 2 KIDS RAISED

Two Continents. One Craft. Infinite Stories.

It started on a boat in Alaska. It turned into an improbable family adventure and 25+ years of hand-bound keepsake books.

CONTACTMOCK UP

Celebrating 25+ Years of Hand-bound Books

Transient Books is a family owned book bindery that specializes in hand-bound heirloom quality guest books, custom journals and luxury scrapbooks for every occasion. You can either choose from our ideas, or bring your own to the table. 

We hand sew and hand bind every one of our books from start to finish right here, in house. We guarantee our books' excellence, functionality  and implicit joy. 

Besides, Transient Books simply has the best customer service on the planet.

A Journey of Craft & Adventure

I was born and raised in Oregon, USA. My husband Magu is from Córdoba, Argentina. We began making handbound journals back in the late 90s, while living on a boat in Alaska.

We spent a number of years traveling throughout North and South America, and you could often find us in the plazas, selling our journals and notebooks while Magu played his guitar to passers by. 

In 2001 we returned to the sierras of Córdoba and we began offering our craft online. To our great surprise, enthusiastic book lovers found us and were willing to bet on rural makers half a world away. 

Thanks to those first brave inquiries, we've been creating and dispatching your ideas for personalized hand-bound books across the planet ever since.

Crafting Books Across Borders, Creating Memories Everywhere

Since the late 90s, our lives have spanned two continents. Transient Books is registered in Oregon, where your books ship from each week, thanks to my awesome sister Sara, our U.S. distributor.

PLOT TWIST: Your books are handcrafted remotely by the rest of the team in Argentina, and shipped weekly to Oregon. We’re a heart-led, homegrown bindery bridging Oregon and rural Argentina, where we make books, raise kids, tend to the garden, and laugh with the chickens.

We've been working out the kinks since 2001, proving, one book at a time: if you can imagine it, we can handbind it.

(Yes, this really is a photo from our street.)

Man and woman bookbinders working at a bindery work bench surrounded by bookbinding tools, stacks of book blocks, book slip cases with lots of colorful decorations on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.

Hand-bound, One Book at a Time

No assembly line. No robots. Just humans, a few beloved tools, and your idea on the workbench.

• It starts with a conversation. You share your idea, we ask questions, and we design your cover mockup one by one on the computer. Nothing gets made until you say "yes, that's the one."

• Then the sewing begins. Each folio is punched with an awl and hand-sewn into your book. Scrapbooks skip the sewing, but every page still gets its holes punched by hand. We'd never leave you hanging.

• The spine gets superpowers. We reinforce it to carry decades of memories, then add handcrafted headbands and a ribbon page marker so you never lose your place.

• Cover, press, wait, wonder. Hoss, our giant board shear, cuts the cover boards. We wrap them in your chosen colors and materials, smooth every corner with a bonefolder, and tuck your book into the press.

Antique irons, a chunk of train track, and more. Come meet the crew: Our Favorite Bookbinding Tools for Hand-made Books

The People Behind the Pages

  • Bookbinder in the bindery holding a cat, surrounded by handcrafted books and supplies.

    Magu

    Co-founder, Maker, IRL Logistics.

  • Alex

    Co-founder, Heart, Problem Solver.

  • Carolina

    Maker, Client Cheer Squad, Social Media Ninja.

  • Happy bookbinder in bindery surrounded by stacks of handbound books.

    Maugi

    Maker. Rock Star. And Maker. Like, full-on.

  • Smiling person who is happy to ship custom handbound books.

    Sara

    The Oregon Packaging Prodigy. And Awesome Sister.

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A family-owned bookbinding studio with the Transient Books team crafting custom, hand-bound books in a cozy, creative workspace.

Thank You for Supporting Makers

And thank you for showing us the best side of humanity. Every order starts with one human taking into account a fellow human with empathy and kindness: hoping to celebrate them, honor them, give them a voice. We just get to bind it. 
• Come browse fabulous keepsake ideas from our workbench.
• Felizmente hablamos español.

Come join our bookbinding adventure.

Dive into our blog for a closer look at hand-bound books, creative craftsmanship, and life in a family-run bindery.

Explore behind-the-scenes of our bookbinding process, meet our inspiring customers, and join us on our hopeful adventures.

COME VISIT

Made with Care For the Planet

We care deeply about how our books are made and the impact they have. We use FSC-certified and recycled papers whenever possible, minimize waste in our studio, and make choices that favor longevity over disposability. (Translation: someday long from now, someone is going to open your book and meet you. No pressure.)

The way we live (close to home, connected to our materials, and working at a slower, more intentional pace) naturally shapes the way we run our business.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT

On a coffee break? Come visit the bindery, circa 2008.

Press play for the true story of how books hand-bound in rural Argentina end up on coffee tables around the planet.

PRESS KIT

Got a story to write? We might be it.

• A musician from Argentina. A writer from Oregon. One sailboat in Alaska, and a business plan born while hitch-hiking through Latin America.

• Two non-computer people, one dial-up modem, and a bet that rural makers could sell online. In 2001. 

• Based in Oregon, hand-bound in rural Argentina, shipped worldwide. 42,000+ books and counting.

• Toddlers “helping” at the workbench (bless them) who grew into real holiday-rush heroes. Plus chickens in the garden and donkeys on the street, of course.

Writers, editors and podcasters: the mate is on, and we're always glad to chat. Photos and facts on request.

Your hand-bound book awaits:

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CONTACTMOCK UP

Real humans. Real books.