What is a Scout Book?
What exactly is a Scout Book?
What are Scout Books made out of?
What is Pinball Publishing?
What’s the difference between the Bookstore and the Make Your Own section?
What’s the difference between a notebook and a book?
What is the Mark of Quality?
Make Your Own
How do I make my own Scout Book?
What is the turn-around time on a Make Your Own Scout Book?
Can I print more than one ink color on the cover?
Can I print on the inside pages?
Can I print on the inside cover?
Can I split my order into multiple cover designs?
Where can I find tips and tools for designing my Scout Book?
Do you offer other chipboard print items? What about packaging, or little cards to go with my Scout Book?
Can my Scout Book have more than 32 pages? How about less?
Payment
What forms of payment do you accept?
Returns, Refunds, Exchanges
Can I return my Scout Book Order?
How do exchanges work?
Do you have any policies or terms of use?
Wholesale
How can I sell Scout Books in my store?
Shipping
Okay, is shipping really free?
Does Scout Books offer expedited shipping options?
How long will my order take to ship?
Once my order has shipped, how long will it take to arrive?
Can I track my order?
Can I have my order shipped to a P.O. Box?
Will all the items in my order arrive in the same shipment?
What do I do if my order is taking too long to arrive?
I want to know all the juicy details about your shipping policies. Where do I find those?
Participate
Does Scout Books use Twitter?
How do I subscribe to your newsletter?
Where can I browse endless images of Scout Book inspiration?
I want to collaborate with Scout Books. How do I do that?
What is a Scout Book?
What exactly is a Scout Book?
The Scout Book is a powerful publishing platform that allows you to make customized notebook and book projects.
What are Scout Books made out of?
Scout Books are offset printed with vegetable-based inks on 100% recycled papers. We power all of our presses and production machinery with renewable energy. Your order is hand-crafted by a talented team of expert printers at our in-house print shop in Portland, Oregon.
What is Pinball Publishing?
Pinball Publishing is a creative publishing company located in Portland, Oregon. We are fueled by a love for print, collaboration, and the manufacture of meaningful things. Pinball powers a growing web of interconnected projects, including Scout Books, Bangback, and Print Pinball.
What’s the difference between the Bookstore and the Make Your Own section?
The Scout Books Bookstore features a selection of our ready-made designs. The Make Your Own section of the site allows you to create custom notebook and book projects with your own design.
What’s the difference between a notebook and a book?
Scout Book notebooks are printed with your custom cover design and your choice of grid, lined or blank interior. You can order Make Your Own notebooks here! Scout Books books are printed with your custom cover design AND your custom interior page design. You can order Make Your Own books here.
What is the Mark of Quality?
We’re proud of what we do, and we want you to know you’re holding a 100% authentic Scout Book in your hand. That’s why we apply this tiny imprint to each book that comes from our shop. The Scout Books Mark of Quality will be printed on page 32 of the interior of your Scout Book, whether you are ordering a notebook or a book. It’s small, but it’s powerful. Just like the Scout Book.
If you are ordering a book (and designing your own interior pages) be sure to leave room for the Mark of Quality on page 32 of your book. We’d recommend downloading our design templates, as the interior page templates show the proper location of the Mark of Quality.
Make Your Own
How do I make my own Scout Book?
Simple! Head to the section. First, you’ll choose whether you want to make a notebook or a book. Would you like standard interior pages (blank, lines or grid)? Then choose notebooks. Would you like to design your interior pages? Then choose books. Choose your quantity, ink color(s), interior page style and voila! You’re on your way. After you’ve made it through the checkout process, download a template and get started on your design. Head back to scoutbooks.com/upload to upload your artwork. We’ll prepare a PDF proof for your approval. Once you okay that, your custom notebook or book project zooms into production and is ready to ship to you within 10-14 business days.
What is the turn-around time on a Make Your Own Scout Book?
The standard turn-around time on a Make Your Own notebook is ten business days.
The standard turn-around time on a Make Your Own book is fourteen business days.
Please note that we begin calculating turn-around time once you approve your final PDF proof. When you place your order, it will take us up to 24 hours to prepare a PDF proof for your approval. There are occasionally edits that need to be made to make your files print-ready. Please allow for additional time in the pre-press process. If you are on a tight schedule, please send us an email to discuss possibilities for rush options and expedited shipping.
Can I use more than one ink color on the cover?
Yes, currently we have one-color and two-color options available for cover printing. If you’d like to use more than two spot colors, get in touch with us for special pricing.
Can I print on the inside pages?
Yes! You can print all 32 pages of a Scout Book with your custom interior page design. Scout Book interiors are printed in black ink. Find options for Make Your Own books here.
Can I print on the inside cover?
Yep! Get in touch and we’ll help you place your order.
Can I split my order into multiple designs?
Yes. Well, sometimes. Certain quantities can split into multiple cover styles. The different designs must share the same ink color in order to be eligible for a split.
A quantity of 100 can be split into 50 each of two styles.
A quantity of 500 can be split into 250 each of two styles.
A quantity of 750 can be split into 250 each of three styles.
A quantity of 1000 can be split into 500 each of two styles, or 250 each of four styles.
And so on, in multiples of 250 pieces.
There are additional fees required to split your order. Give us a call at (503) 238-4514 or send us an email to discuss these options.
Where can I find tips and tools for designing?
Check out our Toolkit! Here you’ll find a page of Design Templates, Illustrator and PDF files to help you design your Scout Book. Need inspiration? Check out Big Ideas, an ever-growing list of ways to use the Scout Book. You can read up on how our clients are using the Scout Book in the Case Studies section, and check out tips and tricks in the How-To section.
Do you offer other chipboard print items to go with my Scout Book?
We do! Please get in touch with us to talk about other options such as belly bands or pocket postcards.
Can my Scout Book have more than 32 pages? How about less?
The way that Scout Books are produced means that the interior page count is set at 32 pages.
Wholesale
How can I sell Scout Books in my store?
We work with the fine folks at buyolympia.com to offer our line of ready-made Scout Books at wholesale prices for retailers. Get in touch with them at help@buyolympia.com if you’d like to carry ready-made Scout Books in your shop.
Shipping
Okay, so is shipping really free?
Yep, standard shipping options are free for all orders shipping to addresses in the United States. For international orders, you can choose your preferred shipping method at checkout. Please get in touch if you have questions on shipping times.
Does Scout Books offer expedited shipping options?
We do! When you’re ready to check out, you’ll find options for speedy shipping once you’ve entered in your zip/postal code in the Cart.
How long will my order take to ship?
All Bookstore orders will ship within two business days of you placing your order.
Make Your Own notebook orders will ship approximately ten business days after you place your order.
Make Your Own book orders will ship approximately fourteen business days after you place your order.
If you are working with a tight timeline, please be sure to get in touch with us and we can discuss options.
Once my order has shipped, how long will it take to arrive?
For domestic orders: Depending on where you live, our standard shipping usually takes 3-5 business days to arrive at your doorstep. If you need faster shipping, you’ll have a few options to choose from at checkout.
For international orders: Shipping time will vary depending on where you live and the customs policies of your country.
Can I track my order?
For all Make Your Own orders, we’ll send a tracking number to you via email when your order ships.
Bookstore orders can only be tracked if you choose a UPS shipping option at this time.
Can I have my order shipped to a PO Box?
At this point, no. But if you’re really in a jam, let us know. We’ll figure something out.
Will all the items in my order arrive in the same shipment?
That depends! If you order items from the Bookstore AND Make Your Own Scout Books, the Bookstore items will ship first. Your Make Your Own Scout Books will ship when they’ve been manufactured.
What do I do if my order is taking too long?
Email us. Include your order number, and we’ll look into it.
I want to know all the juicy details about your shipping policies. Where do I find those?
For more information on things like delivery duration, USPS vs. UPS, customs and tariffs, check out our Shipping Policies.
Payment
What forms of payment do you accept?
Scout Books accepts all major credit cards and payments via PayPal.
We can also accept a check for Make Your Own orders. If you would like to pay with a check, please get in touch with us via email.
Returns, Refunds, Exchanges
Can I return my Scout Book?
Yes: If you are not happy with your Retail Scout Book and you would like to return it, please contact us at hello@scoutbooks.com. We will arrange to provide you a refund.
And no: Make Your Own orders are custom manufactured to your specifications, and as such, are non-returnable. If we make an error in producing your Make Your Own order, we will gladly fix it. Please let us know if you have any questions.
How do exchanges work?
If we send you the wrong thing, let us know! We’ll fix it.
Do you have any policies or terms of use?
Good question. There are few things to keep in mind when placing your order with Scout Books. Check out our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
Participate
Does Scout Books use Twitter?
Heck yes we do. Follow us @scoutbook. Sometimes we give away free stuff. You definitely want to follow us.
How do I subscribe to your newsletter?
At the bottom of every page on scoutbooks.com, there is a little field to enter your email address. Sign up for our monthly newsletter and be the first to know about new projects, new products, and special newsletter-friends-only deals.
Where can I browse endless images of Scout Book inspiration?
We maintain an active Flickr stream, featuring photographs of client projects (posted with permission, of course) and shots of Scout Books in production.
I want to collaborate with Scout Books. How do I do that?
Get in touch! We’re always open to starting conversations about how we can work with creative people and organizations. Send us an email detailing what you have in mind, and we’ll follow up with you to talk more.
