What is a book beau? A short description is a compact book sleeve used to protect paperbacks from any creasing or folds while travelling on the go. Because I didn’t purchase it myself, I didn’t get to leave a review on Etsy. Check out my review of my beau down below.
Recently I won a paperback copy of This is Reckless by Kennedy Fox and a Book Beau. Benita Botello has been making Book Beau’s for almost two years and has made about four thousand “beaus” during that time. The idea started out by Botello who wanted some kind of protection for her paperbacks. Something that was cute and snug, yet it was easy to plop inside your bag. So she decided to sew book sleeves and made a few extras for her friends. Once word got out, people started asking her to create one for them, and her business was established.
My book beau is a custom and probably won’t be sold during her shop sales. The beau represents the paperback I won. One of the characters from the novel, Courtney, loves baking blueberry muffins. Botello designed a book beau with a custom fabric of blueberry muffins in a tray. The beau itself is made of some foamy material that feels nice when you squish it between your fingers. It is a 10 x 8 sleeve that is designed to fit self-published novels (a standard novel is typically 6×9). My beau can fit a few of my hard cover novels inside as well.
I am shocked about how durable it is. The paperback I received is a thick novel, with roughly over 400 pages. The beau stretches to accompany the novel without tearing the fabric and foam material inside. Once you’re done with your current read, you can iron it (on the wool setting) to get its crisp, flat shape once again. It is also machine washable.
As someone who is part of the book community, this is an extremely useful asset to my daily life. It’s portable, cute, and I know it will keep my paperback safe from any impending creases or folds that would typically happen without it. These beaus are high in demand as a lot of people want to get their hands on one, myself included. I remember one time, Botello had a sale for 50 beaus and they all sold out within 15 minutes of the sale.
On her Instagram pages and live videos, she expresses how she wants every single person to get their hands on a beau. However, it’s quite hard to do so when a business like hers is so high in demand. Although there are other owners (inspired through her) that sell book sleeves, she is the first and customers love the authentic and original creator more.
On Mar. 16, 2017, Botello released a teaser on her social media pages advertising that she will be having preorders for her beaus soon. I think it’s a fantastic idea as it won’t be as stressful for her to create designs for customers. It is also a more efficient way for her to track and manage orders.
I feel like one of the luckiest person on earth to have received a free one. I am one of the hundreds of satisfied customers and overall impressed with her services. With the impact social media has these days, I see Botello opening up her own store someday to sell her beaus in wholesale to be disturbed into book store across the continent (and hopefully the rest of the world). I feel that a lot of people disregard the book community and how impactful we are to many nations around the world. Botello’s business is an example of innovative ideas that start off with a passion with a huge payout.
Sanzana Syed 