Saddle (zine) stapler

The saddle staple has an extra-long arm that lets you reach the centre fold of a booklet and staple through it from the outside spine inward.

This staple is used when you have folded pages (printed or blank). Open your zine flat at the centrefold, make sure the spine is facing up like a tent or saddle shape. Set the stapler's depth stop so the staple will land on the fold line (i.e. the width of your book, or half the width of your page spread). Place the open zine over the flat base and press firmly. Most zines get two staples at the top and bottom. Make sure the staple legs are folded flat against the centrefold. If they're sticking up or angled badly, press them down with a bone folder.

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Saddle Stitch (3 holes)

This technique can be used with a cover (either the same paper weight/stock or with a thicker cardstock) or just for the interior pages (which you would then glue the cover to the interior (spine and/or endsheets)

Tools: Folded pages (one signature), bookbinding needle, waxed linen thread (or regular thread run over beeswax), awl for piercing, bone folder, binder clip or bulldog clip

Steps:

Fold and nest your pages into a booklet (fold all the pieces of paper together, not one at a time) and crease the spine firmly with a bone folder.
Clip the pages together with a binder clip to stop them from shifting.
Create a guide for your holes by using a scrap piece of paper (the same height as your booklet), fold lengthwise (hot dog) and mark 3 hole positions on the crease (one in the centre, one near the top, and one near the bottom; leave about 1–1.5cm from each edge.
One or two pieces of paper at a time, use your hole guide to pierce the 3 holes through the folded sheets of your booklet (i.e. the booklet's spine) with an awl, pushing from the outside in. Repeat for all your pages and keep the order of the pages.
Cut a length of thread about 3 times the height of your booklet. Thread your needle, but don't knot the end.
Starting on the inside of your book, push the needle out through the centre hole, pulling the thread through and leaving a tail of a few centimetres inside. Hold the tail in place.
Go to the top hole and push the needle from outside in through the top hole.
Go to the bottom hole and push the needle from inside out through the bottom hole.
Come back to the centre and push the needle from outside in through the centre hole again.
You should have both your needle and the original thread tail in the same centre hole. Make sure they sit on opposite sides of the long stitch running along the spine.
Tie the two ends of the thread together with a secure double knot.
Trim the ends to about 2cm, or tuck them neatly inside the booklet. Don't cut it too short in case the knot ever comes apart.

Tips:

Using waxed thread or waxing your own thread by running over a beeswax puck, stops it from tangling and can make it go through the holes more smoothly
Piercing from outside in gives you cleaner holes on the visible spine.
For a neater finish, pierce the holes using a ruler and awl against a cutting mat so they're perfectly aligned.
The knot should sit inside the booklet if possible, hidden between pages, unless you want a more decorative look and are using bright thread or other decorative strings.
You can increase the number of holes (always odd numbers) if your booklet is larger. Follow the same pattern, moving from outside in up to the top of the book, then down, before coming back in the middle.

Video reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWHkY5jOoqM

Japanese Stab Binding

No spine here and the pages are not folded! The binding is very visible and decorative.

Tools: Loose pages (stacked, not folded), covers (cardstock works well or decorative papers), bookbinding needle, waxed linen thread, awl or screw punch, ruler, pencil, bone folder, binder clips, cutting mat

Steps

Stack your pages in order with your front and back covers. Tap the pages on a flat surface to align the edges.
Clip the pages with binder clips along the fore-edge (opposite side from where you'll stitch) to hold everything in place.
Create a hole template using scrap paper. Mark your hole positions along the spine edge by measuring about 1cm from the spine edge and marking holes with a pencil. For a simple 4-hole pattern, space them evenly, leaving about 1.5–2cm from the top and bottom edges.
Depending on the thickness of your book you can either pierce all holes through the entire stack with an awl or screw punch, pushing straight through from front cover to back, or if your book is a bit thicker, work a few pages at a time (around 4-5 pages). Keep the page order. Work on a cutting mat. (If the holes seem too tight for the needle and thread to pass through the holes, twist the awl gently to open each hole enough (the needle and thread will pass through multiple times)).
Cut your thread about 5 times the height of your book. Thread your needle; do not make a knot.
To stitch, take a section of your book pages and start at hole 2 (from the top), pushing the needle from the middle of the pages to the front, leaving a thread tail of 7-10 centimetres. Tuck this tail inside the book (between your sections of book pages) and arrange the thread away from the spine. This is where your final knot will be tied.
Go around the spine edge at the front to back through hole 2.
Move up to hole 3, push the needle from front to back.
Go around the spine edge and back through hole 3 from front to back.
Move down to hole 4 (bottom hole), push the needle from back to front, and go around the spine edge again.
Then wrap around again, but this time at the bottom edge of the book (not the spine) using the hole 4 (bottom).
Weave through the rest of the holes back to hole 2 (your thread should be in front)
Move up to hole 1 (top), push the needle front to back, go around the spine and through hole 1 (front to back)
Go around the top edge and back through hole 1, back to front.
From the back of the book, move from hole 1 to hole 2. But instead of going through the entire hole, return the needle in between the pages where your thread is (this can be a bit challenging)
Tie the two ends into a secure double knot. You can pull very gently to make sure the thread is tight and the book feels secure and not too loose. You can tighten the thread from hole to hole to avoid damaging the pages.
Cut the tails neatly (about 1–2 cm).

Tips:

Wax your thread well since it goes through the same holes many times and it needs to slide easily.
You can vary the number of holes: 4 holes is simpler, more holes create a more decorative look.

Video reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-r6c_trSxY&t=3s