After a mere 57 weeks of writing, editing and layout, “The Stick Chair Book” is off to Tennessee to be printed. While our books normally take six to eight weeks to get printed, this one will take 12-14 weeks because of the book’s special paper (more on that in a moment).
Look for the book to start selling in late September or early October. The book is a monster: 632 pages, full-color interior, printed heavy-duty end sheets and all the normal manufacturing touches that are typical for our books. Stiff 98-point cover boards, 100-percent cotton cover cloth and the best binding we can find (sewn, glued and taped to last).
The price will be $49. That’s steep, I know. In fairness, we set the price a little lower than we should have for the book’s manufacturing specs. It should be about $54 to be in line with our other books, but I’m the author, so I am allowed to sell myself a little short.
About the paper: I have been experimenting with using uncoated papers with color printing for a while now. The uncoated stock makes the text easier to read. But it isn’t typical for a book such as this because it makes the photos tricky.
On coated paper, photos reproduce crisply. That’s why museums and coffee-table books use coated paper – it’s all about the images. On uncoated stock, photos can get mushy if they aren’t sharp and have good contrast.
So this book was built from the start with the paper stock I had in mind. But, as a result of all this thinking and experimenting, the paper has to be ordered from the mill. Hence the long wait for the book.
In the coming weeks I’ll share details on the scope of the book plus a couple excerpts.
I am relieved that “The Stick Chair Book” is in someone else’s hands so I can get back to designing Nancy Hiller’s “Shop Tails” book, which is a ton of fun to read. Plus, I get to crop photos of cute animals.
But first, a beer. A very large one.
— Christopher Schwarz
Congratulations, Chris! Looking forward to seeing it!
Can I get a copy in the UK?
Classic Hand Tools in the UK carries our books.
Congratulations! I can hardly wait to order it. It wounds like an awesome book, in content as well as physically, a nice great book!
Congratulations Chris, looking forward to reading it.
At over 600 pages $54 would have been a good deal. $49 is a steal! Any idea on when pre-orders will be?
Pre-order out, free PDF (if possible) in introductory window: https://blog.lostartpress.com/2021/02/19/the-end-of-pre-ordering-is-nigh/
Lol I guess it would have been smart to check before I posted the question….
Hörde jag “skål!”?!
Congratulations on all accounts; this looks set to be summat rather special!
Cheers,
Mattias
Skål!
I can remember way back in the old days, after your first workbench book, when that other publisher asserted that you had your one good idea, and that was it.
There have been a whole bunch of branches from that root. I look forward to seeing what’s next.
Thanks John. Some day – dog willing – I will have that one really good idea!
I’m still waiting for your “Furniture of the Late Baroque.”
Cover looks great! Really looking forward to reading it. Congrats!
Just take all my money already.
Congratulations.
Enjoy you beer!
“BEER IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES US AND WANTS US TO BE HAPPY.” – Benjamin Franklin
“WRITE DRUNK, EDIT SOBER.” – Ernest Hemingway
Prost! I think I’ll have a beer in your honor. Congratulations on what I am sure is another great LAP book!
Thanks Peggy!
I have been excited for more stick chair action from LAP since Good Work, will you be sending some to Lee Valley around the release time?
Lee Valley carries almost all of our books. I suspect they will carry this one.
A large beer? After so many great books I think by now you’re entitled to have a brewery named after you Chris 😉 thank you very much
re. the pricing. I wouldn’t complain about $54. But here’s an idea…… A small hotel where I used to stay in Yucatan had a really good pricing policy that might work well for Lost Art Press… when booking a room online, after clicking on rates, you were directed to a page that asked about your financial status. You could choose from one of three descriptors – “wealthy” “moderately well off” or “not so well off”. If you checked “wealthy”, you were given a rate 10% higher than “moderately well off” If you checked “not so well off” you were given a rate 10% lower than “moderately well off” It was all done on the honor system, no questions asked.
Looking forward to the book. Saludos. J
I bet Ted Cruz stays there.
Having spent a summer working for US Customs (now part of HomelandSecurity) I had the great privilege to meet two older gentlemen who were the bookbinders in the print shop. Both had apprenticed as young teenagers in binderies. They taught me a bit of their craft during our breaks and instilled a lifelong love of finely crafted books. They would have loved your books.
I am so excited to get my hands on this book. It sounds like it is going to be another great book. Congratulations in advance and thank you for all your help and for all the inspiration given to us beginning woodworkers.
How much would it affect the cost to have the text on uncoated, and the photos on coated paper?
Hi Steven,
Almost every page of the book contains both photos and text. And manufacturing-wise, you can’t change paper stock page-by-page in a sewn book. So the answer is, it’s almost impossible to do that.