The picture above of three young friends was taken in 2006 at Lie-Nielsen’s 25th anniversary celebration in Warren, Maine. I was in awe of meeting Thomas Lie-Nielsen, and listened to everything he said about business and life. Also at the event was Christian Becksvoort who was a wealth of information. He is one of the few woodworkers who created and runs a successful woodworking business. As he said, “failure was not an option.” One thing he expressed that resonated deeply with me was he would never write another book because the publishing companies don’t play fair. As a kid in the 1970s who loved rock music, I saw documentaries about bands such as Grand Funk Railroad that had been taken advantage of by greedy management; right before a tour was supposed to start, management took all the equipment preventing the band’s tour from happening. I was hearing a similar story from Chris Becksvoort, a successful author.
On the long drive home from Maine I talked to Chris Schwarz about starting our own publishing company that would treat authors right. I thought that with current technology (this was 2006, mind you) we could enter the text into a system and hit the print button. I once heard Tom Lie-Nielsen say during a class, “I now know why tools cost so much to make.” I now understand there is a bit more to publishing than hitting a print button.
We started Lost Art Press in 2007 with “The Art of Joinery” by Joseph Moxon. Chris was still at Popular Woodworking magazine, and I had my full-time job. I had to get written permission to create a business that was not in conflict with my job and Chris had to get the OK from his employer to print the book. We published the book by offering pre-sales so that we had enough money to cover the print run. Tom let us come to his shows and sell it, and he remains a huge supporter of LAP. We are ever-grateful to him.
As business continued, I remember hitting $50K in sales and was over-the-moon happy. We created T-shirts and Chris created a thing called a “blog.” Now we use a lot of technology, and our blog continues to be the most important way to reach customers. Chris is a natural writer who actually wears out keyboards.
Our business is split between content and everything else. Guess which side I am on? I have only had two creative ideas in my life. The first was a block plane made from a concrete that would be covered in a slick poly material. Chris just looked at me. The second idea was steak-flavored soda. (Feel free to steal those ideas as LAP isn’t going down those paths.)
The second picture is from Handworks 2023, just a few days ago. what I am calling the “Middle” for LAP. As the picture shows I have become a model of style. My appreciation for others and this wonderful life continues to grow. It is amazing to me to see people wearing our T-shirts and buying our creations. As Chris said, “What a country where two drunks with laptops can create a business that works!”
On the drive home from Handworks 2023 I reflected on my life and how we got to where we are. I first and foremost thank you, our customers for your support. You are the best, and I think the other woodworking companies would agree; creators and makers have a wonderful quality that is sometimes lacking in “normal” society.
Special mention goes to Lucy May, Chris’s beloved wife who has held Chris up and helped me and helped LAP succeed. Thank you Madam President.
Thank you to our LAP staff: Megan Fitzpatrick, our first employee without whom we could not publish as many books; Meghan Bates my dear friend who takes care of our customers and provides a voice of reason when work and life have me needing advice; Kara Uhl for keeping contracts and other important items in line so I don’t go insane. Thanks to our newest employees, Mark Gilsdorf and Gabe Gavre, who have signed on to run the new warehouse. And thanks to Chris for being Chris, and bringing me along on this wonderful ride. He has become my other brother.
Thank you also to:
Tom Lie-Nielsen, a kindred soul, and his wife Karyn for their wonderful friendship and support when we were nothing.
Robin Lee, who is one of the kindest, visionary leaders I have met.
Chris Becksvoort for sparking us to create LAP.
All of our authors and our LAP family: Narayan Nayar, Dr. Timmy Henriksen, Dr. Sean Thomas, Justin Leib, Deneb Puchalski, FJ and Jameel Abraham and Raney Nelson.
Stay tuned. I promise to post every 10 years or so!
Much Love.
– John Hoffman
What a nice piece of writing. I am happy to support the “business”, mostly because of the way you treat your authors. And your customer service. And your t shirts. And the books. And the tools. And the blog. And because you try. Thank you.
Living the dream, you guys are the best!
Many thanks John for this opportunity to share, as an original customer, your LAP “ ride”. I truly enjoy LAP’s finely printed books, the very functional Crucible tools, the always useful blog advice of various authors and the fun newsletters over the past years.
We are the lucky ones.
Cheers,
Michael O ‘Brien
Great read! I can’t wait to read the next one in 2033.
“With the Grain” was my first LAP book, recommended by Rex Kruger, and I read it cover-to-cover. I’ve since built the ADB bookcase to house many more LAP books. Your work is truly inspiring to the woodworker and writer in me. Keep up the great work!
PS: Chris Becksvoort looks a lot like Johnny Depp from the movie Black Mass.
It is hard to support companies thar are not grateful. You all are. Thank you.
Thank you! I’m very loyal to LAP because of the ethos behind the company. You do great work, in the same spirit of Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley. Please keep it up!
Besides publishing the type of books I want to read, I buy because it is one of the few places to buy books that I also want to hold (paper back perfect binding is only one step better to hold than a tablet reader). Plus I want to support Made in USA. Since it appears unlikely that any of those things will change, it is unlikely I will stop supporting your business!
In an aside, I noticed a small typographical error in one of the books I bought at Handworks. I assume you’ll want to fix it before your next print run. To whom shall I email to bring it to your attention?
Me, please (fitz@lostartpress.com)
John,
You’ve had more than two ideas. Remember discussing “heated sandals” for college students in northern states?
Bravo!
I usually snicker at corporate words like “Synergy” but this bunch defines it! Great people all around!
John,
It’s a pleasure to support a company with LAP. I have always found you to be amongst the most moral and helpful organizations I have worked with. As a lifelong member of corporate America, I can appreciate companie will do for $.
I can countLAP among my friends. Thanks for doing what you do in the way you do it.
Thank you for having the vision and the guts. The world is really better with you all doing your thing.
I like ya’ll and what you got going on. Thanks
thank you John, Chris, et al! it was nice to meet all y’all briefly at handworks. We just put a bookshelf in our master bedroom and last night i drug up my LAP collection (about half of those published). my wife saw it a little later and yelled, “get your books off my shelf! Just kidding, those books are so beautiful, they really should be there!”
What the first commenter said above; and the follow-on comments too! All right on point.
You guys are great, I appreciate the intelligent & practical writing, the quality of the products, and the outstanding customer service.
Keep up the good work! Thank you LAP!
What about “Internet Chat Rooms?” Doesn’t that qualify as a “creative idea?” That would change the count to 3!
Thanks for the mention, friend. Looking forward to seeing you all again, soon. -J
“The second idea was steak-flavored soda”
Go on…
Yes. You have my full attention.
Till 2033! 🤙
Great piece, John. Y’all make all our lives better with everything you make and all the knowledge you share.
And,….thanks to you brother!
Not all heroes wear capes. Thanks for being a hero John.
Thanks for writing a touching and poignant piece on your experience with LAP. I was so pleased to meet Chis and Megan at Handworks. They were both kind and helpful. Everything I had hoped they would be. Thanks for being part of a company that is not only a great business but an inspiration to all of its customers!
Chris and all of you have really inspired me to keep trying at woodworking. The stuff you write is fascinating to me and fun! Thanks!!
It’s been a pleasure doing business with LAP. Besides attaining many valuable books that would be practically impossible to obtain with the veracity of profit motivation above all else demonstrated modern publishers, the free flowing & sharing of information is welcoming in a field where altruism is historically suppositional at best. Concerning future compositions, may I suggest a subject that’s rarely touched upon in our industry; the trials, tribulations, guidance & paths to success taken by yourself & others in our notoriously difficult business? Just a thought if nothing else….
The man behind the curtain speaks volumes…great piece John.
The man behind the curtain speaks volumes…well done John!
Good work, everyone. Keep it up!
Thank you John. It a pleasure to support LAP. Your books are of the highest quality. Thank all of you for not compromising!
Thanks for the terrific thoughts and insights. It is so nice to see when someone’s dreams become reality. Continue the good work.
Thanks for the terrific thoughts. It is so nice to see when someone’s dreams become reality.
Continue the good work.
Very nice to read you John! Thank you for the fantastic work and I wish LAP all of the success it deserves.
You should probably write more frequently than every decade. No need to wear out keyboards though. Reading your post was like I was sitting at the table and listening to a human being. Thanks for sharing about the journey.
Nice to hear from the mysterious power behind the throne. Now, who is taller, you or Chris?
Wonderful Picture.
Thank you for all he years of inspiration and knowledge
Great post John, the woodworking fraternity and associated fields are a great place to be.
Love those Lie Nielsen tools by the way, here in the UK there seems to be a delinquent mindset to make as much money as possible out of them, that’s life I suppose.
Thank you John. This is a beautiful essay.
Lost Arts Press proves you don’t have to to take all the $$ on the table nor cheapen your product to be successful.