Lost Art Press

The 10 Best-selling Products of 2023

Posted on by Lost Art Press
People love the pocket books.

I’m always a bit surprised by what sells well each year. I look at our sales every morning, track inventory and try to figure out our next step. But rarely do I step back and look at the big sales picture. Except for today. Here are the 10 best selling Lost Art Press/Crucible products of 2023 by units sold.

  1. “Sharpen This” This pocket book came out in September 2022, yet we’ve already printed 14,000 of these little suckers. It is my fastest-selling book (whatever that’s worth). If you buy it from us, I sign each copy personally and we include a PG-13 Slightly Naughty sticker.
  2. “The Woodworker’s Pocket Book” Another surprise, really. This has to be the best woodworking book for the bathroom. You can flip to any page and learn something interesting about finishing formulas, wood species or 18th century mouldings listed by furniture style.
  3. “The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke” This book continues to sell thanks to the fact that 1) It’s a simply amazing read and 2) The incredible popularity of the PBS series about Dick. The author took care of Dick’s cabin for years and was the perfect (and authorized) person to write this book.
  4. “The Essential Woodworker” We reissued this book in 2010 with the help of the author, Robert Wearing, and it is now in its 10th printing. This book continues to sell because you can read it in a short afternoon and it connects all the dots with handwork. It is simple (but not simplistic), perfectly illustrated and simply the right book for those who want to work with hand tools.
  5. “Make a Gibson Chair” Video. This one isn’t a surprise. The video came out this year and shows how to make one of the most comfortable (and simple) stick chairs ever.
  6. “Workshop Wound Care” Another great and much-needed pocket book. This book should be in every shop. Not because it will help LAP financially or make you a better woodworker, but because you will need its advice some day when things go wrong. Not if – when.
  7. “Crucible Engraving Tool” We’ve sold more than 1,000 of these suckers, and I can’t wait to see what woodworkers do with them. We are out of stock this minute, but we have another 500 on the way in the next week or two. So sign up to get notified when we restock.
  8. “Euclid’s Door” This book, released in 2021, had a slow start but picked up steam in 2023. “Euclid’s Door” teaches you practical geometry as you build some very useful and accurate wooden shop tools. It’s fun and eye-opening. And the next book in the series (coming in 2024) will bring even more fans into the “By Hand & Eye” fold.
  9. “Karvsnitt” Jogge Sundqvist’s second book with Lost Art Press dives into the world of chip-carving, spells and color. Like all of Jogge’s work, this book is engaging, fun and inspiring.
  10. “With the Grain” Again, what the heck? This book is in its seventh printing and continues to sell and sell. I think I know why: It’s a no-nonsense guide to what you need to know about wood technology at the bench. There are much more scientific books out there, but you won’t find a more practical one.

— Christopher Schwarz

18 thoughts on “The 10 Best-selling Products of 2023”

  1. Have five out of ten. Patiently waiting for the Dutch Tool Chest book.

    1. Same here on the waiting! I don’t even intend to build one but I’d love to read about it!

  2. Just an idea. Put those pocket books in a limited edition slip case and add something that can’t be found anywhere else (I have no idea what.) God knows I’m full of ideas.

  3. Thanks for sharing this. It is intriguing, and somewhat surprising, to see behind the scenes.

  4. A top 10 list from Sweden/EU (Rubank Verktygs AB) 2023 looks like this;

    10: Lost Art Pencil
    9: Crucible Card Scraper
    8: By Hand & Eye
    7: The Stick Chair Book
    6: Euclid’s Door
    5: The Woodworkers Pocket Book
    4: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest
    3: Sharpen This
    2: Essential Woodworker

    and

    1: Doormaking and Window-Making

  5. I have “Sharpen This” and “Workshop Wound Care” on order as of yesterday. I have a bunch of tools that need sharpening and that first aid book may be a life saver. My closest neighbor is half a mile uphill on a snow covered semi-washed-out dirt road. And I live alone now.

    You don’t just write/publish the books that I want, you do the ones that I need.

  6. Interesting and enlightening. I never would have guessed this order.

    I’d love tosee a briefrundownon all-time sellers,if you are able and willing

      1. Chairmaker’s Notebook
      2. Joiner & Cabinet Maker
      3. Sharpen This
      4. Anarchist’s Workbench
      5. The Essential Woodworker
      6. With the Grain
      7. By Hand & Eye
      8. Woodworkers Pocket Book
      9. Anarchist’s Design Book
      10. Anarchist’s Tool Chest

      1. I guess 7 out of 10 for all time isn’t bad. 6 out of 10 for this year US and 5 of 10 Swedish, hey, for once in my life I’m “average”!

        1. I’ve spent way too much money on excellent woodworking books:
          2023: 9/10
          Swedish: 10/10
          All-time: 10/10.
          Very happy to support an ethical company that produces excellent, high quality books – both the physical books and the content of those books!

  7. What is the possibility of getting signed bookplates to put into all the books I have purchased over the years from Lost Art Press? Thanks

  8. I had to start a spreadsheet so I could keep track of what I already have!

  9. I am wondering how the ‘With the Grain” book compares to “Cut and Dried”?

    1. With the Grain is an excellent choice if you want to know just a bit about each of the wood it covers; C&D is an in-depth look at all aspects of wood technology.

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