Tag: books

36 hours into the Build the Bindery campaign. 27 days left.

Status: 26.5 percent of goal.

The Iliad: 91/500

The Odyssey: 86/500

We will be adding another book at the end of the week, albeit one that we don’t expect most English-speakers to buy. We are also considering how to add an inexpensive level of support for those who can’t afford or don’t collect leather books.

Some backers have asked about the possibility of a stretch goal if the objective is reached. We hadn’t really contemplated one in this virtual context, but if we were to add one, the logical choice would be The Aeneid. But we’re open to suggestions.

Last night on the Darkstream I announced the Castalia Bindery Book Sale. This is the virtual crowdfund we’re doing to help fund the construction of the book factory that will permit Castalia House to directly produce our own paperback, hardcover, and leatherbound books, although our plan is to initially concentrate 100 percent on the leatherbound books because there is no bindery in Europe or the UK capable of producing them in the quantities we already require for the Castalia Library.

So, as a virtual crowdfunding campaign to build the bindery, we’re now offering special Castalia Bindery editions of both THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY by Homer until midnight on August 31. Both books are available in both Library (cowhide) and Libraria (goatskin) editions and will feature original interior artwork as well as the highly-regarded 1898/1900 prose translations by Samuel Butler. Our objective is to sell 500 copies of each book by the end of the campaign. We decided not to do a traditional crowdfund on Indiegogo because we want every penny raised by the sale to go towards purchasing the 20 machines that we require. Some of these machines are extremely expensive; for example, a new automatic gilding machine costs $400,000. Fortunately, we’ve located a number of used machines that will suit our needs, and in some cases we can make do with less expensive semi-automatic machines that are sufficient for the size of our planned print runs.

Running our own bindery will permit Castalia to a) significantly improve the production and delivery times, b) control the shipping to customers, c) increase production capacity, d) improve the quality of the books to match that of the now-defunct Franklin Library, and e) take on a broader range of publishing projects. After a detailed review of the entire operational process and the various options, the publishing team unanimously concluded that building the bindery was the optimal long-term strategy for Castalia and the logical culmination of our decision two years ago to avoid reliance upon Amazon.

This is our most ambitious and complex project yet, and it is one that we believe to be absolutely necessary in light of the various challenges we have faced over the last year. We’ve spent the last three months preparing for it, and checking and rechecking even the smallest details with the assistance of our current publishing partners in order to ensure its success. I’ll be updating the status of the campaign every day here and on SocialGalactic. 

Despite the campaign being all of 10 hours old, we have already reached 5 percent of our goal, with The Iliad at 26/500 and The Odyssey at 24/500.

UPDATE: 12 hours in, we’re at 8 percent of goal. It’s a promising start.

UPDATE: Day 1 report. The first 24 hours concluded at 20 percent of goal. Thanks very much to everyone who backed the campaign!

So, we’re ready to start addressing the problems of those backers who have not yet received either a) their hardcover editions of Vols I-III or b) the information required to download their ebook editions of Vols I-III. Please note that it is always important to send us the information we require, such as your current email and physical addresses, and to not block the information conduits that permit us to send the relevant information to you.

The first three volumes of the JUNIOR CLASSICS 2020 Edition are now available in epub format. They can be purchased at the Arkhaven store, and emails with discount codes have been sent to all the backers to permit them to download the ebooks from the store for free. These are larger files than normal, as the ebook editions contain all of the illustrations featured in the print editions.

Volumes IV, V, and VI are currently nearing completion for both print and ebook editions. 

UPDATE: For the Nth time, this blog is neither tech nor sales support and your inability to manage your email filters is not my concern. All comments concerning “I didn’t get the email” will be spammed on sight. FFS, check your damned Spam and Social folders, and as usual, next week we’ll post instructions for those who still haven’t received the email. I understand that it’s frustrating when you are waiting for something, but one thing that we have regularly observed over the years is that when the process works just fine for 1,000 people and it doesn’t work for a small number, a) the problem is rarely on our side, and b) the solution isn’t. Furthermore, if the problem is that you aren’t receiving emails, how is sending you another email that you probably won’t receive going to resolve anything?

Huckleberry Finn has long been the first book that Easton Press sells at a heavy discount to its Book-of-the-Month buyers. But given how Easton is mostly run by young women who have recently graduated from Ivy League universities, I expect it won’t be long before they stop publishing it at all in light of the bad odor in which Mark Twain is now held by the universities:

St. John’s University joins a list of woke universities, schools, and programs willing to reshape its curriculum to coddle students who feel challenged on a mental or emotional level.

During a reading of Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, Professor Hannah Berliner Fischthal became another casualty in the way of a race-based movement that cost her a profession and livelihood – one built on years of garnering her students’ trust through thoughtful and open conversation.

During a read-through that prompted Berliner Fischthal to use the N-word directly from the text, one student exited the online session and sent an email detailing the emotional distress this cause.

The student’s email stated that the professor’s use of the term was “unnecessary and very painful to hear.” The message became a public ordeal and prompted the university to investigate the action, leading to the professor’s dismissal from St. John’s University.

This is just another reason why it’s not only desirable, but vital, to subscribe to Castalia Library. Regarding which, I have a few things to mention.

First, the first three leatherbound Junior Classics have been sent to the printer. We’ll order the leather this week, so the production is in process. We don’t know how long it will take, as that depends upon the bindery’s schedule. Below is the front endpapers, which will feature the appropriate names and sections of the specific volume. We’re also close to getting the regular volumes 4, 5, and 6 out the door.

Second, we’ll stop taking orders for the leatherbound Junior Classics on Monday at noon, since we have to finalize the number. We’re going to print a few extra interiors since it’s economical for us to do so, so there will probably be an opportunity to acquire a leather set at some point in the future, but this will be your last opportunity for some time.

Third, as I’ve already announced, the Castalia Library and Libraria Castalia editions of Summa Elvetica will NOT be signed. There have already been sufficient delays that Heidi will be shipped first, and it’s just going to take too long to print the special pages, ship them to Europe, ship them back, and have them tipped-in. It was a stupid notion and I’m sorry we won’t be able to deliver on the signed editions. Obviously, if anyone who bought the one-off on that notion wants a refund, we will certainly provide it. And for those who don’t care about the signature, the book is nearly sold out already so you might want to consider grabbing one while you can.

Speaking of sell-outs, beginning with Rhetoric, we’re increasing the number of Library editions to 850. This is because the books are nearly sold out on the basis of the subscriptions alone now. Libraria editions will remain at 100. The current subscription book is Discourses on Livy by Machiavelli.

We are aware that some people received doubles of Plutarch, and others still haven’t received their Divine Comedy – me included. Let us know at library -at- castaliahouse -dot- com in either case; the bindery is actively resolving each case one at a time. They have a new system in place which should prevent these problems in the future and we’ve reserved enough books to make certain that everyone who paid for one will receive one. In the meantime, don’t bother letting me know, as I can’t do anything about it and don’t even have my copy of Dante or Plutarch. 

And finally, the rear endpapers for the leather editions, which will be the same for every volume.

The publishing world is under ever-tightening control. An agent explains why this is going to make things worse for authors and readers alike.

By 2022, we will be down to The Big 4 – Penguin Simon & Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Harper Collins Houghton Mifflin Harcourt  – plus a smattering of some mid-size but growing independents. And that’s it.This contraction significantly impacts writers an authors, and here’s why:

• Merging companies always declare that the houses will be run separately. This was certainly the case when Random House bought Penguin more than five years ago. Now these “separate publishers” exist under the same roof, use the same publishing contract, and operate under merged accounting and royalty systems. It is, in essence, almost like one house even though agents can still submit separately.
• When publishers merge, there are often new mandates regarding how those houses will participate in auctions and submit bids. Some houses stipulate that imprints can no longer bid against each other. So if several imprints are interested in acquiring a project, they communicate and form a “house bid” (which is where all imprints propose one bid to submit in the auction, and if it is the winning bid, then the author can choose which editor/imprint to work with). This removes competition from the auction and lowers advances, which translates to less money for the author.
• The merging of publishers results in the must-acquire-blockbusters-only mentality. Tighter budgets means fewer books will be acquired, which makes editors less likely to take chances on unique, creative voices—authors with talent who might not break out until their fourth or fifth novel. In other words, there is less focus on building an author and more focus on acquiring the obvious “big” book—which limits the diversity of unique stories in the world.
• Contraction squeezes out the mid-list author—the author who’s not a blockbuster but whose sales might be humming along nicely. How? Because it makes the publisher less likely to pick up their option material. This precludes the possibility that a mid-list author’s third or fourth book might have been the one to break out. Not to mention, if the agent must shop the author anew, the current house (and all those imprints) are off the submit list. That equals fewer outlets where an agent can place that author and relaunch that author’s career.
• Contraction eliminates editorial positions. Smaller staff equals fewer editors equals less diversity and narrower taste in what gets acquired. Also, smaller staff equals fewer editors equals those editors getting way more submissions from agents. Editors are already strapped for reading time and inundated with submitted manuscripts. The sheer volume makes it hard for any debut project to stand out in the crush—reducing a new writer’s chances of getting a foot in the door.
• Contraction equals less-author-friendly publishing contracts. Fewer houses at which to place a client means publishers have the upper hand when it comes to dictating the terms, and agents have less negotiation leverage. 

Fortunately, I left that world once and for all back in 2014. So as long as there are people interested in buying books from Castalia and Arkhaven, there will be options to the increasingly converged mainstream offerings.

And speaking of Castalia, we’ll be announcing a few things tomorrow. Nothing terribly crazy, just getting caught up on the regular business now that Arktoons has successfully launched and we can start keeping reasonably normal hours again.

Speaking as an author of a long-awaited epic fantasy novel that is years behind schedule and has yet to be finished, I think I am one of the few people on Earth who can speak with authority on the matter of George RR Martin and the likelihood that he will ever finish A Song of Ice and Fire.

I’ve said since the 7th season of Game of Thrones that George RR Martin would fail to finish his book series, A Song of Ice and Fire. There are now concerns that Martin won’t even finish The Winds of Winter, the planned penultimate novel of the series. Martin revealed this week on his blog that he has, again, fallen “hugely behind” on a project, which we assume means The Winds of Winter.

“When a lot of stuff happens very fast, I fall further and further behind. I am hugely behind right now, and the prospect of trying to catch up is feeling increasingly oppressive,” Martin writes.

That doesn’t sound good.

It has been 10 years since the last book of the series, A Dance with Dragons, was released. If Martin can’t finish Winds in a decade, how long will A Dream of Spring, the final and longest novel of the series, take?

Perhaps, there is not enough time in life to close every Martin-formed storyline. Maybe this book series grew too large, too deep, too in-depth for a conclusion. That TV ending may be all we get. 

The Outkick writer is right. Martin won’t finish the series. He almost certainly won’t even finish The Winds of Winter. He’s not only lost his fastball, he’s lost his ability to pitch.

I, however, have not. I will finish A Sea of Skulls and continue with The Arts of Dark and Light. In fact, if fans of the epic fantasy series here are genuinely interested, I can even post a chapter or two of new material here at some point, although I will certainly understand if you would prefer that I reserve all of the new content for the completed book.

This is just a reminder that this is the last day for new Library subscribers to subscribe to Castalia Library without making a catchup payment. So, if you’ve been planning to do it, this is a good day to do so.

The current March-April subscription book is RHETORIC by Aristotle.

UPDATE: It’s now April in Europe. New subscriptions will require a catchup payment. Thanks to everyone who got their new subscriptions in under the wire!

If you still don’t understand the importance of Castalia Library and the Castalia Junior Classics, this announcement of converged fairy tales should help you grasp the concept:

Thor: Love And Thunder actor Natalie Portman recently revealed that she’s taken it upon herself to rewrite classic fairytales because they mainly feature male protagonists; publishing a book that features gender-neutral characters instead.

According to Hello! magazine, as reported by Breitbart, Portman decided to rewrite some of these classic fairytales because they “did not reflect the world” in her book titled Natalie Portman’s Fables.

Portman explained, “I found myself changing the pronouns in many of their books because so many of them had overwhelmingly male characters, disproportionate to reality.”

“Boys need to see that women have a multitude of opportunities open to them, to consider what they think and feel, and how they experience the world,” the Star Wars actor continued.

James Halliwell-Phillips’ “The Three Little Pigs,” as well as Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” are the classic fairytales that Natalie Portman deemed necessary to give a breath of fresh 21st century air.

Knowledge converged is knowledge destroyed. What they’re doing is actually worse than merely burning the books. They are seeking to replace them with subversive versions so that no one will even know that they’ve been destroyed. 

People have been asking when the second volume of Plutarch would be available as a one-off for non-subscribers. Both Library and Libraria editions are now available. Pictured below is the stunning Libraria edition.