The Book of Starry Wisdom: Apocrypha of Lovecraft's Cthulhu

Printing completion date news and R'lyeh Triangle Maps in hand!
over 8 years ago – Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 04:55:13 PM

Hello, everyone!

Some good news and a little bad. The bad being that we are slightly behind schedule and rewards won't be shipping until somewhere around August 10th. The good news is that The Book of Starry Wisdom is officially on press and I've been given a completion date of July 28th! 

I'm very sorry for the small delay. It was the result of the last minute addition of the R'lyeh Triangle Map to the end pages of the book and some scheduling issues at the printer. Having said that, I think the book is tremendously enhanced by the addition of the end papers, making it an even more immersive item. I expect to have the books at my facility on or around August 8th, but I won't have a final date for that until the print run is completed and I've paid the remainder of the printing and freight fees. I'll keep you posted as things become more concrete. Once I know exactly what date they will arrive in Seattle I'll also announce the release event for Seattle area backers. I can confirm that it will be at the Raygun Lounge on Capitol Hill and that anyone in the area will be able to pick up their rewards in person and enjoy a drink on me.

In other news, the R'lyeh Triangle Maps have arrived from the printer! I'm really pleased with the quality of these posters. They're printed on a fantastic matte paper stock of a kind that will look wonderful framed on your wall or used as handouts in your RPG gaming sessions. 

Digital versions of the map were sent out a few weeks ago via Backerkit. If you haven't received your digital map please check your spam folders, and barring that, message me directly and I'll get it into your hands ASAP.

In other news, I'm currently running a Kickstarter for the next book from Strix Publishing, APOCRYPHA: The Art of Jason Soles. In case you missed the previous update, Jason Soles is best known as the lead developer of WARMACHINE and HORDES, but he's also a talented and renowned sculptor of the macabre. You may remember the "Fish Baby" sculpture used in promotion of The Book of Starry Wisdom, which was a stellar example of his work.

This premium edition art book is 9 x 12", approximately 125 pages, features a beautiful matte hardcover with spot gloss treatments, and is bound with Smyth sewn binding allowing it to be opened and lain flat to fully display its full color photographs. Including a foreword by noted artist George Higham, this book will be a stunning addition to the collection of any connoisseur of the dark arts.

We're over 50% funded and have over two weeks to go! I hope you'll take a look at the book and some of the incredible sculptural rewards Jason has crafted just for this Kickstarter.

Thanks so much for checking out APOCRYPHA, and of course, for your support of The Book of Starry Wisdom! We're in the home stretch now and I am so excited to get the book into your battrachian, rugose hands in just a few weeks!

More press details and digital R'lyeh Triangle Maps fulfilled!
over 8 years ago – Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 04:00:26 PM

Hey all, just wanted to take a minute to update on production. Press details are being finalized, among them, I'm excited to announce that even though we did not quite reach the $25,000 stretch goal, I was able to finagle things to include the R'lyeh Map as printed end papers within the final book! This did add a few more days into prepping files for press but I hope you'll find this additional enhancement to the book well worth it!

I've also finalized the choice of faux-leather cover material. The Book of Starry Wisdom will be bound in Skivertex, with a "Classica" texture in a dark hunter green. I went with this texture choice for it's fine grain, reminiscent of fish-scales that will make the book feel that its been bound in the cured hide of some deep sea nightmare. Samples below!

As well, if you pledged for a digital Map of the R'lyeh Triangle, you should have received a download link via Backerkit late last week. If you haven't received your download yet, please contact me via message and I'll get it to you immediately.

I've also ordered the physical print maps of the R'lyeh Triangle Map, and begun formatting all of the art prints for printing. My plan is to have all of these additional rewards printed, collated, and in hand by the time the books arrive in late July so I can begin shipping them to you immediately.

I'm also pleased to announce that I will be hosting a release event in the Seattle area! Details will be forthcoming as soon as I have a specific date that the books will be in my facility, but this event will allow Seattle-area backers to pick up their rewards and enjoy a drink on me. 

Finally, with The Book of Starry Wisdom out of my hands and at press, I'm excited to announce the next project from myself and Strix Publishing: APOCRYPHA: The Art of Jason Soles. 

 

 

 

Jason Soles is best known as the lead developer and designer of Privateer Press' award-winning miniatures war-games, WARMACHINE and HORDES, but he is also an accomplished and renowned sculptor. For almost two decades Soles has produced an array of unsettling works in a variety of mediums.

APOCRYPHA: The Art of Jason Soles collects hundreds of photos of his works for the first time. This premium edition art book is 9 x 12", approximately 125 pages, features a beautiful matte hardcover with spot gloss treatments, and is bound with Smyth sewn binding allowing it to be opened and lain flat to fully display its full color photographs. Created in collaboration with Strix Publishing, and including a foreword by noted artist George Higham, this book will be a stunning addition to the collection of any connoisseur of the dark arts.

I hope you'll check it out! 

Thanks so much for your ongoing support, and you should have your copies of The Book of Starry Wisdom soon!

At Press!
over 8 years ago – Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 11:34:11 PM

Hey all, just a quick update to let you know that The Book of Starry Wisdom is at press! There were some minor delays due to paperwork missing at the printer but it's been sorted out and I expect to see a digital proof within the next 7 business days. Assuming no revisions are necessary, I will approve the print run and books will be in hand within 4-6 weeks. I've begun printing other rewards and anticipate that shipping to backers will commence in late July. I'll update once more when I have confirmation of printing. 

More soon!

Illustrations complete and press date is imminent!
over 8 years ago – Mon, May 16, 2016 at 10:45:16 PM

Hello all! 

Lots of good news this time. I'm pleased to announce that Valerie has completed work on all of the art for The Book of Starry Wisdom on schedule! This means that our final layout document is being prepared and I am in communication with the printer as we prepare to hand over the files. I expect we will be at press within the next 10 business days and I will update you when that's been completed and is out of my hands. At that point, it will be just a matter of waiting for the books to arrive in Seattle so I can begin sending you your rewards! 

I want to preserve some surprise around the final illustrations to be experienced when you open your books for the first time, but I can't resist sharing altogether. The following is perhaps my favorite of all of Valerie's work on this project. Titled, "The Ritual," this illustration accompanies the text of "The Call of Cthulhu," specifically the passage detailing Inspector Legrasse's reports of the swamp-dwelling cults of the Louisiana bayou. My original art direction notes were very simple on this. Something like "the cult celebrates a wild ritual before a plinth in the depths of the bayou. Go nuts." With Valerie's background in deific art I felt it was best to just get out of the way and let her do what she does best. And mother of god, did she ever. Without further blathering, here it is.

I'm already planning to print this one out and frame it for my personal collection, which led me to think we may make available some limited edition print runs of this later in the year if there's interest! Let me know, and I'll see what I can do.

In other news, with the arrival of pallets of books on the horizon I've sorted out storage and work space here in Seattle. If you're curious what the new—and rather humble at 250 sq ft—home of Strix Publishing looks like, here's a peek.

That's where all your books will temporarily live while I process your orders and get them shipped out. Given my plans for other publications, I expect it's going to get cramped in there in short order.

Speaking of other publications, I'm very excited to announce the launch of the next project from the company I founded around The Book of Starry Wisdom! Strix Publishing will be publishing a collection of Eliza Gauger's infamous Problem Glyphs, accompanied by a foreword by award-winning writer, Warren Ellis, of Transmetropolitan fame. The campaign offers not just the book itself, but a number of art prints, including the new Kickstarter exclusive glyph, [WILD HUNT]. We've been hard at work to make this a truly beautiful edition and I hope you'll take a look.

That's all from me today but I expect to have more news soon as we officially go to press. 

Almost ready for press! Art preview, layout preview, and more news!
almost 9 years ago – Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 06:53:48 PM

I am pleased to say that we are in the home stretch of preparing The Book of Starry Wisdom for press! A pre-press layout PDF has been created, styles applied, typography set, and pre-press proofing of the text has begun. All that remains to be accomplished at this time is final tweaking of the cover for press, and the placement of Valerie's final illustrations. As of this update she is hard at work—and on schedule!—finalizing the interior illustrations this week. I plan to share a few more of the finished pieces very soon but here's a not-quite-finished WIP of the Marsh Refinery that will accompany the text of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". Valerie has been doing some really impressive texture work for the backgrounds of many of the images and you can get a taste of what the final pieces will be like here.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to share a sample of the final book interiors with you, our generous backers. The following except is A.S. Koi's essay, "Rule of Three." Koi produced an exquisitely researched and complex entry that ruminates on both the factual and fictional artists and works described in "The Call of Cthulhu". This essay was very much the sort of thing I had in mind for my essayists when I first conceptualized The Book of Starry Wisdom a few years ago. Enjoy!

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4PQkTUP9TtPNEszQlZZYkpRaFU/view?usp=sharing

Note: This PDF is drawn from the pre-press layout document and features markup for printer use that will not appear in the final eBook formats of The Book of Starry Wisdom. This PDF also includes a sneak peak at Thom Truelove's Essay, "Letters from the Sea!"

This also means that it is almost time to lock down the Backerkit surveys! If you have not yet filled out your survey, or need to update your shipping address, please do so as soon as possible. Surveys will be locked on May 14th. You can recover your survey at this link: https://the-book-of-starry-wisdom-apocrypha-of-lovecrafts.backerkit.com

As well, this will be your last chance to pre-order or increase your pledge. Extra copies of the book, art prints, and the "R'lyeh Triangle map" will continue to be available after the survey ends, but at increased prices due to shipping and taxes. If you have friends who would like to pre-order, please share this link: https://the-book-of-starry-wisdom-apocrypha-of-lovecrafts.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders#preorder-nav

With `Starry Wisdom wrapping up and on schedule to ship to backers in July, I've been busy with a few other projects. Thanks to you building the foundations with this project, a number of other publications have made their way into my hands. This has led to my announcement earlier this month of the founding of my publishing company, Strix Publishing.

You can read more about my plans for Strix here. 

Most imminent will be a Kickstarter beginning on May 16th in support of a premium edition art book for Eliza Gauger's Problem Glyphs. This book collects one hundred glyphs and their associated problems, and features an introduction by Eliza Gauger and a foreword by award-winning writer Warren Ellis.

Problem Glyphs has been an ongoing project for over two years. Individuals anonymously submit their deepest, darkest problems for which Gauger creates symbolic illustrations informed by her background in fine art, mythology, and the occult. The Problem Glyphs art book contains 100 submissions and glyphs, accompanied by an introduction by Gauger. This will be a premium cloth-bound hardcover book featuring a number of luxurious enhancements. The Kickstarter will also give backers access to art prints and other exclusive rewards.

Praise for Problem Glyphs:

Molly Crabapple— "Eliza Gauger's problem glyphs take crowdsourced agonies and crystallize them into symbols. In the beginning, art was inseparable from magic, and Gauger returns it to its roots, in a twist updated to the pace, needs, and logic of the network."

Warren Ellis— "Sometimes you don't fully understand your fears and ghosts until they're put in front of you, so you can exorcise them. It's a spiky, painful thing. Problem Glyphs are spiky, painful things. That's why they were, and are, needed by so many people."

Neil Gaiman— "I think it's a beautiful way of talking about problems, empowering people, and letting the magic of art happen in their lives."

I hope you'll take a look when it launches in just less than three weeks. But for now, I'm back to work on proofing The Book of Starry Wisdom. I'll have more news very soon as we go to press in early May!

Fhtagn!