I sent something pretty similar to this out as a “newsletter” to the buyers of RPO and a few people who had requested updates. But that means only those subscribers are aware of the progress, which doesn’t seem right. What is a newsletter if not a blog post emailed? Anyway.
For those interested, progress on the Ready Player One rebind is coming along very nicely. I have all of the interior art in hand, which means I can start the rebinding process! John Enright submitted his piece recently and just this week I received back the incredible endpaper by Francesco Lorenzetti (pictured above).
I’ve actually been toying with the idea of doing a run of the endpapers as a limited print as I think it’s outstanding. Drop me a note if you think it’s worthwhile.
Susan Jaekel has also turned in her recreation of Adventure, which I was totally blown away with. So true to the original piece.
I think Susan was the first artist I made contact with to discuss my RPO idea, and she was also the first to say an enthusiastic yes!
The piece on the right has been slightly extended compared to the original, as it was too square. Also the painters tape is still on it, which I have been informed of its removal.
Susan will be hand numbering and signing these as part of the portfolio that comes with all editions of RPO.
There are two pieces outstanding from the portfolio currently and I will update everyone when I get progress in.
Not only that, but I also have all of the modified Atari’s ready and waiting to be shipped over to Ludlow’s to start the finishing process (this took a lot longer than expected).
That means that production should be able to start very soon on the books/cases which is great news. The only thing I’m still waiting on is two pieces of art from the original artists, and production of the limitation page (which i’m doing myself).
I’m still targetting the end of May for this, but it may slip a month or two if a few things don’t get turned in soon.
Future Projects
Regarding new projects, I’ve had a few people ask what i’m up to? I’m up to something, is the answer to that. I had toyed with the idea of doing another rebind as publishing can be quite slow in the early stages, but my workload at my current job has put paid to that.
I’ve enjoyed this rebind, and it’s allowed me to take on a novel I wouldn’t have been able to get rights to. But rebinds come with a lot of hassle published books don’t… first editions. I spent hours on eBay and Abebooks over months waiting for good version’s to come up. Set alarms in the middle of the night for the US auctions. Spent a god damn fortune having them delivered overseas. Honestly, first editions are a pain.
In regard to the next project, it’s going to be a fantasy novel, that much I can say at this stage. I have to say it’s nice take on the creative side of the process again!
Until next time.
