Apologies for being late on this month’s update, time ran away from us a bit. We have a new a Short Stops coming later this month, a few updates from our visit to England last month, and production updates. Read on for all the details.

Our Next Short Stops

Advance copies of the next book in our Short Stops series (teaser photo at the top of this page) arrived last week and we’re very happy with how it came together. We expect to make copies available for sale with immediate shipping later this month. As always with Short Stops, current publisher’s rightsholders will have early access and then everyone else a few days later. 

Copies of Rip Van Winkle in Sheets

We expect to have the ten copies of Rip Van Winkle in sheets available for sale early next month. These are printed on the same Zerkall paper as the Lettered Edition and will include the artwork portfolio. Offered to collectors who would like to commission their own custom binding, they are being made available as folded, gathered, and unbound book blocks. All copies will ship from Canada. 

April Visit to England

Danielle and I spent a few days in England last month were we had a chance to meet up some of our publishing friends and colleagues. Here are a few pics. 

At at Awards.

Tony with Rich Tong of Lyra’s Books and Anthony Kaye of Curious King.

Danielle, Phil, Robert and Georgie at Hand & Eye Editions. 

Nomad Letterpress in Cheltenham. 

Tony on the proofing press at Nomad Letterpress printing a woodcut from one of our upcoming editions after Helen got the press and makeready all set up. This edition will be the lowest limitation we have planned so far given that all the artwork will be printed directly from the blocks, and it will be quite special. 

The view from Ludlow Castle in Shropshire.

Individual Title Updates: Books Already Pre-ordered

Before we get into the individual titles, I want to give you an honest update on timing: all of our pre-orders except Sea of Tranquility are running behind schedule, and a few have been pushed back further since our last update.

Scaling up for hand-binding books is a long process, one that Ludlow Bookbinding has been building toward for several years. It hasn’t been without setbacks, but the trajectory is genuinely positive. On our end, we dropped one of our titles from this year’s schedule to give production more breathing room, and we’ve made a number of changes on our end to help reduce the time between pre-orders and delivery. We’re already seeing those changes make a difference, and you can read more about all the work we’re putting in in the next section about upcoming books.

We know delayed timelines are frustrating, and we don’t take lightly that those who pre-ordered these books are now being asked to wait even longer. They are worth doing right, and we’re committed to making sure they arrive worthy of that patience. 

Weird. Volume 2: Ramsey Campbell’s Cold Print & Others

Cold Print & Others Collector’s Editions is expected to ship out to us at the end of this month, so we’ll start shipping early June. 

The Deluxe and Lettered will be shipped out to us at the end of June and we’ll start shipping them out in early July.

Jule’s Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas is expected to be ready in July and then sent to us, so we’ll be shipping in either late July or early August.

Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and Empire

Because of a delay with Tigana (see beow) and to ensure Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and Empire is in hand before before September, which is when Second Foundation goes up for pre-order, it has swapped places with Tigana. Shipping is expected in August 2026.

Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana

The Deluxe and Lettered book blocks of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana, complete with tipped in artwork, are at Ludlow.

The cloth covers for the Collector’s Edition were all printed (that’s over 1,200 covers) and ready for casing in, but they were not the quality that they needed to be. They are now being reprinted and should be ready by the end of the week, at which point casing in will start shortly after and then they’re off to Ludlow for slipcases to be made. 

Shipping is now expected in October 2026 for all three states, with the Collector’s Edition coming a bit earlier if all goes well. 

Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility

We signed off on the printing of Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility and the sheets are now at Ludlow. Shipping is expected in November 2026.

Individual Title Updates: Upcoming Books

Here are updates on some of our upcoming books. As mentioned above, you’ll see from these updates that we’re pouring a great deal of time and resources into them, often years ahead of pre-orders dates. All of this in an effort to reduce the time between pre-orders and delivery.

China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station

Work continues on Perdido Street Station and we’re on track for pre-orders in late June. By then, we expect typesetting and artwork to be nearly complete—if not finished entirely—and Gomer ready to begin printing.

Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash

I’m working on the interior layout for the upcoming edition of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, which we’re co-publishing with Subterranean Press. All of the artwork is completed. The limitation pages (shown above) have been signed by the artist and are on their way to the author. 

Michael Moorcock’s The Chronicles of Elric

Artwork continues to come in for various entries in Michael Moorcock’s The Chronicles of Elric. We’re working with another talented book designer on the interiors and they’ll begin work soon, with the aim of typesetting all six books back to back over the next few months.

We’re still aiming to open pre-orders for the first book in November this year, with one book to follow each year thereafter.

Lord Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter 

We’ve started working on the interiors for The King of Elfland’s Daughter, illustrated by Annie Stegg. We already have ideas for the bindings in mind and will be working towards those later this year. We’ve placed an order for handmade paper that well use on the Lettered Edition.

Pre-orders for this title are expected in February 2027.

Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

Illustration work continues on Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Our order with the Velké Losiny paper mill for the custom, watermarked handmade paper for the Lettered and Roman Numeral has been completed and the paper will be shipped out soon.

We expect The Road to open for pre-orders in the second half of 2027.

Josiah Bancroft’s The Everyman’s Guide to the Tower of Babel

Julien Delval is about halfway through the artwork for Josiah Bancroft’s The Everyman’s Guide to the Tower of Babel and to say that we’re pleased would be an understatement. We still expect this one to be ready this year. 

Stephen King’s The Jaunt

The sketches for Stephen King’s The Jaunt have been approved so the artist is moving right along. The final PDFs have also been delivered to the printer and we’re in the queue for some lovely marbled paper. This one might even be ready before the end of the year. 

qntm’s There Is No Antimemetics Division

We’ve seen rough sketches from the artist for qntm’s There Is No Antimemetics Division we’re very happy with how it’s coming along, as is the author. We also received some very early layouts from the designer which all look great, so it’s coming along really well. 

We will be putting this one up for sale when it’s ready to ship and we don’t have a date yet. Stay tuned to the newsletter. 

Octavia Butler’s Kindred

We’ve been working with the artist on the artwork for Octavia Butler’s Kindred for a while now and it’s coming along really well. This title is currently scheduled for next year.

Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War

We announced The Forever War a few weeks ago. It’s still in the early stages right now so not much to share. 

That’s it for now, thanks for reading if you made it all the way down here, and for your support and patience which makes this all possible. 

Best wishes,
Tony and Danielle