- Contents
- 03 Field notes & publishing
Printed field notes in small sewn runs, tested on paper before anyone is asked to read them.
This is an independent publishing project in Austin that has not shipped a single copy, and says so. What exists is a stack of proof sheets, a spool of waxed linen thread and a list of formats we have already ruled out. Nothing here is for sale. There is no subscription and no launch date.
Where the publishing project stands today
Two columns, because that is the honest shape of it. One says what is on the table in Suite 4. The other says what you will not find, however you ask.
Proofs, thread and a format shortlist
Three proof rounds of a pocket booklet at 5.5 by 8.5 inches, folded from letter sheets, saddle-sewn by hand. Two text weights of uncoated stock are being compared: a 70 lb text that feels right in the hand and a 60 lb that shows through more than we like. Pencil corrections go in the margin, never on screen.
The shortlist is two formats. A single-signature pamphlet of 16 to 48 pages, and a folded broadsheet for anything shorter. Everything else has been crossed off.
A shop, a list or a release date
There is no subscription, no mailing list and no form that reserves a copy. Nothing ships. We do not take submissions of manuscripts either, because there is no editorial programme to put them in, and pretending otherwise wastes a writer's month.
If a date ever appears on this page it will be because a printed copy already exists. Not before.
The format under test
Why a sewn pamphlet and not a newsletter
Notes from a working table read differently on paper. That is the whole hypothesis, and it might be wrong.
An email newsletter is cheaper and easier to measure, and both of those things pull it toward a schedule. A schedule is exactly what we refuse to promise on any direction of this office, so the format has to survive without one. A pamphlet does. It exists when it is finished, it does not arrive on a Tuesday because a calendar said so, and nobody unsubscribes from something they were never subscribed to.
The run size under study is small: 25 to 50 copies per title, sewn by hand at the bench. Above roughly 60 copies hand-sewing stops being a choice and becomes a production line, and the cost of a short digital print run starts to beat it. Below 25 the cover stock waste on a full sheet gets silly. So the window is narrow and we are testing inside it.
What the proofs are actually checking
- Line length. 62 characters a line at 10.5 point reads well; 70 tires the eye by page six.
- Show-through. The 60 lb sheet ghosts the reverse page under a window. Probably disqualifying.
- Grain direction. Fold against the grain and the spine cracks on the first opening. We did that once.
- Cover weight. 80 lb cover holds a crease; 100 lb fights the needle.
- Whether a stranger keeps it. The only test that matters, and the one we cannot run yet.
The failure we see most often in small-press projects is the one we are trying hardest to avoid: a launch announced before the second issue exists. The first issue gets made on enthusiasm, the second never does, and the announcement stays up for years.
How a title moves from notebook to sewn copy
Five steps, in the order they happen. None has a deadline attached. Each one waits until the previous one is done properly.
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Notes kept by hand
Observations from the naming work, the card drawer and the street go into a hardbound notebook first. Nothing is typed until a set of notes has a shape. Most never get one, which is fine.
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Typeset and proofed on the real stock
Proofs print on the stock the copy would use, never on office paper. A proof on the wrong sheet tells you nothing about show-through or fold. Corrections go on in pencil.
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A week in a drawer
The marked proof sits for seven days before anyone reads it again. Errors that were invisible on Monday are obvious the following Monday. This step is the one people skip and the one that matters most.
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One sewn test copy
Folded and sewn with waxed linen thread. It gets carried in a bag for a fortnight to see what the spine and corners do with real handling.
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Decide, or put it back
If the test copy holds up and the text still earns its pages, a run of 25 might follow. If not, it goes back in the notebook. So far, everything has gone back in the notebook.
Working specification
The numbers the proofs are judged against
These are the current test parameters, not a product listing. Any of them can change after the next proof, and several already have.
| Item | Current setting | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Trim size | 5.5 × 8.5 in | Letter sheet folded once. No trimming waste. |
| Pages | 16 to 48 | One signature. Past 48 a single stitch stops holding. |
| Text stock | 70 lb uncoated | 60 lb shows through under window light. |
| Cover | 80 lb kraft cover | Holds a crease, takes a needle without a fight. |
| Binding | 3-hole pamphlet stitch | Waxed linen thread. No staples, they rust. |
| Run size | 25 to 50 | Inside the window where hand-sewing still makes sense. |
| Schedule | none | A title exists when it is finished. |
| Price | not offered | In study. No order is taken. |
Questions people send about the field notes
Can I reserve a copy of the first issue?
No. There is no first issue to reserve, and keeping a list of names against something that may never print is a promise by another route. If a run is ever sewn, this page will say so.
Will you publish my essay, zine or manuscript?
Not through this project. It prints the office's own notes only. If you are a writer or a small studio in Austin and want to share a bench or a press, the Austin partnerships page is the right door and it is listening.
Can you print or bind something for me?
No. We are not a print shop and the bench is not set up for client work. Austin has binderies and risograph studios that do this properly and will quote you a real price.
Who is this page not for?
Anyone who needs a date. If you want a regular read on a schedule, this will disappoint you, and we would rather say so now. People who send useful letters here are usually paper suppliers, binders with an opinion on our stitch, or readers who found an old pamphlet format we should look at.
Will you reply to my letter?
Every letter about publishing is read. A reply goes out only when it is relevant to the work, and there is no timeline for it, because this direction is in study. For a three-business-day reply target, the open direction is naming and rare domains.
Write to the office about the field notes
Paper stock, binding, a format we missed. Letters are read and kept with the proofs. A reply comes when there is something worth saying.
Austin, Texas 33038