Update
6/4/09
We’re almost done choosing and placing the art for The Fairies’ Parliament; once we’ve finished, in a week or so, I will revise and expand this update.
Much of the work we did during May dealt with other aspects of the Little, Big Project. It saddens me to say that the printer we had originally chosen to print Little, Big, the legendary and award-winning Stinehour Press, which did such a superb job printing the Little, Big posters and the signature sheets for the limited editions, went out of business after 58 years. Needless to say, this has complicated things. A search over the last several months lead us to four outstanding printers, from which we received new bids for the project; after careful consideration, we are now close to finalizing arrangements with one of those four, a world class company that has printed fine art books for several of America’s greatest museums. We will announce that choice soon.
Since we expect to go to press shortly, it became crucial to finalize our Letter customers’ selections of the up-to-350-word passages from the novel that they’ve chosen for John Crowley to transcribe on the signature sheets that will soon be bound into the 26 Lettered copies of the book. I’m happy to say Mr. Crowley is now well into the second half of the alphabet with his inscribing and transcribing and will soon finish that work and go on to signing and numbering the Numbered edition. (Peter Milton and Harold Bloom have already signed the Lettered and Numbered sheets.)
Yes, all of the above means the schedule has continued to slip, even as we continue to get closer to the end. We will do everything in our power to get this book to the printer by June’s end or shortly thereafter. Finished books will start shipping approximately three months after we go to press.
Finally, I urge everyone to go out and buy a copy of John Crowley’s new novel, Four Freedoms, which came out a couple of weeks ago. I’m reading it slowly, a few pages a night, and it’s wonderful to see how its power grows page by page. Don’t hesitate.
Best Wishes,
Ron Drummond
Publisher