Zōsan Second Edition: Now in Production!

 

I wrote and illustrated Zōsan in 2015, opting to raise the money for printing  on Kickstarter.

I had specific ideals of printing using offset printing methods, rather than digital. There’s also a full length audiobook complete with music and sound design, and a full letterpress-printed edition of Zōsan as a keepsake.

I was extremely proud of the results, but had this sense that there was room for improvement. However, at the time the main goal was stick with it and finish.

That experience lead to producing two other books, Tamaishi and Where All the Little Things Live in the same way. I’m grateful for Charles at Eberhardt Press for helping me realize the same vision of beautifully produced books. Without him I’m not sure any of this would have been possible.

I decided to take the opportunity to apply everything I’d learned and revise Tamaishi when they were nearly all gone, rather than just reprint as is. The results were fantastic.

Color Dreams

There aren’t many copies of Zōsan left — and I saw another opportunity to revise, spending weeks reworking the text and months revising and adding illustrations.

Now instead of black and white — a constraint due to nature of letterpress — the book is printed using multiple spot colors. The result is a visual narrative that flows with the words: as Zochi’s world fills with color, so do the illustrations.

Part of the journey

I’ve had my doubts about whether or not this is a worthwhile pursuit, revising old books. But I had a moment of clarity realizing that they were all part of the journey, and that each book was one stepping stone to another, and in and of themselves they were like first drafts. I couldn’t have written the last without the first, and I couldn’t have revised the first without the last.

Someday, I actually hope to find the time and space to letterpress print this color edition myself. But until then, Zōsan, 2nd edition will be available this summer. Stay tuned!