All good things must come to an end.

No, no. Good things come to those who wait.

Yeah, that’s the one. No idea who said that or if it’s even true. But I’ve never been good at sitting around, waiting. Though I do tend to play the long game.

Nonetheless, I have some good news and some not-so-good news. We are finally finished with the book. After many, many rounds of edits and a run-through with a professional proofreader, countless photo edits, a few re-writes and additions, layout and design modifications, we’re ready to let it be.

We’re well aware that you will find errors and typos, and that we’ll likely be disgusted with ourselves for messing something up. But realistically, this has evolved into a huge, compelling, and beautiful project. It’s the first thing people say when they flip through one of the early proofs we had printed and bound. “It’s beautiful.” That’s thanks to Mark.

The book is full of photographs going all the way back to 2004, and even earlier. Around four hundred in all. It’s over 160,000 words. You knew I was wordy, but no one would’ve predicted I could put together that much prose. I can only hope y’all still think it’s beautiful after you’ve read it.

As for the not-so-good news, we’re struggling with the printing process. While initially intending to print it in the U.S., prices are way too high. Canada isn’t much better. India was an option, but shipping and tariffs have taken that printer off our list. So as much as our president doesn’t want us to, we’re dealing with a printer in China. Normally tariffs on books are zero. But you know nothing is normal these days.

Through it all, we’re going to get there. It’s merely a handful of decisions about gsm, coated vs uncoated, dust jackets, and endpapers, and we’ll be at the finish line. As always, we appreciate your patience and hope to have the book in your hands by November. THIS November.

I posted a couple chapter layouts to tide you over at purist.coffee (click the link). And if you haven’t kept up with the latest press or coffee weirdness going on over at the purist site, be sure and check that out.

Brian Franklin, Roastmaster & author