Creating books to be proud of . . .
Creating books that will make you proud to be the author and publisher has been my goal as typesetter, printer and book binder since I ventured into the trade about 30 years back. I think the attached video, newspaper stories and radio report will help you decide whether trusting your book to me makes sense for you.
Some warned me when I entered the letterpress trade that my technology was out of date. I was told I needed a modern printing plant. After all, this was the 21st Century. I decided quality will never go out of style and that people are always going to want beautiful things made by craftsmen and women who take pride in what they make. So, I said, I’ll keep my old presses and typesetting equipment and papermaking machines and concentrate on making beautiful things with paper and ink.
All letterpress shops are not created equal. The machines may be the same, but it’s the heart and spirit of the people who operate them and who treat you with the respect and courtesy you should expect, who transform cold cast iron machines into the tools that bring beauty to your books or to whatever else you want to create.
I’m not the biggest letterpress printer in North America, which if you want the truth, is good news for you. I don’t push your printing through my shop like some printing factories do. Your work is handled from beginning to end by me. I take your phone call or respond to your emails. I operate the typesetting machines and presses and I package and ship everything. If there’s ever anything wrong, I fix it. I want to make sure you‘re happy with everything I do.
In addition to the Venture North television segment on my printing shop, there have been other media stories, In 2009, for example, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article about my shop.
Minnesota Public Radio also did an interview which is available on line. Years back the Ashland Daily Press of Ashland, Wisconsin stopped by for a story.