Chapter Eight: How to Print a Book

Hello,

This week, we’re printing our first book! By which we mean: other people are printing it for us. We’ve been discussing things like whether we’ll need one or two passes for a black enough cover, and whether our greens are accurate. More on that below.

The Witch of Prague comes out on March 17, which is somehow only six weeks away! Huw will send you one if you buy it here. We’re very excited that it’s one of LitHub’s most anticipated books of 2026.

On another note: while we’re an international team, we’ve all been horrified by the events unfolding in Minnesota and more broadly across the U.S. If you’re feeling powerless, we’ve found some solace in Naomi Kritzer’s guide to how to help from outside Minnesota (mostly aimed at U.S. folks, but the last item is broadly relevant) and in Rebecca Solnit’s eternally useful work of activist wisdom, Hope in the Dark.

Onward,

Rachel, Lara, Huw & Rebekah

In which we learn how to print a book

The Witch of Prague is off to press this week! Many people have asked if we’re printing it ourselves—which, fair question, considering we describe Homeward as a small press—but we’re sending it to the professionals.

In the past, small presses did actually own small presses. Virginia and Leonard Woolf, for instance, hand-printed books for Hogarth Press in their London townhouse. Virginia set the type, Leonard worked the press, and sometimes, Virginia hand-sewed the covers. It took them two and a half months to produce 150 copies of their first book. Ours is going to happen a bit faster—though we do regret that this prevents us using Japanese paper on our covers.

Nowadays, it’s possible to upload a digital file to a publisher, and they simply print it out, using a giant version of the kind of printer you might have at home. We produced the advance copies of The Witch of Prague this way: it’s fast but it isn’t ideal for artwork.

That’s why we’re printing the real copies using a different process: offset printing. This uses specially-made plates to transfer ink to paper—like an old-fashioned press, but much easier to use. (When it was developed it was a huge innovation over letterpress typesetting.) Offset printing looks like this when it’s being set up and like this when it’s getting going.

Did you know ink comes in the form of thick goo? Us neither.

Last week, our colour samples arrived so that we could check the two colours that appear on The Witch of Prague’s cover for accuracy (and beauty). That’s the picture above. It was a rainy day in Seattle but Rachel photographed them by the window to show us how they look in natural light. We said: cool.

Yes, you can pre-order The Witch!

And we’ll post it to you for release day, March 17. Click here to purchase from our website. We’d love to send it to you ourselves!

N.B. Currently we can only ship to U.S. addresses, but we’re working on international shipping—we’ll have news about that in our next email.

We’re also working on making our books available in indie bookstores outside the U.S.

If you’re a bookseller, or would like wholesale copies, please talk to our distributor.

Meet the author of The Witch

Also only six weeks away! Seattle’s own Third Place Books is hosting J.M. Sidorova in conversation with Daryl Gregory on Monday, March 23 at 7pm. The event is free, but please RSVP.

We love how Third Place Books described The Witch: “a magical-realist anti-authoritarian fantasia exploring autonomy, agency, and coming of age in a time of revolution.”

For more information about the event, click here.

Madame Bernarde l’Ermite does not think you are silly

Esteemed Readers,

Since my last writing, I’ve received two very intriguing inquiries, both of which suggested that they might be too “silly” for my consideration. Before I continue, dear readers, allow me to assure you that silliness will never preclude my expert treatment of any topic. To emphasize this point, rather than choosing between these two requests, I here below respond to both.

First, from a reader in the North American region called Texas:

Well, my dear Unsatisfied, it just so happens that I can offer some helpful advice: without knowing the specifics of your skin type and its proclivities, my guidance will necessarily remain basic, but I’m confident that the following regimen is universally beneficial to all discerning and sophisticated readers; it is, after all, the routine to which I, myself, adhere (and as you have so graciously implied, hermit crabs are universally recognized for their aesthetic expertise):

1. Prepare an aqueous solution of sodium chloride with a concentration of between 33 and 37 grams per liter and a temperature of 18 to 25 degrees Celsius (64–77º F), sprinkled liberally with green sea lettuce (Enteromorpha intestinalis), sugar kelp (Laminaria saccharina), and Turkish washcloth (Mastocarpus papillatus). 

2. Immerse your entire naked body in this luxurious bath for up to 23 hours per day.

3. Punctuate this regimen once per week with a fine-sand scouring scrub. I recommend equal parts angular silica and fragmented oyster shell, but coral fragments will work in a pinch.

After several months of this routine, your skin will be as fabulous as mine, and you will never even consider another overhyped (and overpriced) beauty solution again.

And, from a reader in Portland (rather ambiguous, I must say, given that there are two Portlands in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in Ireland, three in the United Kingdom, two in Canada, one in South Africa, and a shameless 17 in the United States), the following:

Dear Cool-Footed,

No.

Sincerely, 

Mme. Bernard l’Hermite

P.S. Read a book.

Have an etiquette, reading, or calcium-related question? Email [email protected] to receive your own perfectly tuned crustacean advice.

Things we looked at on the internet recently

The best book covers of the past decade contains some favorites, some not-so-favorites, and some that have been copied wildly ever since they were published.

Reading isn’t dead, actually? Well, thank Zeus. Someone tell the existential-despair prof who makes students inhale Ethan Frome in one gulp.

These images of Hogarth Press’s first book—that’s the handwork of Virginia and Leonard Woolf—are pretty cool.

P.S.

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