Volume I in print: next week

Dear readers,

A little while ago I asked whether any of you would be interested in purchasing a printed copy of Volume I. The answer was a resounding yes. I'm delighted to say just under fifty Limited Edition copies will be available next week. I wanted to give those collectors interested in grabbing a copy as much heads up as possible, as there's a small chance they'll sell out very quickly. The rest of this email contains some behind-the-scenes info on the print run itself, details on shipping, and other small updates.

Print copies will go on sale next Friday, April 10th, at 9am. We'll schedule an email with the purchase link, which will be below a paywall: we'd like to offer these to our current paying subscribers exclusively first, as a thanks for their continued support. If there are any copies still available by the end of the weekend, we'll open the link for free readers.

I'll aim to ship and fulfil all orders within a week. Volume II, third party sign-off pending, will release the week following. Exciting!

Volume I. - in detail

This Limited Edition of Volume I. was printed in collaboration with our data partners, SkillCorner. It was produced for a series of in-person events SkillCorner are holding for their clients and customers during spring, including a day in Paris that Jake and I attended.

As such, this edition is slightly different to the digital version we originally released. It includes a different cover insert, as well as an except from one of our most recent collaborative data essays.

Because of how time-sensitive it became to print these magazines for the event, we couldn't get proofs back before committing to the full run. I don't want to overstate this - I still think the final magazine is cool - but I am a perfectionist with these things, and as such must say the final product is not indicative of the choices we'll make for future runs. On one hand, this makes this edition a true collector's item; on the other, I do feel obliged to point out the changes I intend to make for future releases.

First, the magazine is perfect bound, with a 250gsm silk cover finished with matt laminate. The inside pages are 100gsm recycled natural paper, which has a heavy and textured feel - quite different from the glossy silk we printed the Handbook series on. The dimensions are 203mm X 287mm, which is very slightly smaller than A4 (it feels like A4).

At 38 pages, the magazine is only just large enough to use perfect binding. There is therefore a small imperfection in the alignment of the spine; it was simply too narrow to print accurately. The cover also very slightly overlaps the margin. As we intend future Volumes to be a similar length or shorter, it's very likely we'll choose staple binding as we move forward, and change the dimensions to be smaller and more letterbox-friendly. Whereas the Handbooks were weighty, coffee-table style books with a lead time of three months, Volumes are designed to be lighter, more regular, and built for easy reading. My intent is to produce something more akin to The Fence or The New Yorker for future runs, for the magazine aficionados among you.

Each copy costs £14.99, which is also not reflective of future pricing - the more you print, the cheaper it gets - and will be numbered 1-50 by hand.

Shipping: We're using Royal Mail for both domestic and international shipping. Unlike the Handbook series, Volumes will be sent in clear plastic sleeves, to keep rates as low as possible.

Unfortunately, those rates are still prohibitive. My instinct is to apologise for how expensive it is to send a single magazine internationally, but there's really nothing I can do. We attempted to subsidise shipping prices during the Handbook series and it was unsustainable - we're simply not large enough to consume those costs ourselves. We've kept international shipping an option rather than restrict the magazine to the UK, but understand the rates are not ideal. Printing copies on demand for direct fulfilment from the EU might be possible for future editions, and we'll keep looking for similar solutions as we go.

UK (1st Class): £3.30
EU (Tracked): £9.80
USA (Tracked): £13.20
ROW* (Tracked): £12.60

*We're keeping our international coverage fairly limited for now. If you live in a territory you're worried might slip through the cracks but have your heart set on grabbing a copy, please let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to ensure it's included!

Volume II. and future plans

Whether we print Volume II. and future editions will depend on the interest this tiny run generates, and the workflows we develop here. We spent three years attempting to build a print-first business during the Handbook series and, obviously, it didn't work. To do this sustainably, we must learn the lessons from that period, when we attempted to move much too quickly. As such, we intend to scale our Volume print efforts slowly and carefully, and ensure it never cannibalises our core work.

Print must be complimentary to our digital offering, rather than the cornerstone of the business. As such, for this year at least, we don't intend to offer a print subscription. Future editions will likely follow the model we're using here: an additional purchase offered to paid digital subscribers first, at extremely limited quantities.

But the good news is, of course, that we're thinking deeply about print, and fully intend to keep it in our plans moving forward. Easy does it!

Final word

Thank you all so much for your continued patience, understanding and support as we build a new sustainable future for this project. We're grateful for you every day, and look forward to delivering you a new magazine very soon.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments here. Otherwise, we'll see you next Friday at 9am!

Yours,

Tom