I am delighted to announce a number of very significant publishing improvements that have recently been implemented on the At the Wellspring Publishing section of the website. There is also a book publication announcement, but that waits till the end.
First Announcement
Since switching to a new printer last year we were experiencing repeated delays in the shipping of orders, and I have taken this opportunity not only to switch to a different printer, but also to make a number of sweeping changes to the way that the publishing branch of this site both functions and appears. You will have noticed them if you visited the store recently.
1. The covers of all my books have been redone in their entirety, front and back, something I think long overdue.
2. Now every book has multiple versions available for purchase, at least a paperback and hardback (i.e. case laminate), and some also a “special edition.”
3. Despite what one might expect, the prices of all the books has also decreased quite a lot, at the lowest by at least three dollars (and significantly more for bigger books), as the printer I am working with now is splendid in this regard as in so many others. And the hardbacks are not much more in cost than the paperbacks, so if you want a longer lasting book or simply prefer hardcover, they are now available with little cost difference.
4. Shipping is now available throughout the world, with fulfillment centers in the US and the UK, and also, depending on the version, in Canada and Australia. The shipping is now variable as well, and though unfortunately inflation is an issue at present, ordering multiple books is always a good way to lower shipping costs.
5. Two notes on “special editions,” one positive and one negative. First is simply to explain what “special edition” means: these are the so-called “bespoke” versions of given books, the highest or collector’s quality. They have a few traits: they are cloth-bound hardcovers with foil lettering and a dust jacket, and also include a ribbon, head and tail bands (to preserve the binding from bending or wear), and end papers, in other words beauteous designs—or for the mythopoeia maps!—on the front and end matter. Second, for the bad news: at this time they ship only from the UK, though the printer has intentions to make US fulfillment available in the future.
I hope that these changes bring an exciting newness of beauty and fittingness to the humble service of the word that I seek to offer that the one Word find space to speak anew and more deeply into our hearts.
Second Announcement
Finally, I have recently done a deep re-read, and a thorough though subtle revision and enhancement, of Dawnbringer: Lightborn, and have updated it to a “Definitive Edition.” Though the story and the essence remains the same, I have carefully and lovingly molded the “clay” of the language, of the human word, to be as fitting a vessel of the Word communicated through the story, the world, and the characters as possible. This included a number of changes on every page, some more and some less, mostly simply in expression, though some inconsistencies have been fixed and other details of characterization or narrative improved or deepened. About 10,000 words in all have been added to the text. But that is all the “external stuff,” important but not the real fire that I want to communicate.
Revisiting and contemplating once again the mystery manifested in Lightborn was a beautiful and moving experience, and not only did it feel that I was reading something aflame, but that I was being enkindled into flame. And flames must always be communicated, for that is why they burn. It is my prayer and hope that this world and its narrative, and the people who live within it at the heart of a drama and a romance so close to our own hearts, struggles, and desires, may become a little “eucharist” of my heart through which the presence and love of the Father of us all may be felt. I hope that the world that God has given me to create, and the space that he has created through my frail and faltering words, may become for you a garden of wonder and play and deepest contemplation. May it stir within you an experience of the realities of which I speak in my other writings—or rather the reality of all realities toward which I can only gesture—in an especially direct and powerful way. May it move you to tears of both joy and compassion in the encounter with the Paschal Christ living within the word, so that he might approach you under a different guise and thus be seen anew with fresh eyes as if on the first encounter. For if living love is to see anew as innocent as a child and as tender as the first love of a spouse, then that has been the consuming passion at the heart of the conceiving and bringing forth of Dawnbringer: Lightborn, and I pray that, by God’s mercy, it may have some effect in those for whom it is intended.
Dawnbringer: Lightborn – The Complete Saga (Definitive Edition)
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