The Thebaid Book Proof Copy has been ordered!

On February 7, 2024 By zosimasIn Publishing, Thebaid Book2 Comments

Now we wait to inspect it before going to press…

Me holding the first cover proof last year about this time.

Dear Friends and Supporters, Fellow Pilgrims All,

I am most happy — thrilled would not be too strong a word, actually! — to report to you that my editor at St Tikhon’s Monastery Press notified me late Monday morning that he had sent the book file (including the dust jacket design) to the printer to order the Final Proof Copy to be printed.

This is the penultimate step in the publishing process, and effectively places us on the launch pad. When the proof copy comes back from the printer (about three weeks from now), we will each (my editor and I) make our final passes, inspecting it for any possible spelling and grammatical mistakes, punctuation, typographic issues such as spacing and such, format issues, and of course review the images themselves for accurate reproduction in the printed form.

As much as we had put into our inspections and edits over the last few weeks to prepare to send it for the final proof copy, you would think there wasn’t much remaining to be done, but as we made our final passes late last week we each noticed some issues which needed to be addressed. I found a group of four B&W images across a two-page spread which needed some tonal adjustment to match similar images throughout the book, and my editor detected spacing issues in the Table of Contents text which he quickly corrected. Both those issues were caught at the end of last week, so we completed our edits on Friday, the updates to the book file being made Monday morning after which the file was sent to the printer, one business day later than our targeted February 2 date.

I feel especially pleased with how the Table of Contents turned out, and am resisting the strong temptation to show it to you now, but I am under an embargo from sharing page spreads from the actual book before its official release. I can tell you that the collaboration between my editor and myself has been incredibly rewarding, and the TOC effectively crowns the book as a result. I love how it turned out, and believe that the image and design we created launches the book in a way that has impact and drama, and is personal and engaging for the viewer. Hopefully you’ll agree once you receive your copies and can behold it spread out in front of you.

As always, my sincere thanks for your support, prayers, and patience for the North American Thebaid Pilgrimage and Book Project. Watch for more updates soon as the Final Proof Copy arrives and as we go to press.

As a reminder, pre-orders are still being accepted. I will announce the end date for pre-orders once we receive the proof copy. See below for details and links.†

Yours in Proof Mode,

zosimas

† Pre-Order Notes:

Pre-orders of The North American Thebaid book are still available for a limited time at The Thebaid Store.
Discounts available for multiple copies of both the Standard Edition and the Deluxe Limited Edition.
The Deluxe Limited Edition (Leather-bound, signed & numbered, with signed and matted print) is available only by pre-order for a limited time.
Signed copies of the Standard Edition (with a signed and matted print) are available by pre-order.
The signed and matted 8×10 prints are only available by pre-order bundled with the book, and will not be available separately either before we go to print, or afterwards. There are currently no plans to offer individual Thebaid prints for sale.
Pre-orders will be shipped before retail channels receive their copies for resale.
Upon publication, the Standard Edition will be available through the STM Press Bookstore, and through other online and ‘brick and mortar’ resellers.
Contact STM Press with queries about discounts for resellers and church bookstores.

Pascha Pre-Press Update!

On April 21, 2023 By zosimasIn Publishing, Thebaid BookLeave a comment

Dear Friends and Supporters, Fellow Pilgrims All!

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!

I hope you have had a radiant Pascha (or Easter) and have been able to rejoice in the light of the Resurrection of Christ!

Here, my experience of Pascha has been magnified by more steady progress on the pre-press work on the Thebaid book. I was afraid that we would have to hit the pause button for a week or even two due to Holy Week, but we only needed to take off Great and Holy Friday, and did not need to miss any of our weekly production calls.

By the numbers, we found a few weeks ago that we had ten or twelve images which had to be resized for the large 2-page spreads, and a couple more for full-page bleeds. This process is basically complete, and we are now hard at work on the CMYK file conversions; the image files need to be translated from their original RGB mode to four color, CMYK, which prepares them for offset printing. Other than that, only a few lingering stylistic elements need to be finalized. We are thrilled at seeing the goal line getting closer each week.

As always, thank you for your support and prayers as we prepare to go to print!

Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!

Ralph Sidway

† Pre-Order Notes:

Pre-orders of The North American Thebaid book are still available for a limited time at The Thebaid Store.
The Deluxe Limited Edition (signed & numbered, with signed and matted print) is available only by pre-order for a limited time. Once the book goes go to print, we will close the pre-order Thebaid Store.
Signed copies of the Standard Edition (with a signed and matted print) are available by pre-order until the book goes to print.
The signed and matted 8×10 prints are only available by pre-order bundled with the book, and will not be available separately either before we go to print, or afterwards. There are currently no plans to offer Thebaid prints for sale.
Pre-orders will be shipped before retail channels receive their copies for resale.
Upon publication, the Standard Edition will be available through the STM Press Bookstore, and through other online and ‘brick and mortar’ resellers.
Contact STM Press with queries about discounts for resellers and church bookstores.

Thebaid Book Layout Reaches Key First Goal

On November 19, 2021 By zosimasIn Photographs, Project, Publishing, Thebaid Book2 Comments

Dear Friends and Supporters, Fellow Pilgrims All!

After several weeks of layout and design work since my last post, I’m happy to tell you we have reached a real milestone now, with significant progress being made each week.

Early Prototype Thebaid Book Cover,
Entrance to St Herman of Alaska Monastery, Platina, Calfornia

Also, before I get started, I wish to thank our new supporters who have pre-ordered the book. Interest continues to grow in the forthcoming Thebaid coffee table book, and we are deeply appreciative of each of you who have committed up front and pre-ordered your copy (or copies). I should mention that we will continue to accept pre-orders at The Thebaid Store up until the book goes to print. This is especially critical for the Deluxe Limited Edition in Bonded Leather, which will not be available through retail outlets, but only through pre-ordering using the link above. Of course the standard hardcover edition will be available through St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press, and a range of Orthodox and other resellers.

Back to today’s update!

The heart of the pre-press process has been our weekly production meetings, and with only a couple of exceptions, St. Tikhon’s Press (STMP) and I have been locked in for our Thursday afternoon sessions since early August now, and wow, they have become increasingly substantial over the last several weeks. Even on those couple of occasions when we haven’t been able to hold our weekly meeting, we have still been communicating in detail by email, sending notes and work lists back and forth, and sharing our files by Dropbox and Google Drive. By mid-September we were getting into precise questions of image placement, layout, sizing and sequencing, specific photo edits and text edits, so that our meetings have been ranging from 60 to 90 minutes on average! Which brings me to the big news for this update.

As of the latest batch of page mockups, STMP has completed about 90% of the initial page mockups, which nearly completes the basic layout. This is really the first major pre-press goal, and enables us now to go back through each regional section and monastery to confirm everything and complete any final image editing, etc. There are some special texts to be added and other features, but the heart of the book is firming up quite nicely.

It is important to note that our design and layout work is not merely about the details, the “nuts and bolts” of setting up a photo book. We have approached the book in a way similar to “composers” of a musical piece, seeking to present the photographs in a lyrical, poetic way, with movement, rhythm, harmony, dynamics. And this is the part of the process that I look forward to entering more deeply into, as it marks a return to the start, to the heart of the original vision I had for this project.

Watch for more frequent updates as we now move into the next stages, which will include the proofing process.

Thank you for your support and prayers, and for accompanying me on this pilgrimage!

Thebaid Book Design takes flight!

On September 10, 2021September 10, 2021 By zosimasIn Photographs, Publishing, Thebaid Book8 Comments

Dear Friends and Supporters, Fellow Pilgrims!

I am very happy to be able to share with you a significant amount of pre-press news since my mid-July update, as well as a page-spread example of our working design for the book:

With one or two exceptions, St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press (STM Press) and I have been conducting weekly production meetings (our “Thebaid Thursday” virtual sessions) since mid-July, and have actually worked through a few different design concepts during this initial period.

I really appreciate the creative and flexible approach Fr Mikel Hill has taken, and the opportunities for collaboration which make it all work so well for us both. We realized after our first couple of meetings that we were faced with a challenge over how to “introduce” each monastery throughout the book, given that some were older, larger, and well established, whereas others were only recently founded, sometimes with only one or two monastics, and with far fewer photographs for inclusion as a result. Larger monasteries would have numerous photographs spread across several pages, whereas smaller monasteries could conceivably be only two pages! How best to honor everyone as they are all striving worthily in their calling?

After a couple of variations, Fr Mikel has developed an intuitively strong design which lends itself just as well to the small sketes and hermitages as to the larger monasteries. You can see in the sample page spread above for Holy Myrrhbearers how this will generally look, with a full-page bleed image opposite the monastery intro page, featuring the name & location, a brief overview (typically my own reflections and impressions, providing a first-person journal experience), a small antique map with a red pin to show the location, and a small image or two to lead the viewer into that monastery section.

There is such variety to the types of images in my portfolio from these thirty plus monasteries, that this too created a challenge in layout and sequencing. In the above, we have a strong photograph at right showing a classic, almost iconic scene of the nuns ringing the bells to call the sisterhood to the divine service. The small image inset at left with room for a caption shows a more spontaneous moment akin to a photojournalistic approach. There is a little motion blur of the sheep, but otherwise it is tack sharp, and it shows a slice of life central to the monastery’s daily routine.

Regarding the photo of the sheep, I was told by the nuns that the sheep liked me and felt comfortable with me there. I asked how they could tell, and they replied with some humor, “Because they didn’t get nervous and didn’t make a mess!” It is little stories like these that I especially look forward to sharing, and which will, I hope, make this book an endearing, heartwarming experience for viewers.

So, this is now our basic template, with each monastery having a variation of this for its intro page. Subsequent pages will show a variety of views of the worship and life of the monastics, or of the grounds, guest house, and even other pilgrims.

I look forward to sharing more page spreads with you in the weeks ahead, and in keeping you updated on the progress. This is an exciting time with the layout in place for the first couple of monasteries, and it’s very rewarding to finally be hitting our stride on this.

New Thebaid Store launches, featuring easy pre-order for the Thebaid Book

On October 26, 2018October 27, 2018 By zosimasIn Photographs, Publishing, Thebaid Book2 Comments

Pre-Order the North American Thebaid book,

a large-format, fine-art photography book to be published in Spring 2019 by St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press.

BookCover6-sm — One of several early designs for the Thebaid Book Cover. See more at the Thebaid Store.

The Thebaid Book will be published in both the Standard Edition with scuff-resistant, French-fold dust jacket, and a Deluxe Limited Edition in Bonded Leather with ribbon marker. Pre-order now on the new Thebaid Store.

Signed copies with Signed/Matted Fine Art Prints from the Thebaid Project are also available to pre-order in special bundles.

The Deluxe Limited Edition and the Signed/Matted Fine Art Prints are only available for a limited time, until we reach the printer’s deadline for the book.

Proceed to our new Thebaid Store for full details and to pre-order.