A deep dive into what it takes to edit and format and print an offset print run of special edition book overseas.
So I made a thing. Or rather, I’ve been making a thing.
Back in early 2023, our friend group grew wildly enthusiastic about the Strange Horizons special edition submissions call for Wuxia stories. We also knew that SH would only take a few stories. Where could the rest of our stories go? Tao Wong joked we should make a “loser’s anthology” in our group chat.
It was a throwaway comment but I got to thinking. What if I did make an anthology of our Wuxia inspired work? How could I make it something genuinely special? So Martial Hero was born of the idea that we could do something fun and new with Wuxia/Xianxia stories, and put more of what we love out in the world. I also wanted our project to be a way that we could engage more deeply with our community through a charitable gift.
So I gathered the writers I knew who had a love of C-Drama, and I started to search for a printer.
Finding the writers and artists was the easy part. The cover art is digitally painted by Saiyre Illustration. There are sixteen authors in this anthology, all with incredibly fun takes on the Wuxia genre.
Look at this beautiful cover (more on this in part 2!)
The printing proved far more challenging.
As a new creator on Kickstarter, I wasn’t expecting to print more than 100 copies, which is far too small for an offset print run. That meant Print on Demand (POD). Unfortunately, POD options have limited add-ons, and I had a wishlist for things I wanted this special edition to have:
- French flaps on a softcover edition
- Embossing
- Foil
There are very few printers domestically that offer these options, and the few that do, tend to offer just one or two of the above and at quadruple the cost of overseas printing.
This meant I had to think big, and I had to take a leap of faith that Martial Hero would sustain a larger offset print run.
Sourcing printers and finding a sales rep became a major project. After two years, I’m pleased to report we found a reputable printer. I put down 50% of the print cost and our artist J.F. Lee worked tirelessly to design the cover. My publishing company made a donation to the San Francisco Chinatown Community Development Fund for housing. The project was happening!
Friends, this project started from a chat thread back in 2023, and almost three year later, J.F. Lee and I chose the foil for the printer.
In the last 2 years, I have been scouring all the posts in the FB group for authors who are running Kickstarters and learning a lot. It is with a bit of trepidation and a lot of amazement that I share this Kickstarter for Martial Hero with you all, dear readers:
We are so excited to share this book with you all!
Julia Vee 