Writer who stumbled into typesetting and the occasional cover wrap. Founder of King Shot Press, a micropublisher of radical literature. Currently in Portland, but also sometimes Athens and elsewhere.
Shop (Big Cartel)
NOV 25 2022: Busy Business
If you’re someone like me who struggles to internalize accomplishments, then I think it’s important, especially when you’re feeling unproductive, to audit your output going back a year. There will always be months where it feels like nothing happened, and there will be months where it feels like everything happened. I spent much of 2022 working on independently-published books, doing my best to make them better.
January: MUSIC IS OVER! by Ben Arzate (typesetting), SMALL MOODS by Shane Kowalski (typesetting)
February: YOU PRAY FOR DRY WEATHER AT THE SIGHT OF THE SUN by J David Osborne (typesetting)
March: LETTING OUT THE DEVILS by Kelby Losack (typesetting, bathroom graffiti)
April: JESUS CHRIST JOE by Selby (typesetting, cover wrap)
May: THE VACATION by Garth Miró (typesetting), CORNUCOPIA by Lindsay Amaris Temple (typesetting, cover wrap), AURA by Hillary Leftwich (typesetting, image correction)
June: ISLAND TIME by Olivia Kan-Sperling (typesetting, cover wrap/spot UV outline from existing design)
July: Worked on novel
August: Worked on novel
September: DONALD GOINES by Calvin Westra (typesetting, cover wrap, charcoals, audiobook censorship)
October: Moved into a house, built some things
November: POLO by Jinnwoo (typesetting, cover wrap using existing design)
December: EXPVT (Expat litjournal #5)
There are also King Shot titles, as well as projects for various writers, publishers that aren’t public yet. Upwards of 20 books, maybe.
Seeing this all laid out makes me feel pretty good.
If you’re someone like me who struggles to internalize accomplishments, then I think it’s important, especially when you’re feeling unproductive, to audit your output going back a year. There will always be months where it feels like nothing happened, and there will be months where it feels like everything happened. I spent much of 2022 working on independently-published books, doing my best to make them better.
January: MUSIC IS OVER! by Ben Arzate (typesetting), SMALL MOODS by Shane Kowalski (typesetting)
February: YOU PRAY FOR DRY WEATHER AT THE SIGHT OF THE SUN by J David Osborne (typesetting)
March: LETTING OUT THE DEVILS by Kelby Losack (typesetting, bathroom graffiti)
April: JESUS CHRIST JOE by Selby (typesetting, cover wrap)
May: THE VACATION by Garth Miró (typesetting), CORNUCOPIA by Lindsay Amaris Temple (typesetting, cover wrap), AURA by Hillary Leftwich (typesetting, image correction)
June: ISLAND TIME by Olivia Kan-Sperling (typesetting, cover wrap/spot UV outline from existing design)
July: Worked on novel
August: Worked on novel
September: DONALD GOINES by Calvin Westra (typesetting, cover wrap, charcoals, audiobook censorship)
October: Moved into a house, built some things
November: POLO by Jinnwoo (typesetting, cover wrap using existing design)
December: EXPVT (Expat litjournal #5)
There are also King Shot titles, as well as projects for various writers, publishers that aren’t public yet. Upwards of 20 books, maybe.
Seeing this all laid out makes me feel pretty good.
JUNE 10 2021: Book Design Part 2
This is one of four variant editions of the limited reissue of my first novel, Long Lost Dog Of It. I wrote this book between 2012-2014, under influence of neon noir like Only God Forgives, Lost Highway, Collateral, Enter the Void; books like Wise Blood, American Tabloid, Antwerp, V; erotic films like Andrew Blake's Dollhouse and Paris Chic. I think there’s also some Cormac McCarthy/DFW influence in there too. If you enjoy that weird kinda shit, maybe you’ll dig it, who knows.
As far as this particular design goes, it’s the only non-Matthew Revert cover to any of my work. I never thought I’d design something for myself, let alone that it’d see print. It was intimidating to have something of mine next to three killer designs by him. I decided on something minimalist that reflects the book’s tone. The idea of a fracture behind a machine gun seemed fitting, after a few variations. I thought a lot about the back of Ryan Gosling’s scorpion jacket in the movie adaptation of James Sallis’ Drive while working on it. I also wanted the back cover to feel like the opening credits sequence of a film. I think it turned out pretty okay.
This is one of four variant editions of the limited reissue of my first novel, Long Lost Dog Of It. I wrote this book between 2012-2014, under influence of neon noir like Only God Forgives, Lost Highway, Collateral, Enter the Void; books like Wise Blood, American Tabloid, Antwerp, V; erotic films like Andrew Blake's Dollhouse and Paris Chic. I think there’s also some Cormac McCarthy/DFW influence in there too. If you enjoy that weird kinda shit, maybe you’ll dig it, who knows.
As far as this particular design goes, it’s the only non-Matthew Revert cover to any of my work. I never thought I’d design something for myself, let alone that it’d see print. It was intimidating to have something of mine next to three killer designs by him. I decided on something minimalist that reflects the book’s tone. The idea of a fracture behind a machine gun seemed fitting, after a few variations. I thought a lot about the back of Ryan Gosling’s scorpion jacket in the movie adaptation of James Sallis’ Drive while working on it. I also wanted the back cover to feel like the opening credits sequence of a film. I think it turned out pretty okay.
And here are Matthew Revert’s designs for the other three covers:
