CraftSound Reporting
In stock — 218 copies in the Portland warehouse
Nineteen pieces of reported nonfiction chosen for one quality: they are impossible to put down. Printed on 80gsm cream stock with a matte laminate cover and a sewn spine that will survive being lent out.
Nineteen pieces of reported nonfiction, selected for one quality: you cannot stop reading them. The collection ranges from a profile of a small-town coroner to a 12,000-word account of a fraud that nearly took down a regional bank — all of it narrative, none of it padded.
This Oakbend edition resets the interior in Sabon at 10.5/14 with generous gutters, so the long pieces read cleanly across a spread. The editor has added a new introduction and a short note before each selection explaining why it earned its place.
We chose 80gsm cream uncoated over bright white because the collection is read in long sittings and the lower contrast is easier on the eye. The spine is Smyth sewn rather than perfect bound — it costs us roughly forty cents more per copy and means the book will still open flat after a decade of being lent out.
| Format | Paperback, matte laminate cover with French flaps |
|---|---|
| Binding | Smyth sewn, lay-flat spine |
| Interior stock | 80gsm cream uncoated, FSC-certified |
| Cover stock | 300gsm board, soy-based inks |
| Typeface | Sabon 10.5 / 14, Founders Grotesk for display |
| Trim size | 140 × 216 mm (5.5 × 8.5 in) |
| Extent | 352 pages |
| Weight | 468 g |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-940-27311-6 |
| BISAC | LCO010000 — Literary Collections / Essays |
| Print run | Third impression, 4,000 copies |
| Rights | World English excluding ANZ |
The lay-flat binding is the whole reason I bought this edition instead of the older one. Two of the pieces run past forty pages and you can actually leave it open on a desk.
Bought three copies for a workshop I teach. The headnotes before each piece do more teaching work than most craft textbooks I have assigned.
Excellent selection and beautiful production. Only gripe is that the cream stock makes the few photographs look a bit muddy — worth it for the text, though.
Orders placed before 14:00 PT on a business day ship the same day from our Portland warehouse. Standard US delivery is 3–5 business days and is free on orders over $50; expedited is 1–2 days at cost. International orders ship DDU — duties and local taxes are the recipient's responsibility.
Unread copies in original condition can be returned within 30 days for a full refund, no restocking fee. If a copy arrives damaged or with a binding fault, email a photo to OakbendPublishing@outlook.com and we will send a replacement without asking for the original back.
Ordering ten or more copies, or buying for a store, library or course? Trade terms and a short-run reprint are usually cheaper than the retail line. Ask for a quote.