Self-edited six chapters.
In October, I self-edited six chapters of Table of Gods. With all nine chapters now edited, I’m adding two more: The Sumerian city of Nippur and the Assyrian city of Dur-Sharrukin. Soon, I'll be sending out chosen chapters to people who’ve expressed their interest.
Late 8th century capital of Assyria, Dur-Sharrukin.
6 new recipes
We keep adding recipes to the book. We’re now closer to 60, way beyond the initial 30 I planned. In the upcoming months, we’ll be photographing the added recipes, beer ones included.
Part of the team during the photoshoot in 2021.
Design meeting
I’m nearing the completion of Table of Gods, and it’s time for important design decisions. The cover, spine, and interior pages. Format, paper quality, binding, and how the book will be packaged and shipped. I recently discussed these matters with my design studio. I’ll keep you updated. All I know is that I want to create the most beautiful book (cookbook, coffee table book, or history book) ever made.
The price of the book
The downside of crafting a book the size of a coffee table book, with art paper that will make the food images pop, and packaging it like an Apple product, is that the price will be around 200 USD. The alternative, creating a slightly above average quality cookbook (in terms of paper, packaging, size and so on – not the content which IMO is still extraordinary) will make the price end up in the 50-60 USD range.
I’ve thought this through. And I’m willing to have less sales. But I’m not willing to compromise with my vision of making Table of Gods remarkable. I want to do justice to the history in the book. And a book called Table of Gods has to live up to its title. Besides, making a cookbook that looks like every other cookbook is not motivating. The only thing that can change my mind is if most of you rather prefer the lower quality and lower priced book.
Upcoming kickstarter
Having spent almost five years writing Table of Gods, I’ve run out of copper. In order to have funds to print the book, I’m going to run a Kickstarter in the spring of 2024 (despite what route I go, see “The price of the book” above).
175,000 views on YouTube
The response on YouTube has been astonishing. The channel has around 175,000 views and 4000 subscribers after just a few hours of recorded episodes. The last episode about Ashurbanipal has already close to 30,000 views and several dozen comments. I’m planning to make a similar documentary about Ashurbanipal’s grandfather, king Sennacherib.
