This whole idea began forming many years ago, and it took some more or less organized forms over time until all vectors and stars were aligned to become OTK.
One of OTK's most important ventures is translating and publishing texts that I find interesting, and that are not easily available (or at all) in the portuguese language, and it all started out with the idea of making a better translation of the (very (in)famous) 'The Book of the Law' by british occultist Aleister Crowley; a better one than the one I had, made by a a very interesting portuguese publishing house called Hugin (now gone), that nonetheless had made a very poor translation available back in 1998. Noteworthy was the inclusion of a fac-simile version of the original manuscript.
O Livro das To-sin
Well, when you set out to translate one of the fundamental texts of Thelema, and one considered an important part of the core of their religious system, you do it with a sense of quest, or at least, so I did.
I am not a Thelemite, but I am very familiar with that tradition and so I felt confident that I could present an upgraded version in the portuguese language - which I truly believe I did.
When I finished the translation, to which I also added a fac-simile of the manuscript and a rendering of another poem that was relevant, I started thinking on how would this object look. I had invested emotionally a lot on it and I wanted it to show it; books look like books but this wasn't just a book.
O Livro da Lei
All of OTK's books are made 'in house', meaning that I not only translate them but I also do the editing, composition, cover design and printing as well as the binding. In order to tackle all the necessary steps I rely on some of my past experiences both in DTP and translation but, most of all, on a very important 'no budget' strategy that I developed through the years.
If I wanted to make accessible books (average price is 10eur) I had to save on production which led me to buy a cheap laser printer to print the pages, making the covers in linocut and manually bind them with a 4 stitch stab technique. Although I make runs of 93 copies of each title, I only print them on demand, which allows me to control both stock and budget as I go.
Taking control of the whole production process not only allowed me to make them exactly as I wanted them (which is nice if you're an independent publisher) but also, paradoxically, turned them into very unique items that don't just look like books.
Sete Sermões aos Mortos
Since that first one, publish in the Fall Equinox of 2015, I have translated and published 5 more: The Seven Sermon to the Dead by Carl Jung, The Soul of the Indian by Charles Eastman, Tabula Smaragdina by Hermes, the Book of To Sin by Al Halaj and CAOS by Hakim Bey.
On a local scale I've been selling these at urban markets, independent publishers fairs and three book stores :) globally, I've been reaching out to readers (portuguese but not only), through my online store and also with the free digital versions (when I find the time I make a PDF version without comments and footnotes) I publish at my webpage (progressively being moved to archive.org).
CAOS
So far I have sold 249 physical copies of all titles (Seven Sermons being sold out) and 212 online readers have downloaded a free PDF copy. I have spotted copies of some of my books being sold at specialty occultist bookstores, and a copy of my rendition of The Book of the Law now resides in the O.T.O. archives. My readers span across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and a bit of Asia which exceeds by far the expectations I've might have had about this publishing project.
And I did all by myself while developing my other work in print, engraving, historical photography and digital art so, reflecting on these past three years, I must say that I am very proud of myself :)
What an undertaking with very pleasant returns. I really like how your copies look. You have every reason to be proud of yourself.
You were featured for week 38 of @pifc's Pay It Forward Curation Contest by @stever82.
Thank you, I'm glad you like them too!
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What a book @oficinastk 😉 really appreciated for the personal touch you made on the books. Anyway, I just don't understand about translating and publishing other's book. Did you have to pay for the copy right? Or.. there's no copy right issue about the books anymore?
Found your post through @stever82 entry post in the pay it forward contest this week. Thank you so much for sharing this with us and Wish you continued success!
Hi! Thank you for the kind words :) Some of the titles I translated fall out of copyright issues because they are very old; concerning the more recent titles, I informed both O.T.O. (because of Crowley's book) and Autonomedia (because of Bey's book, althought his writings are 'copyleft' and can be used freely).
The one by Jung is too important to be kept in the shadows because of family disputes, so I took a chance. Either way, the version I used was written by H. G. Baynes and should be out of copyright as well.
Thank you so much for your repliy and information @oficinastk.. Glad to know about it, so nobody would put you in trouble because of that.
:)
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Those look really cool this is good work you are doing. So I have featured this post in the pay it forward contest.
https://steemit.com/payitforward/@stever82/my-entry-into-week-38-pay-it-forward-curation-contest
Thanks! I'll keep up the work :)
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Translating literature is a great job,
Because I love reading books,
But I can't even understand English books.
So admire those translators
Thank you
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This post is supported by $0.25 @tipU upvote funded by @stever82 :)
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Thank you for your support!
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You're also from Porto? Nice meeting you here.
Interesting post which I've found because it was featured by @stever82 in his entry for The Pay It Forward Contest
PS: See this post if you want to be in contact and get support from the other Portuguese users in here: Steemit Portugal - Apoios e Parceiros da comunidade portuguesa. You'll find links to join us on Discord and Telegram if you wish.
Olá! Yes, also in Porto :) I'll check the links, thanks.
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Excelente trabalho, parabéns ;)
Obrigado!
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Já agora, qual o preço do livro da lei? Aproveita e dá um salto ao telegram ou dircord ;)
Very lovely ! I love that you hand-made these books' bindings ! What a beautiful craft, and such a unique art. Almost lost now, since not many people are doing such a craft... I really admire this :)
Thanks, I put a lot of love in them :)
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