July 2025

Current status.

A few days ago, my uncle invited my family to his villa in the countryside, two hours from Stockholm.

They have a backyard and a pool, so my city kids love going there. As always at our family gatherings, there’s a buffet of food cooked with love that satisfies the heart as much as the stomach.

Seven main dishes and three pies (three pies!).

As I was filling my third plate with my uncle’s homegrown grape leaves wrapped around a vegetarian filling with herbs and spices, he asked the million-dollar question.

“So, when do you release the book?”

I’m used to getting this question all the time, and it doesn’t bother me (except for when my mother-in-law asks it two times on the same day). On the contrary, I’m glad people want to know when Table of Gods comes out.

But here’s my oldest uncle, whom I have endless respect for and who is an accomplished entrepreneur, asking me the question. I knew I couldn’t get away with: “I’m almost there, just a few things to figure out first.”

So I thought I might as well give him the details.

Manuscript

As many of you know, Table of Gods is not only a cookbook inspired by history’s oldest recipes written on clay tablets 4,000 years ago (though that’s a great elevator pitch). I see it as a time machine, but if we are to categorize it as a book, it’s at least three books in one. A cookbook, a history book, and a mythology book.

The manuscript is the part of the project that’s mostly finished. It’s been through several fact-checks and professional editing rounds, and I’m almost ready to sign off.

I’m now cleaning up the language and flow, chapter by chapter, based on feedback from my line editor.

It takes about a week to get through one chapter, and I’ve already finished two, so I have nine left—meaning the manuscript will be 100% completed this fall.

Proofreading is the final part of the process, but it has to wait until the layout/interior design is finished.

We also have things in the book that are outside of the manuscript but still belong to it, such as the maps for the eleven cities (chapters) and the “learn to” parts (learn to write cuneiform, learn to speak Sumerian, etc.).

We’ve also added three more recipes that we need to finalize, send to recipe testers, photograph, and then send to our recipe editor. One is a dessert, one is a meat dish, and the third is a date wine.

The only part of the manuscript I have yet to write is the “outroduction.” But that shouldn’t take long.

It’s mainly about thanking people who’ve helped me, and perhaps also including a “behind the scenes” section with photos and short stories from my three research trips to Turkey and Iraq.

Design

After ordering hundreds of paper samples, I’ve finally picked two fine art papers that stand out from the rest.

Very few books use these papers since they’re so expensive. But having seen and touched these art papers, I cannot imagine any other paper for Table of Gods.

Both papers are coated but have an uncoated texture. This means you’ll get the best of both worlds:

• paper that takes color so well it feels like it’s popping out of the page.

• paper that feels rough and ”ancient.”

Additionally, these papers are thick yet lightweight.

That’s important since Table of Gods will be a big book, and if I used heavy paper, you couldn’t hold it up without exercising your arm muscles—which is great if you’re at the gym, but not when reading.

Finally, both papers are made by environmentally friendly mills, which helps me sleep better knowing I’ll eventually order tons of paper.

To decide which of the two papers to use, I’ll ask the printer to print the same pages on both papers. Then I’ll compare the differences, which I know will be subtle—but it’s all in the details!

Speaking of details, we’re still working on the cover and are almost ready to make our first cover tests.

To make a cover test, the printer needs to create a brass mold for the blind debossing on the cover (the part of the cover that’s pressed down).

The cover is still not final, but this gives you an idea of what I want it to resemble—a cracked clay tablet with the exact same cuneiform that’s on the actual 4,000-year-old tablet holding the world’s oldest recipes.

For the last six months, I’ve sourced all art book printers on all continents in the world (or so it feels).

After starting with a long list of printers and countless meetings, I’ve narrowed it down to four art book printers able to deliver the quality I want.

I don’t yet know which one I’ll choose, but to make that decision, I’ll fly to visit them all this fall.

Finally, the last part of the design is the book box and shipping box.

One of the most annoying things in the world is when I get a book delivery from Amazon. Seven times out of ten, the book arrives damaged. The other three times, it’s packaged in a way that doesn’t give the respect I think books deserve.

Just think about how you’d feel if your iPhone arrived scratched in a simple envelope. You could argue that an iPhone is worth more than a book, but is it really?

How long does an iPhone last before you need to replace it? Compare that to how long you’d keep your favorite book.

To do Table of Gods (and the history it presents) justice, I’ll make sure it’s packaged in a way that makes your inner child want to jump when you receive it, whether you’re buying it for yourself or gifting it to someone you love.

Even the shipping box will be branded and customized to protect the book against any potential bumps on the road. After all, it will travel 4,000 years before getting to your door.

As for illustrations, I still don’t know if I’ll include them or not.

I’m not convinced illustrations will make the book better. We already have over 90 pages in the book with food photography (and another photo shoot planned in September to take an additional 10-15 photos).

Adding illustrations might be one spice too many and actually lessen the end result.

That said, I’m currently in contact with a few illustrators and will probably hire one or two to make a test. When I have something concrete, it will be easier to make the decision.

The idea of including illustrations was to make the travel guides (which precede the recipes) more vivid.

At the same time, I want to believe my texts are vivid enough that you don’t need illustrations on the page. If I’ve done my job as an author, you should see everything in your mind.

One thing I don’t like about most book illustrations is that they’re too obvious, childish, or give a different impression than I had in mind.

When we’ve decided whether or not to use illustrations, we’ll be able to design the layout and interior pages. And that will be the last thing we do before the design is finalized.

Supply Chain

In my last progress email, I told you about roadblocks I didn’t even know existed when I started writing Table of Gods six years ago:

• setting up partnerships with warehouses on multiple continents that can store and ship tons of books.

• integrating an e-commerce platform into tableofgods.com with a payment system that works globally.

• understanding how VAT, sales tax, import duties—and now tariffs—apply across dozens of countries and states.

There are usually three ways to solve a problem:

• figure out how to solve the problem yourself.

• find an alternate route so you don’t have to face the problem.

• get help from someone who knows how to solve the problem.

One thing I’m good at is knowing what I’m bad at.

That’s why I’ll solve the above-stated roadblocks by using method three and enlist the help of someone who actually knows how to solve the problem.

Good news: I’ve already found that person!

Going Forward

After having told my uncle all this, he said, “Okay, good. Keep going.” And so I went to the kitchen and stacked my plate with wrapped grape leaves for the third time that day.

I think the upcoming months will be the most exciting so far. Everything will finally come together: manuscript, design, and print production.