July 2026

This is my last progress update. It’s both sad and joyful. Sad because the past seven years have been the best of my life. Joyful because I created Table of Gods to share it with you.

Table of Gods is now completed. On August 22, you’ll finally be able to pre-order the book (time machine). With over 1.1 million followers across social media and 161,000 on the waitlist, demand will likely exceed the number of books we can print.

To give yourself the best chance of securing a copy of Table of Gods:

1.⁠ ⁠Go to tableofgods.com/kickstarter

2.⁠ ⁠Click "Notify me on launch."

3.⁠ ⁠If you don't have a Kickstarter account, click "Sign up" at the top of the page. You'll need a Kickstarter account to pre-order Table of Gods.

The impossible cover.

I’ve obsessed over the Table of Gods cover for years. To make a long story short, the only way to achieve my vision of a cover resembling a clay tablet was to develop a special paper with a paper mill.

We started the process in October 2025. Since then we’ve made more iterations than I remember. For each iteration, we sent the paper to the printer along with a brass die we developed with 3D artists to deboss (press down) the cuneiform signs into the cover. 

Each time, the paper tore, and we had to make another iteration. But each time, we also came a little closer.

Last week, I traveled to the paper mill to speed up the process. I spent two days at the factory with the mill’s founder and a team of about ten paper engineers. They paused production at the mill to focus on finalizing the Table of Gods cover paper.

We worked from early morning to late evening on both days.

Each iteration required 1–2 hours to adjust the machine, the wood pulp, the inks, the coating, and the embossing pattern. They made sixteen tests over two days, and I rejected each one. I’m not the kind of person who, out of courtesy, says something is great if it isn’t. At least not when it comes to Table of Gods. 

All sixteen tests were good, but there was always a small detail I wanted to improve. The color, the touch, or the embossing pattern.

On the seventeenth try, we finally had a paper I was satisfied with. The following day, the paper was sent to a lab to test its durability. They poured whiskey, vinegar, and hot tea on it. They used a sanding machine to try to sand down the paper. They even soaked the paper in water and baked it in an oven.

The Table of Gods cover paper with deeply debossed cuneiform signs. These are the signs for the meat stew recipe from the tablet containing the world's oldest recipes (which inspired me to write Table of Gods in 2019). It reads: Meat stew: Meat is used. Water you prepare. Fat you add. Garlic and leek you mash. An equal amount of shuhatinnu, raw.

Some facts about the Table of Gods cover paper:

1. It’s water resistant (see this video).

2. It’s stain resistant (you can spill oil on it and wipe it off—I’ll make a video demonstrating this soon).

3. It’s extremely strong. So strong I can barely tear it (I’ll make a video of this shortly).

4. The embossing pattern on the cover never repeats, making each Table of Gods book one of a kind.

5. The fifth feature of the cover paper is a secret. You’ll have to watch the live event on August 22 to find out :)

I’m incredibly proud of our cover paper. Perhaps more than anything, I’m proud of not taking no for an answer. Every printer told me my vision for the cover was impossible. That there was no paper that could withstand the deep debossing.

Few will ever know how much work went into developing the Table of Gods cover paper. But you and I will. And I hope it will put a smile on your face as it does on mine every time I touch the paper.

To everyone who has followed this process for weeks, months, or years—thank you. In times when I’ve felt lonely, your emails have reminded me that I’m not alone and encouraged me to keep going.

To the printers who said it was impossible to achieve my vision for the cover: hi :)