What Kind of Typewriter and Letterpress Experiences Will Make You Feel Alive in 2025?
Make Life Meaningful with More In-Person Events.
I’m a fan of Dan Blank’s The Creative Shift. He’s essentially a marketing coach for Substack writers but he emphasizes experiences, making personal connections over algorithms and figuring out how to bring in more paid subscribers. He wants writers to get away from their laptops and meet people that might be become friends first and then maybe their future readers. He recently asked his subscribers what kind of experiences they want to have in 2025. So I started my list.
Most of my list revolves around typewriters and letterpress (and the two are connected). The typewriter wouldn’t exist without letterpress. Certainly, the typewriter is more popular now since it’s far easier to find an old typewriter in the attic than a printing press or even old type. The typewriter is, in a sense, a personal printing press. You certainly can make print copies of your work if you use carbon paper.
Before I provide my list of typewriter and letterpress experiences that are on my list for 2025, I’ll note the obvious. Typing just about anything on a typewriter will likely make you feel alive. I regularly type on my Selectric and it brings me great joy to type letters. But my goals for 2025 is to find more ways to feel alive with my passion for letterpress and typewriters. I want to go beyond the easy — typing at my machine — to the more challenging — making connections with others who share my excitement for typewriters and letterpress. Too often I set type on my own on my little provisional press and tap away on my Selectric all by myself. That’s going to change. Here are some experiences on my 2025 bucket list.
Host more type-ins. A brand new amenity center is open at my apartment building. It’s free to use with a refundable deposit. It’s got a few long tables, a kitchen and a view of an outdoor pool (closed for the winter). This would be a great spot for me to host a type-in with my Milwaukee typewriter collector friends. I’m going to find out how much notice I need to give and I’ll start booking some dates.
Visit more print museums and studios nationwide. Most recently I visited a letterpress shop in Michigan. I want to visit a letterpress open studio at the Ann Arbor District Library this month or next, along with finally going to the open studio night at Tribune Showprint in Muncie, Ind. I’m all about the free and the nearly free. Ann Arbor District Library has several letterpress events each month, free to anyone who visits and the open studio at Showprint is free. I like to work with old type and old presses, and Ann Arbor and Tribune Showprint fit the bill on both counts. Further away, I’d like to visit the print museum in California and the one on the east coast. I’ll be a modern ‘tramp printer.’
Participate in more type-ins nationwide. I’ve been wanting to go Albuquerque, New Mexico for the ABQUERTY events along with those in Phoenix, Atlanta and Milwaukee. (As an aside, the Milwaukee QWERTY festival is moving to fall this year. I finally can go. No conflict with the family vacation).
Expand my typepal correspondence universe. I’ve realized I really like sending and receiving letters. Recently, I was just sending and receiving letters 2-3 times a month. I’ve decided I can handle more letter-writing, as long as recipients are OK with a lag time for a response. I think more letter-writing would help me feel more connected. This year, I expanded my letter writing to France, Ireland and the U.K. Letters overseas only need an extra Forever stamp. Such a steal and much more fun. I think I’m going to expand my reach to Japan because I’d like to visit Japan eventually (yes, there’s a letterpress studio in Tokyo)
Print more letterpress posters for type-ins nationwide. I’ve already done this for the Austin type-ins and I know at least one poster has been framed and is on a wall. My type-in poster featuring horses continues to be posted for upcoming Austin events on Facebook. If I can help others promote their type-ins with my posters, I’m all in. It’s fun, creative and gratifying to promote typewriters with letterpress.
Print posters on the former slab roller at the local makerspace. This is a tremendous opportunity with tubes of ink, rollers, some paper available for member use. I haven’t used it much since it’s further away from my home. But since I’m toying with the idea of cutting my own sign-size type-high (.9180 inch) letterpress blocks, it’s the perfect for printing 14 inch by 22 inch posters and larger.
Laser print vintage typewriter images for letterpress use. Paid subscribers get the first peek of the 1 1/2 inch high Oliver that I printed on a glow forge printer at a library makerspace. I’m excited to mount this on a piece of wood to make it type-high and use it for type-in posters.
Be sure to become a paid subscriber so you can you see the tiny but mighty Oliver typewriter image below. It’s brand new to my collection.
That’s it for now. What kind of typewriter-related New Year’s goals do you have for 2025. Are you starting a podcast, a YouTube channel, opening up a shop? Tell me more in the comments.
