A MONTHLY UPDATE FROM INSIDE FIELD NOTES

View in Your Browser 1/11/2024

Hi, it’s Jim from Field Notes. This is the fifth edition of our monthly mail which contains a variety of stuff that doesn’t really fit anywhere else. Please respond to this email if you have comments, questions, or suggestions.

TLDR Version: HQ, To Every Season, A Little Extra, Incontrovertible, Peter McKinnon, Near-Space, In and Out, Thanks.

Come on Over

We had a blast meeting everyone at our “Heartland” Launch Party and Holiday Market Weekend at HQ recently. Our next in-person event will be in early March and we’ll post details when we get closer. Meanwhile, HQ is open to pick up online orders M-F from 9 to 5 and, for now, The Shop is open Thursday and Friday afternoons.

The Rhythm of the Seasons

We’re finalizing our 2024 production calendar, which is built around the launch dates of four Quarterly Limited Editions, and shipments to year-long subscribers. Regarding subscriptions, the following appeared in “Fifty,” the Anniversary Desk Ledger, a gift to subscribers that was included along with shipments of our Spring 2021 Edition. You can read the whole thing here.

Aside from establishing a work schedule that caters to our desire to learn new things and our collective short attention span, the subscription model has some obvious and not-so-obvious benefits. For a small company, cash flow is always a challenge. Subscriptions are predictable, paid upfront, and they tend to even out income and expenses over the course of a calendar year. That’s all good.

The seasonal nature of our subscriptions gives us four excellent occasions each year to talk to, and interact with, our customers and our network of retailers. It also provides a compelling reason for folks to sign up for The List, our infrequent email newsletter, through which new releases are announced.

We enjoy working in secret on each release in order to spring it on the world, fully executed, on Launch Day. The “reveal” of each season’s release concentrates attention and fosters conversation. There is always something new at Field Notes and always something mysterious just around the corner. The unpredictability of what lies ahead energizes us as a team and adds drama to what is a simple commercial transaction.

Finally, having a base of subscribers allows us to print relatively large quantities of each seasonal release. This has the effect of lowering our cost-per-piece, which ultimately gives us the freedom to pursue more complicated and expensive production techniques, resulting in higher quality, more interesting products. Subscribers are the very heart of Field Notes. Their faith gives us the freedom to take chances, and really, that faith is what makes the entire enterprise possible.

Staple Day Bonus: Start a year-long subscription with The “Heartland” Edition now and we’ll send those and your subscriber gift right away. Enter the coupon code STAPLEDAY when ordering and we’ll include a 3-Pack of The “Birch Bark” Edition in your initial sub shipment. Offer ends 1/15.

Incontrovertible

Apologies if you’ve seen this before, but somehow I hadn’t when Phil S. wrote in response to our last newsletter. Here’s what David Sedaris had to say about journaling.

I’ve been keeping a diary for thirty-three years and write in it every morning. Most of it’s just whining, but every so often there’ll be something I can use later: a joke, a description, a quote. It’s an invaluable aid when it comes to winning arguments. “That’s not what you said on February 3, 1996,” I’ll say to someone.

Like a Fireworks Show

In case you missed it. Peter McKinnon did this for 800 days and it changed his life.

Planet Earth is Blue

Did you know two Field Notes Memo Books have been to space? Well, three actually. There was another one, but we swore not to talk about that. In order to capture a key shot for the film for our 39th limited quarterly release, The “Three Missions” Edition, we decided to mount a toy Field Notes Apollo Crew Capsule to a rod. Then we connected that rod to a box containing a camera, a Memo Book, and a GPS tracking unit, attached the box to a parachute and a big weather balloon filled with helium, and then send the whole rig up into near-space over Iowa. Easy, right?

Read “Small Steps and Giants Leaps” for the entire story, including more footage, data and nerdiness.

In and Out

Thanks to everyone who ordered direct from us or from one of our thousands of retail partners during November and December. BTW, you can now find us in selected Barnes & Noble, Blick Art Materials, and Backcountry stores.

It was a pretty crazy period and we ran out of some our most popular products. Forecasting demand and managing inventory is a delicate balance. Most everything is back in stock now except for a couple items that have longer lead times. If you’re waiting on something in particular, feel free to drop us an email and we can let you know as soon as it’s back in stock.

Appreciation

Thanks to your generosity we are providing almost 1,000 warm winter meals to Chicago folks in need during December and January. This partnership with Big Delicious Planet continues through the end of this month.

Hmm. Did anyone else notice that Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year? Talk to you soon.

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* Coined a long time ago in the Field Nuts Facebook group, “Staple Day” is traditionally observed when a writer reaches the exact middle of a Field Notes Memo Book, revealing the metal fasteners which bind the cover and the interior pages together.