Minds of the Press, Vol. 20
- Zach Harney
- Mar 3
- 10 min read
Chaz and Katie Ross of Copperhead Press
The founders of Copperhead Press, Chaz and Katie Ross, have built a press based on traditional craftsmanship and a restless curiosity for what bookmaking can still become. In this conversation, we talk about the origins of the press, their place in the greater small/fine press world, and where they find their inspiration. Though relatively young as a press, they have already released a handful of beautiful projects and are broadening their scope with more ambitious productions in the near future. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Chaz and hearing what it means to build a press in today’s fine press landscape—and what he hope the next chapter will hold for the press.
Q: Tell us a little bit about the genesis of Copperhead Press. Was there a specific moment when you realized this was something you wanted to build seriously, not just experiment with? Who were your biggest inspirations and support in the earliest days of the press?
Before getting too deep into things, Katie and I wanted to thank you for offering to interview us. We feel honored to be noticed and really appreciate the community we’ve come to know these past few years. We’ve met so many very kind collectors.
Like anyone reading this, books have always been important to me. I graduated from high school in 2011, and my wife and I were married in 2015.
Both of us spent the next 10 years doing volunteer work as teachers in the small communities we’ve lived in. To support our volunteer work, I’ve had all types of odd jobs, including construction work, window washing, waiting tables, janitorial work for a school district, working for a brick mason, and even delivering tortillas. Suffice to say, all of these were very physical jobs and I rarely had the energy to dive into a classic novel at the end of the day. Although, I will say that The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway struck a chord during that time.
Just before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, we began teaching from home via videoconference. As the months in quarantine stretched on, I finally found the energy and time to read like I had always wanted. I also took up book binding as a pandemic hobby. The tools and know-how slowly grew, and I started doing custom rebinds for myself and an occasional customer. I experimented with different materials, glues, leathers, etc.
A few years later, we decided to try a Kickstarter campaign. We launched Ernest Hemingway’s first short story collection, In Our Time towards the end of 2023. The support we received from those initial backers was the encouragement we needed! We decided to jump in full-time and see where it took us. Two years later, and we’re currently working on designs for what will be our 16th publication.
Q: What were some of the first things you did to prepare for starting a press? What did the earliest days of the press look like in terms of space, equipment, and resources?
I can’t say I was very prepared for that initial Kickstarter campaign. I had made around 100 custom bindings over the previous years. But I had no idea what it meant to produce a Lettered edition of 26 and a numbered edition of 50 copies. We also added two companion volumes for fun, which added a lot of extra work. But we were able to fulfill the orders on time.
Work on our first orders was done at the kitchen table. I had a beginner's book binding tool kit and a 10” X 12” cast iron nipping press that only opened about 10” when fully extended. So I’d press about 10 books every night, that was all I could fit at a time. We used a handmade jig to punch the holes for the sewing thread in each signature. And I had two small boards connected by two long screws with a wing nut attached to each. I used a carpenter’s finishing hammer to round the spines and create the shoulders. All of the book board for the covers, slipcases, and clamshells was cut by hand with a small Olfa knife. That was the extent of our workshop.
As far as resources, we had just enough from the Kickstarter campaign to pay three months of living expenses. So we had to be sure to fulfill the orders on time. We launched our second book before the funds ran out and have been able to build from there.
Q: What does the name “Copperhead Press” mean to you, and how does it reflect the character of the work? Were there any other names you were considering, or was this always the name you had in your head attached to your projects?
I kicked around a few different names related to local landmarks. But we settled on Copperhead Press. Our name draws its inspiration from the biblical account in Numbers 21:9. The Israelites were struck by a plague, and God told Moses to make a copper serpent. Anyone who looked at it was spared.
In the same spirit, we see classic, time-tested literature as a kind of safeguard—works whose enduring relevance lies in their ability to convey profound truths across generations. Whenever we open them, they help guard us from the “plague” of ignorance that can so easily creep in. They give us wisdom, perspective, and a way to see the world more clearly.
Q: There are a lot of ways to define “fine press,” and there is no agreed upon and definitive set of criteria that corresponds with that term. What does that term mean to you, and where do you see Copperhead Press fitting into the historical fine press tradition?
I’ve noticed an interesting divide among collectors of fine press publications. Some feel that a fine press book must be letterpress printed. Others don’t seem to mind a well-designed offset printing. I understand both sides. As a Press, I believe there is a way to appeal to both groups of collectors.
Our Rights System currently has two separate lanes. One is for offset printed editions (26 Lettered / 50 Numbered) and the other for those printed letterpress (50 Numbered).
We have always focused primarily on the design and binding aspect of production. But I’ve enjoyed working with a few different printers over the past couple of years.
There are more and more publishers putting out expensive editions of their titles, but they sometimes fall flat. There’s a certain something about a “fine press” book that just sings.
Whichever printing method you may personally prefer, you probably agree that fine binding, design, a fitting paper selection, etc., are all important elements in the combination that makes an edition “fine press.” Finding that right combination with each of our books is our goal. We feel that with each edition, we are honing in on what’s right for us.
Q: Do you think of the press as more rooted in historical practice or as something pushing the form forward—or a mix of both?
I believe we’re more in the historical practice camp. We enjoy designing and making handmade paste papers, working with leather and even sewing the occasional headband by hand.
Q: From the beginning, you have been dedicated to personally participating in as many aspects of the productions as you can. Has that been a more practical decision or a philosophical one? Are there parts of the process you feel must pass through your own hands to feel right?
We want each book that comes out of our workshop to feel handmade. As much work as it is to personally sew text blocks or to personally round spines and hammer shoulders into 50 books at a time, I really enjoy the process. I’m not opposed to training others to help if we’re falling behind schedule, but I enjoy the simplicity of going to work each day in the shop and making something.
I’ve had the opportunity to build a larger team, which would make it possible to make more copies of each book or to release more titles. But that really has never been my goal. I don’t plan to compete with the larger fine press publishers. They are a machine at what they do. It’s impressive that they are able to keep so many moving parts in working order and they make beautiful books.
My goal is to keep things simple, personally spend the time needed with each book on the workbench and then enjoy time with my family at the end of the day.
Q: What do you feel Copperhead Press adds to the fine press landscape right now? Is there something you felt was missing that you wanted to bring into the conversation?
I feel that there is a real lack of classic literature being published. After a few years in the business, I can already tell why that’s the case. Simply put, classic literature doesn’t sell as well as genre fiction.
There are more and more presses leaning toward science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc., with their publishing choices. It’s a smart move, as that’s where the orders are coming from right now.
I’ll see a large fine press publisher occasionally publish a classic novel. The edition is beautiful, but it only sells a fraction of the copies, and slowly at that. I believe there are hundreds of collectors who are interested in classic titles, but there aren’t thousands.
That’s where I see a perceived weakness of Copperhead Press as an actual strength. We don’t need to sell 500 copies of a given edition for it to be a success. As we’re only focused on making 50-100 copies of our editions, the market is absolutely there for us.
We were excited to have published Lady Susan, a lesser known novella by Jane Austen. We made 50 copies, and it is now sold out.
We’re also able to reach deeper into the catalogue of work by classic authors. In the Summer of 2026, we will be shipping the first ever fine press edition of Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf. It was published in 1922, the same year as Ulysses and The Wasteland, and is known as a very influential modernist text in itself. We love that we have the freedom to publish more obscure classic works like these.
Q: Are there presses or printers—past or present—that you find yourself returning to for inspiration? Outside of book arts, what feeds your creative thinking?
I love what No Reply Press has been doing. The work they do inspires me to take a chance on something I love every now and then. They’ve shown me how collectors find you and your work, they build trust in your taste and they take a chance along with you on your passion projects.
There are two other things that I love: baseball and Bob Dylan. My wife also loves baseball, not so much Bob Dylan… I’m a big fan of his poetry and songwriting. I often have a vinyl record or bootleg of his spinning in the workshop. I’d love to publish his writing someday.
I’ve also run across great sports writing. Did you know Walt Whitman worked for a time as a sports beat writer for the team that would become the Brooklyn Dodgers? That article would make a fun letterpress chapbook.
Q: Up to this point, you have exclusively focused on classic literary titles. Do you plan on this being the case moving forward or would you consider doing contemporary works in the future if the right title came along?
Initially, classic literature was the best choice for us to get started. Avoiding copyright fees helped launch our first books. I’m not opposed to publishing newer titles, but it definitely adds a challenge to the timing and production of a book. I would love to publish titles by Vladimir Nabokov, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Don DeLillo, Roberto Bolaño, Clarise Lispector, etc. We’ll keep reaching out to publishers and hope for a “yes.”
In the meantime, I would love to keep working through the catalogues of Hemingway, Faulkner, Woolf, Steinbeck, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Proust, Joyce, John Dos Passos, Jane Austen, etc. We have so many titles to get to.
Q: When you think about the future of Copperhead Press, what excites you most? Do you imagine the press getting bigger over time, or becoming more focused and selective?
What excites me most is always pushing to try something new. If it’s experimenting with letterpress or commissioning new artists, our goal is to challenge ourselves to keep improving. As we find our support, we hope to be more focused as a Press.
Q: Is there anything coming in 2026/2027 that you can tell us about? Are there projects with an indefinite timeline that you’re holding back on until the moment feels right?
I have a hard time not spilling everything…
I’m genuinely excited about everything we’re working on right now. I currently have four new letterpress chapbooks illustrated and ready to go in 2026. There are another 4 or 5 ready for art. The titles come from authors such as Melville, D. H. Lawrence, Woolf, Brönte, Proust, etc.
Also on the letterpress side, we’re getting closer to printing an edition of 50 numbered copies of The Attack on the Mill by Emile Zola. It’s an incredible novella wherein you see the writing conventions of the 19th century fall into the realism and modernism of the 20th century.
There may also be a full letterpress edition of Dubliners in the works… with newly commissioned linotype illustrations for each story. (2027)
On the offset printed side of things, we have a new edition of Moby Dick launching toward the end of 2026. It will have 16 new illustrations. And there will most likely be another title between now and then. I’m working in the prototypes now.
Okay, that’s enough for now. I have to keep a few things secret.
Q: Ultimately, what do you hope remains of Copperhead Press years from now—beyond the books themselves?
I hope to keep the books flowing from the workshop for years to come. Maybe it’s the romantic in me, but when I finally hang up the apron, I’d love to be able to look back on a Press that contributed in a small way toward keeping classic books like these alive for the next generation of readers. I’m already ecstatic knowing that our books are among collections around the world, with their stories preserved for an old friend to come back to or a new reader to discover. They’re classics for a reason. It’s never a bad idea to look again toward the copper serpent.
This interview was done in a series of communications back and forth with Chaz and we want to thank him for his willingness to be a part of this. If you want to see more from Copperhead Press you can check them out at their website. You can also follow them on Facebook for more details on their upcoming releases and announcements.
Interview by: Zach Harney a contributor to the Collectible Book Vault