When you work closely with an author on their book, you come to know them on an intimate level. You learn their daily routines and habits; you hear the stories of how they arrived at the place where they could entrust their manuscript to a relative stranger—someone who will shape it into a finished, living, breathing account of their experiences. I was honored that Moss chose me to help bring his book into the world.

My journey with Moss began with a phone call from a Crested Butte number that I curiously answered on a Friday evening. He introduced himself as Moss Wagner and said he had a manuscript that needed to be digitized so it could be made into a book. Moss mentioned that he had seen my ad in the Crested Butte News and had held on to it for nearly a year before he was ready to call. We exchanged stories of who we were and realized we had crossed paths while I lived and worked in Crested Butte in the mid-’90s. He mentioned that he still had a business card I made for him while I was working at Crested Butte Printing. I felt like we hit it off right away.

Moss delivered his handwritten manuscript to me, and I transcribed every word. I began reading between the lines—discovering details that may have been overlooked or long forgotten. Bringing a second set of eyes to a manuscript is powerful; when those eyes are paired with experience in design, typography, production, and storytelling, something remarkable happens. The manuscript begins to breathe. It gains clarity, rhythm, and dimension.

For this project, I immersed myself in research—studying comparable travel memoirs and refining layout, type, paper, and cover options until we found the right direction.

Moss and I exchanged several parcels through the mail during the process. More often than not, he tucked in a thoughtful note and protected the contents with a current issue of the Crested Butte News, which I carefully smoothed out and read to see what had happened there that week. I saved his notes—as I often do. I now have a small collection of “Moss” notes, a quiet archive of the journey behind the journey.

As I typed his words, I could feel it all: the ’70s vibe, the sand and grit, the heat rising off foreign streets, the smells of unfamiliar food, the anxiety of border crossings, taxis, boats, planes, and trains, moments of sheer terror, and the constant dance between comedy and chaos. I experienced what Moss and Sharon lived through in the early 1970s as if I were there myself.

Designing the photo section is where their story truly came alive for me. The images are aged and wonderfully authentic—passport stamps, coins, traded beads, and small treasures gathered along the way. These tangible artifacts ground the narrative in something real and touchable, proof that the journey happened.

The book went through weeks of careful proofing, each round bringing further refinements, followed by multiple printer proofs before all that work finally entered the world as a finished volume.

I am proud of the work we did together, and most of all, I’m grateful to have gained a new friend in Moss.

I don’t see a project as an ending, but rather as “to be continued…”

You can purchase Moss’s book at Townie Books; the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum in Crested Butte; and it is also available for checkout at local libraries.

Every book deserves to be made with care. If you are an author with a manuscript—handwritten or digital—and are ready to shape it into a professionally designed, beautifully produced book, I offer full-service publication design and production. From transcription and editing to layout, typography, paper selection, printer coordination, and final delivery, I guide each project from concept to finished volume.

To see photos of the bookmaking process, visit my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KathyAmenDesign/