🌱 Salt & Seeds: The Second Edition Is Here

A little over a year ago, Grokkist Press published its very first book — Alan Raw's Salt & Seeds. Since then the story has travelled further than any of us expected, and it's come back changed. Today we're delighted to share the revised and expanded second edition, out now.

We'll let @Alan Raw tell you about it.

A note from Alan

When Salt & Seeds was first published, I hoped it would offer an alternative to the endless stream of dystopian climate fiction — a solarpunk story where adaptation through connection could be every bit as compelling as survival through conflict.

Salt & Seeds began as a short story in the Grokkist Network. It soon grew into a first-edition novel as a conversation starter, and has continued to evolve through public dialogue, action research, field recordings, photography, sketches, and conversations with readers, scientists, and activists. It has sparked conversations at book festivals, libraries, youth centres, writing groups and sustainability events. It has travelled thousands of miles with me on a European Book Trek, become the subject of talks and blog posts, and inspired further research through walking the Yorkshire coast. Like the living systems it celebrates, the project has continued to grow. This second edition reflects that journey. Stories, like ecosystems, evolve through relationship.

Now it has become an extended edition published by Grokkist Press. The heart of the story remains the same, but the world around it has become richer, deeper and more nuanced.

Among the changes:

  • Numerous editorial improvements, corrections and refinements throughout.

  • A future map of Whitby at the back of the book.

  • New scenes exploring genetic modification, digital identity, artificial intelligence, surveillance and corporate power.

  • Original illustrated chapter headings inspired by the plants, wildlife, and coastal details that shaped the story.

  • A redesigned Wild Margin (sailing vessel) with real-world design improvements that keep pace with the current trajectory of that technology.

  • Expanded conversations around denial, migration and resistance.

  • New material developing a workers' strike and its consequences.

  • Additional character moments, including Mae and Vega's relationship deepening.

  • A more nuanced political landscape alongside the ecological one.

  • More romance, action, and discovery to enjoy.

This isn't simply a revised novel. It's part of the much larger creative practice empowered by my Grokkist membership.

Next comes a multimedia installation, and beyond that, the next books in the series.

Thank you to everyone who has helped this story grow. Every conversation has left its mark. I hope you'll enjoy returning to The Wild Margin.

— Alan

📖 Get your copy

Read all about the new edition and order here → https://network.grokk.ist/books/salt-and-seeds

  • Paperback and eBook are available now.

  • A hardback edition will be following in the not-too-distant future.

  • 🟣 Grokkist members: free eBooks of every Grokkist Press book are part of your membership — including this new edition. Here's how →

  • Already own the physical first edition? Comment below or DM @Alan Raw a selfie of you holding your copy, and he'll send you a link to the new eBook, free — Grokkist member or not.

Thank you for being part of how this story keeps growing. 🌊