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2011 Calendar pre-order! Plus new cards and more.

Thank you kindly for the great advice regarding my plastics conundrum! I have been in touch with several kind individuals and I hope to have the situation well in hand forthwith.

I am also pleased to announce that the 2011 Wondermark Calendar is now available for pre-order!

2011 Wondermark Calendar

This will be the fourth year I’ve offered the calendar, and every year they sell out. The calendars are produced by hand and are individually signed and numbered! They’re mailed in the order that they were ordered, so the first buyer will get #1 (which is already gone!) and the last, #175. To get the lowest possible number, order now! Do the numbers matter? Not to me. But maybe to you???

Last year I wrote a very detailed explanation of how we create the calendars. I looked back through it today and I’m really pleased with how it reads! If you missed it last year, definitely take a look. I think it’s pretty interesting!

IN OTHER NEWS

Here are three brand-new Monocle Poppers™ holiday cards I’ve created just for you:

These add to my existing catalog of holiday cards to make nine designs total! Plus the various blank notecards, thank-you cards and the all-powerful Every Occasion Card. And remember that you get steep discounts for multiple cards! Basically what I am saying is that I got you covered. If you need cards, I am your man.

SPECIAL NOTE: The calendars will ship later in December, but I know you need holiday cards in-hand earlier so I’ll be sending all card orders out ASAP. Feel free to combine both in one order, and I’ll send the cards out right away even if the calendar has to follow later on.

(Non-US customers: Priority Mail is always your better bet in terms of expedient shipping. International First Class simply cannot be predicted nor guaranteed.)

FINALLY

Here is a new offering in the ol’ dry-goods concern: loose pages from old books for use in crafting, collage, or really anything you like (I won’t judge):

These are the lovely remnants after I have mined old volumes for their usable images! I am making them available in packs of about 100 pages each. See, I’m starting to fill box after box with these pages and I figure someone else can put them to better use than I can! They’d be great for all sorts of craft projects or just lining a drawer in that armoire you found on Craigslist.

Some covers are available too, for your journal or what-have-you! You do what you like. I’m just the enabler.

AND A BRIEF NOTE

Regarding Wondermark books, posters, shirts etc. from TopatoCo: that fine institution has posted its holiday ordering guidelines which I recommend taking a hearty peek at! However I will also mention that I do have one brand-new shirt in the TopatoCo pipeline which has yet to appear — hopefully that will show its face soon.

SO THAT’S WHAT I GOT

“One word: PLASTICS.”

I am uneasy with my fortunes resting in the hands of others.

As you may know, every year I design a hand-printed, limited-edition calendar. My wife and I use a RISO Print Gocco screenprinting press to create the actual pages. The trouble is that Gocco supplies have been discontinued by the manufacturer, and inventory on the secondary market is dwindling rapidly. Thankfully, however, enterprising and crafty folk have managed to create workarounds — one of them involves these aftermarket plastic frames. A savvy fellow in Germany manufactures them as replacements for the original Gocco supplies, and (in a fairly savvy business move) he has limited the distribution of them to a single retailer in the US.

Long story short, I am in the market for 38 of these frames for this year’s calendar, and the US retailer charges what I consider an exorbitant price. My question to you is this: how hard are these to make?

Are you involved in plastics manufacturing? Do you have access to a laser-cutter or a water-jet or a die-stamper or whatever would be appropriate to use to make these? I would be willing to manufacture a few hundred of these frames if it meant I would be assured of having calendar supplies for years to come. They’re pretty thin material, maybe 1/16″ or so, and I don’t think the specific plastic used even matters — they just have to be this very specific size so they fit the Gocco equipment.

I’m shifting calendar creation into high gear (watch for the pre-order going live next week!) and would love to somehow get a batch of these rapidly…or if nothing else, find someone who can make them for next year.

Would you like some business, Plastics Manufacturer Who Reads Wondermark? Email me please! Tell me how this process works. I want to seize control of this; I am tired of other people dictating how I can make my things.

UPDATE: Thank you for the kind emails, comments and suggestions! I am currently following up on several different options.

Now then! If you’re not in plastics manufacturing but you’ve still read down this far, here is your reward (hat tip to Kevin McShane):

SoCal electricians: Any advice for my friend?

My friend and colleague Todd Croak-Falen (who produced and co-wrote my short spy spoof Expendable) is applying to the Electrical Training Institute of Southern California’s apprenticeship program (Los Angeles Local 11 chapter). He passed the written test with flying colors and is now scheduled for an interview on Wednesday as the next phase of the application. He hopes to become an Inside Wireman.

I thought I’d use my soapbox here to ask: are you an electrician with a familiarity with this program? Would you be able to offer Todd a few words of advice regarding what to expect in the interview, or how to make the best impression? What are they looking for? Please email me (dave at wondermark dot com) and I will forward all comments to Todd.

His interview’s this Wednesday morning, so a quick note now is better than a treatise later! Todd’s a smart dude, a hard worker, and I’d love to give him the best shot at getting into this program. Thanks so very much!

Seattle! SteamCon! and a STORY

Steamcon: A steampunk Convention; Nov. 19-21st 2010

This weekend I’m at SteamCon in Seattle, Washington! This is only the third or fourth steampunk event I’ve ever been to and they’ve asked me to be on a whole host of panels:

FRIDAY

Webcomics
Cartoonists discuss their internet creations and the future of web cartooning.
– Shawn Gaston (M), David Malki !

SATURDAY

The Making of Wondermark
Thrill as comic creator David Malki ! builds a Wondermark comic strip out of 19th-century woodcuts and engravings! Gasp as he pulls back the curtain and delves into his delightful collection of Victorian-era books! Swoon as he makes them into strange comic strips that bear no resemblance to their prior state!

Researching the Victorian Era
How to find and use source material on the Victorian era to enhance your writing.
– Gail Carriger (M), Michelle Black, David Malki !

True Stuff From Old Books
David Malki ! presents a slide show of fascinating, forgotten articles unearthed from Victorian-era newspapers and magazines. A man breathes fire! A steam-powered flying machine attempts its first flight! Racial stereotypes abound! And human nature remains unchanged through the ages.

SUNDAY

Neo-Victoriana in Contemporary Comics
A discussion of the rise and growth of steampunk and neo-Victorian aesthetics and narratives in comics, graphic novels and the arts of the 21st century.
– Kate Lynch (M), David Malki !, Cheyenne Wright

I’m super-excited about all of ’em but especially Saturday’s set: I’ve been hard at work digging up some amazing artifacts for the “True Stuff from Old Books” panel and my challenge now is to condense it into the time allowed! So much interesting material!

In between panels, I’ll also have a table set up in the “merchant” area where I’ll have a neat spread of goods including some of my Monocle Poppers greeting cards — specifically, the holiday cards are mostly what I’ve brought with me. I’ll also happily sign Wondermark and Machine of Death books or really any book you like — from time to time people ask me to sign random books that I didn’t write and I can’t think of any reason not to. I mean, it’s your book, you can do (or have done) whatever you want to it. Happy to oblige!

Speaking of Machine of Death…yesterday we learned that we made it onto an Amazon “Best of 2010” list (Customer Favorites, Sci-Fi & Fantasy)! We’re floored. Each day brings new wonders. Hooray!

I also, this week, wrote a brand-new Machine of Death story for our blog. The characters in the story are proofreaders who kindly combed the book for typos in preparation for a new printing, and in the story, their predicted deaths are related to the typos they each found.

Evan flinched at the sharp metal snapping of the kit-box clasps. Marshall lifted out the reader — a standard handheld, a little worn from a few years on the road, but familiar to everyone. Evan knew what was required of him. Marshall popped a sterile plastic thimble from a blister pack, fitted it to the reader, swabbed the handgrip with alcohol and Evan wrapped his fingers around it, resting his thumb in the thimble. He’d done this a hundred times, probably. Everyone had done this a hundred times.

I had fun writing it! Hope you like it too. And of course the book is still available as a free downloadable PDF if you haven’t checked it out yet!

TO RECAP: What will happen at SteamCon? Will I be wearing a bowler cap? Will I be pleased to meet you at the SeaTac Marriott and/or Hilton? We will learn the answers to these BUT NO OTHER questions — this weekend.