Look, it's not that it makes sense. It's that it wins games. I think, anyway. I've never really tracked it.

#1574; In which the Audience participates (Part 1)

  — October 19th, 2025

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Holiday Product RUNDOWN

bow not included

Okay! Now that we’re well into the holiday shopping season, here are the highlights that you need to know:

FIRST: The limited-edition, hand-made Wondermark 2010 Calendar is now available for pre-order! Here’s the link. No pictures yet exist of the 2010 calendar (you’ll see the 2009 calendar at that link) but you’ll get the idea. Calendars will start shipping in about two weeks. You may or may not get them for Christmas, depending on where you live. You will probably get them before the New Year, however. We are doing our best over here and we thank you for your understanding. “We” is basically just me.

NEXT: Greeting cards. Let’s talk about greeting cards. TopatoCo’s trying their darndest to keep my holiday cards in stock over there, and doing pretty well considering the demand, but it’s been up and down. Anything that’s out of stock should be being reprinted soon, but we live on a roiling sea of no guarantees. Again everyone is doing their best and you should check back periodically.

Now then. I do have some limited stock of holiday cards in-house as well. For your convenience I have newly assembled some 10-card packs of popular designs — but I only have a few and supplies are limited. You can also mix and match with, like, Valentines and thank-you cards and so on if you want to be conscientious. Whoo! It is like the Wild West over here.

Anyway! In-house holiday cards are here. You can combine these orders with anything else in my in-house store: stickers, books, etc. All orders containing holiday cards may ship in multiple shipments, so you’ll get your cards right away even if the calendars won’t be ready until later.

Finally! I also have the regular complement of books, comic prints, posters, T-shirts and messenger bags over at my TopatoCo store! That’s the bulk of all my tremendous gift items, and those guys are pros. Everything there should be shipping promptly, but you should also be aware of their very important holiday shipping deadlines. December 8 (TODAY) is their deadline for international shipping using the not-extremely-expensive Priority Mail! Domestic deadlines are coming up very soon as well. DO NOT DALLY.

What would we do without the holidays? Sleep, perhaps. As always, I am supremely grateful for your support and if there’s anything special I can do to make your holiday dreams come true, please don’t be shy about dropping me a line. Did you buy one of my books at your local shop or Amazon? Request a free signed bookplate!

Thanksgiving Project results will be up later this week!

December intern wanted

if you are this cute YOU AUTOMATICALLY GET THE JOB

Thanks very much to the many bloggers & librarians who participated in The Thanksgiving Project! Submissions are closed as of Monday midnight. I will be reviewing everything and making the final determinations probably later this week or early next. It’s been a treat to see folks participate; thanks very much for all the kind mentions and for the nice notes as well!

Now then: Moving into the holiday season, I would love to bring in someone to help out around the office and also show the ropes of entrepreneurism. You can read the requirements for my previous (summer) internship position; it’s pretty much the same again, except only through December (and maybe January), and ideally two or three days a week for the next few weeks. Meals will be provided and even some free merch too!

If you’re interested, email me (dave at wondermark dot com) as soon as possible; I got a lot of work to do this month so I want to get this process started. EDIT: I’ve found someone! Thanks to the folks who emailed.

The Thanksgiving Project: for bloggers & libraries

It’s nearly Thanksgiving again, which for me means reflecting on and being grateful for you, the wonderful people who allow me to make ridiculous things for a living. Thank you all so much! And this year, I would like to extend a particular thanks to two groups who’ve meant a lot to me: bloggers and libraries.

Bloggers are the lifeblood of my business. You folks who mention Wondermark on your blogs, Twitters, LiveJournals, Facebooks, CraniumDumps, or even just email a favorite strip to a friend, are what keep this enterprise growing and running on all cylinders. So here’s my offer:

I will give away ten free copies — not just copies, Artist Editions! — of Clever Tricks to Stave Off Death to folks who blog about Wondermark between now and the end of November.

Stated another way: Blog about Wondermark, send me the link to what you wrote using this handy form, and I’ll enter you in a contest for one of ten free sketched-in copies of my latest book. You can write about anything Wondermark-related — a favorite episode, a particular product I offer, or just the strip in general — and you can enter as many times as you like (as long as each entry is for a separate post, on any platform). I’ll choose and award the winners in the first week of December, and the books will be absolutely free. I’ll pay the shipping, anywhere in the world! And even if you already own the book: a second copy could make a great gift for someone you love.

The second institution I’m indebted to is libraries. The Los Angeles library system has been of tremendous aid to me over the years of Wondermark, and I regularly patronize my local branch for all types of materials. I got super-inspired in a library in Charlotte once, and I’ve even browsed the Library of Congress in Washington for Wondermark-related material!

I know many libraries are chronically under-funded, so here’s my offer for libraries: send me a note explaining a little about your library (or similar institution that could use more books), and I will choose ten to receive a copy of Clever Tricks, absolutely free. I wish I could afford to give away more, but I am pleased to award these ten. One request per institution, please — and I’d like to also ask that the requests come from library staff, or at least from someone acquainted with the library’s donation policy. I don’t really want to send books to someplace that won’t know what it is or why it’s being sent! A staff member is a good point of contact.

All requests — bloggers and libraries — must come through the forms on this page; emailed or other requests will not be considered.

Finally, an opportunity for everyone else: If you would like to buy an extra copy of Clever Tricks, or Beards of our Forefathers, to be awarded to a library — you can do that here. Simply buy the books and write “Library donation” in the Special Instructions box at checkout. I’ll donate these copies to libraries above and beyond the ten I’ll already be sending out. If you’ve been enjoying my comics for free, but don’t necessarily want a book or a shirt or anything for yourself, this is a great way to help out a worthy institution. If you don’t want me to thank you publicly, please also write “Anonymous” in the Special Instructions box.

The deadline for both contests is November 30. Go to it!


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