Alligator Stew: Charity Edition

Can I just ask, has anyone received their copies yet? I've had confirmations from within Europe, but not outside. Some were shipped as long ago as Tuesday last week. I'm just a little worried that the green packaging may have given customs a boner.
 

hoochmonkey9

Art should be its own hammer.
Moderator
Founding member
I don't expect mine for quite some time. the mails are clogged in the aftermath of the postal strike.
 

number6horse

okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
Haven't seen mine yet. But I am using "mail-forwarding", since I am staying at my brother's house for a good part of the summer. That's usually good for an extra week or so in delivery time.
 
ok chaps, well keep me posted. The Maltese seem to go at their own pace, so hopefully they've at least made it out of this little country!
 

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
No doubt the customs inspectors are holding all our packages for multiple xraying. "Aligators? Stew? Poetry? Charity? That sounds like Al-Qaeda!"
 

number6horse

okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
I got mine today when I found out some of my mail never got forwarded to my brother's house. Can you imagine ? The Chicago Post Office screwed up some deliveries ! Unbelievable.....

Anyway, the other thing they screwed up was bending the package. It's not too severe and there was no tearing of the pages, so I think it can be pressed out. I have some over-sized atlases and reference books to sandwich it - hoping for the best.

The packaging is terrific, with the "alligator skin" paper being identical to Issue 1. Most poets went with the theme of loss and coping with loss. To me, that works nicely with the postcard concept somehow. Brief summations of past events that you can't get back... memories you want to hang onto, etc..

David Barker is no sentimental sucker though, and took a different and amusing approach.

The illustrations match up well to their respective poems. And hoochmonkey - how did you make the usually sweet and friendly face of an elephant look so damn haunting ?! That wasn't nice. You're no longer allowed near the zoo with a sketch pad, mister.

Mr. Lally, you've no doubt made the S.P.C.A. of Gozo very proud. Thanks again.
 

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
I have to confess that I had no unpublished animal poems on hand when the request for manuscripts was made, so I played the nostalgia card and tapped into my memories of old Tarzan films. I have a weakness for elephants, tigers, hippos and other jungle beasts. Bless the Beasts and Children, as old dead Karen once sang.
 
I'm glad you both liked it. With the first issue I just posted them in brown envelopes, but this time around I went for bubble wrap envelopes to try and add protection. The other option was to use hard backed envelopes, but I figured they didn't offer much protection. Really sorry to hear your copies got some bending Dave. I know for hardback books most publishers use those clever book boxes, but for chap books what does everyone recommend?

Steve saved my arse/ass by helping out with a couple of great illustrations. The elephant one blends really well with McGuire's poem, to the point where it looks almost as if they were penned by the same mind.

About half the copies have sold so far, but I've only really promoted it in a few places. The charity are selling some copies locally, and when I return to the UK next week I'll have some more face to face buyers. It's been a tough challenge balancing the quality of the finished pack with the aim of raising money for the charity, but I'm happy with what we've achieved.
 

hoochmonkey9

Art should be its own hammer.
Moderator
Founding member
I ran this past Mr. Lally and he gave it the ok...

I want to help out the Gozo SPCA and offer the 2 original drawings I did for the charity Stew and the 1 I did for the first Stew for sale. $15 each. all proceeds going to the charity.

elephant!.JPGmonkey!.JPGstaying in1.JPG

Lally's paypal is alligatorstewatpost.com

the at is@, of course.
 

jordan

lothario speedwagon
for chapbooks, i use board mailers or paper envelopes with a chipboard insert to stiffen them. bubble envelopes can be dicey, since rigidity is what is important when shipping a chapbook (not protecting it from getting crushed or broken).
 

hoochmonkey9

Art should be its own hammer.
Moderator
Founding member
the best thing about being away for ten days? coming home to mail.

opened this yesterday, great stuff.
 

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Just got mine yesterday and have been too busy with my insane meltdown life to look at it, but it arrived safely.

The worst thing that I've had happened to a book in the mail is a stiff cardboard envelop that got stuck in some infernal Post Office machine and had a deep hole ground into it, through the cardboard, through the book cover, and into the first few pages. Through some miracle, no text was harmed, and it was still readable, but no longer in primo "collector condition". Thanks, Post Office.
 
Hooch, I'm glad your copy finally arrived. Black Swan received hers way before you, and she ordered quite a bit after you. Perhaps the Canadian authorities were enjoying your copy too much to send it on to you.

I'd be interested to know what you think David when things calm down a bit. I'm glad it arrived safely anyway.

It's all been chaotic for me with returning to England, so I haven't really tried to sell this too much. Out of the 90 copies I think I still have about 30 left, so if anyone still wants a copy let me know.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported this
 
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