Monday, June 09, 2008

'publishing chapbooks of varying quality since 2008'

last night i 'launched' a blogspot for my chapbook press, mitzvah chaps.

i decided the slogan was going to be 'publishing chapbooks of varying quality since 2008' because i think it might eventually be true. i wanted to write a mission statement for the press and put it in a permanent spot at the top right of the blogspot but i think that i would be a phony for trying to do so. i want to publish things because:
  1. i discovered that i like to lay things out in InDesign
  2. it requires just as much work as writing things of my own but involves less personal 'risk' -- i think that i can handle being a failure as a publisher or designer, but not as a writer
  3. i want to give something to people that i love and/or admire -- it made a 'world of difference' in my life when Anne told me that she wouldn't have been able to publish these things anywhere else but really wanted to (which kind of sounds bad, but wait till you see the chapbook, it is good)
  4. i want to go into massive debt from things that are worth it, and i think that publishing chapbooks for artists that i like is a good way to do that. another good way to do that would be ________________ (please leave ideas in the comment box).
'mind-boggling' debt of insurmountable proportions.

'titanic' debt. starring leonardo dicaprio. my debt will be a giant ice berg that kills leo.

i have a hard-on for debt.

i might charge money for these chapbooks even though i didn't really want to, but not because i want to make money back, just that i want to feel special by having people paypal me. i know this will make me feel special. my dad is moving to alabama, and i will drive there with him in july and swim in the Gulf of Mexico and i expect this to greatly improve my life. my dad is going to 'keep the grounds' of his friends property in exchange for free rent and hot weather on the ocean and use of anything that is on the property like the TV and various tractors and power tools. my dad is retired and i think this is a situation that might improve his life. that's good.

i always hit a blogging wall. i am lazy.

7 comments:

Kasey Mohammad said...

Cool! I added a link on Lime Tree.

You need to fix the link in your post ... you left the 's' out of 'mitzvahchaps' in 'mitzvahchaps.blogspot.com'....

Anonymous said...

you used leonardo di caprios name, he copyrighted his name, he will read this blog early tomorrow morning while sitting on a beach with his supermodel girlfriend. he is annoyed by her ankle bones, becomes irritable and sues you for a large sum of money, resulting in massive debt.

Robert J. said...

Kari, i didn't capitalize his name soe it could be someone else.

Kasey, thanks for the link and the heads up on the error.

Jim McCrary said...

welcome to the club now tht your a member i quit...i give you my needle and thread go drink beer at 8th st and sew chapbooks. you will never save money, son, never.

kari f. said...

dear robert j. i think you are up to good good things. leo doesn't know what captilization is. i'm sorry. but the good news is you made something effing rad and debt will be abolished by its goodness. leo di caprio get eaten by a shark and call it a night.

Unknown said...

Every good chapbook in the universe begins with the letter "Robert J. Baumann."

I don't know what that means, but I'm sure it is the truth. I will paypal you a gigantic order for chapbooks and then pass them out to random people in Tianjin, China next year. This will make you "world-wide" in as little time as possible. People will say "Robert J. Baumann" and then other people will automatically say "He's world-wide. His chapbooks are world-wide." Enough people will say this and then it will be the truth.

Robert J. said...

Kari F, leo is as good as dead.

Ben, please do that. i like 'world wide'. it evokes thoughts of obesity.