2021 Publications from Birdcage Bottom Books

Just 50 rewards left to ship!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Dec 14, 2021 at 10:19:04 AM

Hey backers! Just wanted to check in with an update.

I've shipped all but the last 50 backer rewards. As you may remember, November was crazy hectic. I shipped all of our distro and much of our publications out to our new shipping guy in California, Daniel. I continued to fulfill both Kickstarter rewards and incoming orders as best I could while training Daniel to take over shipping. I'm glad to report he's up and running, but now I'm out of TOO TOUGH TO DIE books here in NYC!

So, Daniel will be shipping the remaining Kickstarter rewards. Those are (almost) all just single copies of TTTD, so it shouldn't be too hard to knock those out. I was hoping to get everything out to everyone before Christmas, so please accept my sincere apologies to those who have not received their goods yet. 

Please know that I appreciate each and every one of you. I've included lots of fun freebies (including some stuff I've made recently in the RisoLab) as a thank you. I sent a bunch of these freebies out to Daniel, so those remaining orders will also be filled with extra love. 

After fulfilling the Kickstarter rewards, we'll be out of Lance Ward's "Covid, Comics, & Weed" (free comic). So, our old pal Sara Lautman let us put together a risograph 'zine of her dog drawings, appropriately titled "DOGS DOGS DOGS". I've been saving the colored paper slip-sheets that MinuteMan Press puts into our collated comics orders over the years. I knew they'd come in handy some day, and that day has arrived. I printed the 'zine in black with fluorescent pink spot color. Since each 'zine is printed on randomly colored paper, each one is different. It was fun to see what colors resulted from printing transparent pink onto different colored paper. These will be included with orders after CC&W is gone!

Orders still shipping!
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Nov 10, 2021 at 08:23:02 AM

Hey BBB Backers! I just wanted to post a quick update.

I've run into a few delays, but I assure you that I am still shipping out orders. I'm about halfway through, but I'm a packing/labeling/shipping machine at this point. I thank you for your patience!

In other news, I've packed and sent out the entire BBB distro and most BBB publications to our very first employee, Daniel Whitfield, out in California! It was a harrowing experience, but hopefully it's safely on the way. I learned that, no sh*t, there are shipping pirates who steal pallets, deliver them themselves, and then demand payment (usually way more than was quoted by the original shipping company). This apparently happened to my shipment, but I believe the original shipping company was able to recover the pallet in NYC. Wild stuff!

I'm taking a continuing education risograph class at the SVA RisoLab, so I've been printing up stuff like a madman. Mostly experimenting with different techniques. Some have turned out great, some look like absolute dogsh*t. It's all a learning experience. 

I accidentally sent all of my 2021 catalogs to Daniel, so I quickly put together an 11x17 one-sheet catalog. It was an experiment in using a CMYK style printing technique (risograph doesn't actually use those colors). I would say it was a failure, but I did learn a valuable lesson on a better approach to use next time. On the opposite side, I colorized and printed a gorgeous interpretation of the BBB logo drawn by Robert Henry Stevenson (of "Comfort Creatures" fame). I'll post a photo of that, 'cause I think that one came out pretty great!

Alright, I've gotta get back to packing n' shipping. I have to go out of town on Monday for a week, but I will get right back on it after I return. 

FREE STUFF reveal!
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Oct 22, 2021 at 11:25:45 AM

I've been spending my days doing nothing but packing and shipping, but I'm still not even half through getting all of these Kickstarter rewards out (so thank you for your patience).  I've finished sending out contributor copies to all 46 artists, so now I can focus exclusively on backers!

In addition to the Lance Ward "Covid, Comics, & Weed" diary comic collection spotlit (spotlighted?) in a previous update post, all backers who got the TOO TOUGH TO DIE anthology will receive a free risograph print set of Danny Hellman's endpaper artwork and a bookmark. The first 200 backers' prints are numbered and signed by Hellman. 

I'm currently taking a risograph class at SVA's RisoLab, so you can expect a lot of riso comics & prints in the near future. I've already reprinted the covers for Lizz Lunney's "Big Bonerz" comic we published in 2018 (or was it 2017?) since I was always unhappy with the first version. The riso machine I was using was in a state of extreme disrepair and wouldn't print different tones, only full saturation. I've also printed up a new batch of Sam Spina bookmarks that I include free with BBB purchases in eye-searing lime green and aqua blue,  a terrifying holiday card I plan on sending my family, and an aggressively dumb Robert Smith themed print (available now on the BBB site!). 

These TTTD prints were farmed out to a local risograph press, TXT Books, and I think they did a great job. I couldn't afford to do 2-color prints, as was my intention, but now that I have access to riso machines you can expect some great freebies in future Kickstarter campaigns!

Heads up to our international backers!
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Oct 08, 2021 at 02:43:16 PM

For some reason unknown to me, Stamps.com now routes international shipments through New Jersey. You may get a notice that it's been "delivered", but a day or two later you'll see that the package will continue its journey to you. 

I don't purport to understand the USPS postal system. I just try to keep my head down and not anger the Shipping Gods. 

TOO TOUGH TO DIE is HERE!
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Oct 01, 2021 at 08:55:47 PM

You guys you guys you guys, the books are here and they look unbelievably glorious!

Word on the street is that the Everything Is Super books will get here tomorrow. 

As a nice little bonus for being wonderfully supportive people, those of you who ordered the TOO TOUGH TO DIE anthology will get a set of signed risograph prints of the endpapers drawn by Danny Hellman. And some bookmarks n' stuff. 

The truck driver who delivered the pallet of books couldn't find me 'cause he was looking for a bookstore instead of a guy with a basement. I happen to live on one of the only dead-end streets in NYC, and the gas company happens to have been doing construction on our block all summer. I tried to warn him NOT to drive down my street, but he did, he couldn't turn the truck around, and he took it out on me by dropping my pallet on the street in front of a bunch of closely parked cars so that I'd have to walk each box down the block a ways and circle back to get to my basement doors. I'm happy to report that I managed to not step in a large pile of dog shit that was in my path on any of my trips from pallet to basement. Opening those boxes and inhaling the fresh scent of ink on paper makes all these trivial tribulations worth it, friends. 

Pretty much everything else is here (except for a stray piece of custom artwork here and there), so come Monday I'll be doing nothing but packing & shipping for the foreseeable future.