Alligator Stew Issue 1 - Complete (1 Viewer)

pig ear press

pig ear press

Hello

So, the first issue of Alligator Stew is complete. I began emailing contributor copies out this week and I hope to make copies available for purchase for about two weeks time. Each copy has a Russian Green Card cover, with illustration printed on photo paper and mounted within a black velvet frame. It has a sewn binding and smells of rolled cigarettes and cheap red wine.

The following writers appear in the first issue, some of them you may recognise:

Father Luke
Harry Calhoun
David Barker
Dave Donovan
James Farrugia
Stephen Hines
Lexxi Stone
Richard Wink
Jenifer Wills
Justin Grimbol
Aleathia Drehmer
Colin McGuire
Jeff Fleming
justin.barrett
Guy Sayan
Vincent Turner

There are also illustrations by Stephen Hines, Marcus Hooper and Tessa Metcalfe.

As a number of the writers spend (or have spent) time around these parts, I wanted to gauge how much interest there would be in this chapbook from members of this website. Due to the time involved in hand producing each copy, an idea of numbers would be very helpful to stockpile in advance of the shop opening! My partner has told me I'm not allowed to produce more than 50 copies for sale (seeing as she is doing the sewing I can't argue).

I haven't confirmed yet, but the price will be approximately £2.50+£1.00 P&P to the UK, $4.00+$3.00 P&P to the US, and €3.00+€1.50 to the rest of Europe.

Anyway, let me know either by PM, or just respond to this thread. No cash required upfront, just naked pictures of your wives/girlfriends/girl next door

Thanking you
Mr Lally :)
 
I've put one behind the counter Bill, next to the copies of Nympho Ninja Nuns, and those unsold copies of 'The little dog laughed'.

p.s there was a silly typo in my first post, I meant mailing the contributors, not emailing. My matter transporter got sold to pay for the velvet to make the frames :)
 
i just got my copy in the mail. really really fucking impressive. the poem by father luke, called traveling, might be one of the best poems i have ever read.
i dont collect books. usually when i am done reading a book, even if i like it, i sell it to a used book store for some extra cash. i have a small stack of books i keep. this stack includes bright lights big city, ham on rye, ask the dust, a big book of bradbury stories, some more bukowski, celine, some can whistle, this cool old edition of brotherhood of the grape by fante...and now this zine, because of that great cover and that poem by fahter luke(and because the rest of the poems in this sucker are a lot more than just a little decent as well)
 
stew production.jpg

My production assistant hard at work!

I'm going to be producing 20 copies before Christmas and 20 post Christmas. So far I've done 6 pre-sales, so that leaves 14 available in time for Santa.

I'm not setting up a Paypal shop for this issue, as my website seems to be viewing Paypals HTML code as some kind of filthy disease. Therefore, if you want one of the 2009 copies email me at [email protected], or send payment through Paypal to the same address.

My re-adjusted prices (those who've already paid have saved a few pennies) include postage and are:

UK - £4.25
USA/Canada - £5.00
Rest of Europe - £5.00

P.S Bill, I've reserved you a copy (which isn't produced yet). Once ready I'll let you know.
 
I'm hoping to open that envelop and see my copy today, maybe right after we get the turkey in the oven. Nice cover scan...I'm already impressed. I forgot what I submitted, so it'll be a nice surprise. Hell, all of life is a nice surprise, now that I think of it. Even the bad parts are strangely fascinating.
 
Praise ben pleasants!

justin grimbol said:
i just got my copy in the mail. really really fucking impressive. the poem by father luke, called traveling, might be one of the best poems i have ever read.
i dont collect books. usually when i am done reading a book, even if i like it, i sell it to a used book store for some extra cash. i have a small stack of books i keep. this stack includes bright lights big city, ham on rye, ask the dust, a big book of bradbury stories, some more bukowski, celine, some can whistle, this cool old edition of brotherhood of the grape by fante...and now this zine, because of that great cover and that poem by fahter luke(and because the rest of the poems in this sucker are a lot more than just a little decent as well)
Click to expand...

I'll scratch your back, and you'll scratch mine.

You publish me, and I'll praise you to the skies!

I'm a writer. I write for other writers and am published in self-published vanity "zines" and cheap rags. My friends love my poems. They really do. I talk about poetry.

Ben Pleasants.
John Martin.
Esoutoric.
SAN PEH-DRO!
 
Duh! Of course! My little potato prose poem. How could I forget? Well, I did get a chance to open the envelop and was impressed by the magazine. Nice cover! I like the lay out, how you turned my piece sideways to make it fit. Maybe today I can read through the poems, now that the Thanksgiving madness is behind us.
 
Got my copy yesterday.
Like the black velvet on front cover, good poetry,
favorite illustration on A Spanish Heart-Attack page,
corners of front cover are slightly bumped.

I hope you're able to publish a second issue. Plans?
 
Glad you liked it. Sorry to hear about the slight bumps, hope it doesn't look too bad. The packaging for postage was done as cheap as possible to keep the cost down, but it's something I may have to reconsider if anyone else mentions it. This is a learning curve for me, but add an extra 50p/$1.00 to cost and I could send them in a hard backed envelope perhaps.

Second issue? Well, I'd like to. It's been really hard working it around a full time job and a young baby, but I've really enjoyed the process. I'm considering offering to produce a chapbook of just one poets work, just to give that a try, before I move onto a second issue though.

That illustration you mentioned was the one Marcus hated, but I love it. The original was coloured in felt tip, but I think it takes on an even seedier edge in gray scale!
 
No, it doesn't look too bad.
It's a learning process for sure, Black Swan and I have been there...
Good luck to your next project, I look forward to it.
Alligator Stew #1 is a great start because it's obvious that
you've put a lot of love in it.
 
Postage Delay

Well, I'm going nuts....

My apartment is actually the second floor of a house owned/occupied by a retired couple. For convenience's sake, all mail is delivered through their mail slot and inside their house. Since they have been out of town since Thanksgiving, I think my issue is locked up downstairs with bills and junk mail.

Due to be released this Thursday (unless I stage a fake burglary first).
 
Maybe you could ask the couple if it would be okay to put up your own mail box. What a nuisance to be depending on others to get one's mail. Let's hope they won't go on a world cruise for a month or two...
 
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It's usually not an issue at all, since they don't travel much. Me having to wait an extra week to see my phone bill ? NOT an issue, believe me ! This was just an unfortunate co-incidence.
 
Well, to be honest, I included my phone bill with your copy.

Ok, so there are only two copies of the first run left. In years to come when collectors are trying to get hold of Father Luke, David Barker, Lexxi Stone, etc, this will be one of those near mythical rarities!

There will of course be a second run in the new year, but who wants a second issue ;)
 
You are just in time, there is one copy left of the pre-Christmas run, and the international cut-off for post from the UK is next Thursday.

Send that one and I can put my feet up for Christmas! (Not any richer financially from this project of course, but who needs money when you've got National Lampoons Christmas Vacation on TV....if only the baby's stomach would stop rumbling I could hear the jokes...it's ok, they've cut our power off now anyway...I've got to finish this fast, some guy's trying to take the laptop off me, he appears to be muttering something about an electricity bill...)
 
Hooray! Made a book for my old man last night as a Christmas present. I think I've caught a bug for this game. If only I had more time (and money) I could quite happily do this every day.
 
BedsitBukaroo said:
Hooray! Made a book for my old man last night as a Christmas present [...]
Click to expand...

You reminded me of a strange but cool event in my own life, when my father, a hardworking blue collar tool and die maker, asked me for a signed copy of my chapbook CHARLES BUKOWSKI SPIT IN MY FACE, to give to a young coworker machinist at the shop where he worked. The machinist was into Bukowski and my dad was telling him about my book. It was strange because my father, who had never thought too highly of my decision to study English in college, seemed proud of my writing for maybe the first time. This was in the early 80s.
 
My mother knows that I print books, but has never even asked to see one. I have showed her a couple and she acts ambivalent. My wife likes the look of some of the books, but has not read one, ever.

Maybe this is how it is supposed to be.

Best,
Bill
 
Trust me, that is how it's supposed to be.

My mother showed up to a punk gig once and I almost shit myself. I could barely play, it was too fucking distracting. Your world and your parents world should never collide! Never!
 
I didn't even tell my stepdad I had a chapbook published, because then he'd want to read it.

I was once in a play in university where I played this homosexual pimp who was into weird sex role play (I'm not making this up) and mom came. she didn't say much, but after she gave me a vcr tape of the making of the SI swimsuit issue. heh.

oi vey.

(of course, I just may be bitter. the guy who wrote that play just had his first feature film come out with Rosanna Arquette that he also directed. and I'm here typing and drinking and wanking to a 20+ year old tape of swimsuit models....hhhmmmmm...)
 
bospress.net said:
My mother knows that I print books, but has never even asked to see one. I have showed her a couple and she acts ambivalent. My wife likes the look of some of the books, but has not read one, ever.

Maybe this is how it is supposed to be.
Click to expand...
I don't think this is unusual. They just don't share our passion for the written/printed word. My wife has read less than 1% of my writing. Not that she's not supportive -- just not all that into it.
 
It's funny because they say women buy and read more books than men...
 
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haha... my wife is my co-publisher, SUCKAS!

(and my mother has a growing collection of chance press books on her coffee table.)
 
Bukfan said:
It's funny because they say women buy and read more books than men...
Click to expand...

What I should have said, perhaps, is that our wives don't share our passion for OUR OWN written/printed words. My wife is a big reader, works in a bookstore, and tells me about books. She's not into poetry, but reads both fiction and non-fiction. I think her interest in books is more of a cultural thing than my obession with books. I get hung up on texts, how they work, their secrets.

Jordan: you're a lucky dog.
 
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jordan said:
haha... my wife is my co-publisher, SUCKAS!

(and my mother has a growing collection of chance press books on her coffee table.)
Click to expand...

Yeah, my mom has nothing of mine. Interestingly enough, I have a very interesting uncle who came over and was into what I was doing. He knew who Bukowski was and saw Ginsburg at a reading in the mid-80's.

Bill
 
So anyway, I gave my dad that book. He said thanks, but I guess once I left he put it in the drawer with all his other items of sentimentality that he feels he should keep.

I was telling him about the first run of Alligator Stew selling out, and rather than ask me questions of a creative nature, he just kept asking how much money I'd made. I told him I'd lost money. He didn't get this. He asked why I didn't ask for more money. I told him I do it because I enjoy it and am only hoping to try and cover my costs. Then he started asking about whether I could get a distributor involved. I realised at this point he really didn't get what it was that I was doing. Then my sister joined in and I let my eyes glaze over and floated off into the world of Blind Willie McTell, who was playing away in the corner.

My girlfriend gets it. She's a painter. Her paintings go for about £1000 a pop, but she'll only sell if she thinks the buyer really appreciates the work and that it will fit in its new home. She treats her paintings like a litter of puppies. When we're struggling for money for food and bills, I sometimes say 'hey, why don't you sell a painting?'. But I get it too. Some things are more important than money.
 
The money thing always comes up when people don't get art, they only get commerce. In their way of thinking, if you can sell out at $7 a pop, with no advertising, you can make a ton of money, if you advertise and get your product out there. Like if you put out an infomercial and hired (the late) Billy Mays to shill your stuff, you would sell more poetry and could retire off of the profits of one book.

Still, if you sold out and did not break even, you need to raise your prices. You should make enough in profit to fund another project.

Bill
 
bospress.net said:
Still, if you sold out and did not break even, you need to raise your prices. You should make enough in profit to fund another project.
Click to expand...
I'm doing a second run after Christmas. I should (hopefully) break even after that, providing it sells out. Did you get your copy yet btw?

It's a pattern with my old man, when I was doing a Fine Art degree, he would say 'There's work in advertising for a creative mind'. I know he means well, but no, some people just don't get it.
 

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