Hosho McCreesh's Blog, page 22

Chinese Gucci T-Shirts...

As part of the forthcoming Chinese Gucci promotional juggernaut, I will be making T-shirts. Not those cheapo, scratchy shirts either -- we're talking some seriously comfy ones (Next Level, for those in the know)!

Here's a rough design. It may well change, so don't hold me to it!

At first blush, they look to cost about $15...give or take (depending on how many I need to make). So...in an effort to get an idea how many I'll need, I've built this handy T-SHIRT RESERVATION FORM.

If you're interested in a shirt, click the button below and fill in your information. Through the magic of the Intro-mo-webs, it will build me a list of numbers and sizes, so a shirt gets made especially for you. If you want more than 1 shirt, just fill out the form again -- once per shirt.

Yes, Reserve a T-Shirt For Me!








GUCCI T-Shirt








































Name *
Name



First Name



Last Name


























Email Address *





























































Size *
Choose Your Size Here


Small

Medium

Large

XL

XXL

Thank you for reserving a T-shirt!

Again, this form doesn’t obligate you to squat…it’s simply a way for me to gather numbers and sizes so I order enough. If, when the shirts are made, you no longer want one, no sweat…

Though, of course, I hope that’s not the case!

Please note that the shirts won't be finished for a couple months yet, but I will certainly e-mail you a link just as soon as they are ready.

*Note: Filling out the form doesn't ask you PURCHASE a shirt yet, nor does it obligate you to buy yours once they're made...I'm just trying to get a ballpark number for my order.

Keep Books Dangerous...

Keep Books Dangerous T-Shirt

Martin Appleby of Paper and Ink Literary Zine and I have teamed up to bring you this T-SHIRT based on my "Keep Books Dangerous" slogan (and by "teamed up" I mean Martin deserves all the credit!). The t-shirt promotion runs for just FOUR WEEKS, so if you're interested in supporting it, don't wait...operators are standing by! Shirts are available in all sizes for £11.99 directly from StreetShirts. Martin did a bang-up job, giving the shirt a gritty and aggressive look that really works with the message, and I'll never tire of the terrific DrunkSkull logo designed by your friend and mine, Ryan Bradley.

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Visual Bibliography

The DrunkSkull Flask Clamshell Edition

Like the gorgeous website Collecting Bukowski, I have long wanted to chronicle all the special editions of my books in my own cheapjack version, but never set aside the time to do so.

Well, I finally found the time. For your viewing pleasure, I humbly offer up my VISUAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.

So for anyone who wondered what my early, out-of-print stuff looked like, now you know! For those of you that own some of these, I've tried to include the editions' limitations, so you'd have an idea. And for any of you completest collectors out there...all I can say is, "I'm sorry." Many of these books were extremely limited, pre-sold out, or were never even sold at all.

But, hey, aren't they great? If anything, I just like seeing them laid out...feels good to see so many years of truly rewarding work! Click on an image to watch the slideshow. If you're the type who is interested in early warning about pre-sales and those sorts of things, sign up for the NOTIFY LIST -- where first word is always sent.

Lucky #13

And by that I mean Paper & Ink #13, Tales From the Bar Side.

I've got a short story, Behind the FAT CHANCE in this boozy and ferocious issue of Martin Appleby's magazine. In the "Notes From the Editor" he wisely points out that a certain kind of dive bar is getting harder and harder to find, and that is a sad thing indeed. I enjoyed many a slow and low moment over a pint and my thoughts, even scribbled a few poems on napkins in exactly the kinds of places this issue celebrates, and doubt I'll ever find a haunt as great as they used to be. Martin was especially patient with me as I tinkered with the story, considering (but ultimately abandoning) a serious rewrite of the end. Still this is a better, tighter version of the story. But don't get the issue for that. Check out all these other folks:

It's easy as pie to get a copy, as you can order through ETSY. Numbers are limited, so don't sleep on it!

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Radio Silence...

I have been quiet. Well, quieter.

This has been intentional.

In the 2nd half of the year, I will probably not be as quiet.

Consider this the calm before the storm.

I've been working hard on a couple projects and have wanted to stay out of your social media feeds, and mostly off the radar in the hopes of currying enough social-media-favor to not annoy you all in future months.

If you want to know what's in the works before it is officially out, and get in on pre-orders when they are announced, the best way is by signing up for my NOTIFY LIST.

Okay...back to my radio silence...for now...

The Twisted Mash-Up

Despite being relatively new to it, I'm a huge fan of collage. The twisted mash-up of found images and ideas speaks directly to my inner provocateur, and I love the process of finding great source material and hand-making these little gems.

To help fund some future publishing endeavors, I've decided to put some of my originals up for sale. I think everyone should have original art on their walls, so I price things accordingly. Anyone interested, feel free to shop my STORE for the pieces currently on offer. As some sell, I will replace them with others -- so check back every so often.

Holy & Intoxicated

There is, in All of Us...

Unlucky

Holy & Intoxicated, a double-sided broadside series out of the UK, was nice enough to include me in their most recent release. I'm not certain what I will do with my copies but until I do decide I figure any order from the STORE might just get one on the cuff.

Work continues on many fronts, including an UNABRIDGED audio version of A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST, and some exciting early planning on my first novel, CHINESE GUCCI. No release dates for either, as there's lots left to do on both...but they're certainly getting my free hours and attention!

The other thing I've been enjoying is collage. I finished this one today:

Bomb-y Dearest

I have a grip of collage set up as a gallery HERE. If you're interested in purchasing an original, feel to DROP ME A LINE.

State of the Avocation

First order of business: Some Congratulations to Rebecca Schumejda, a tremendous poet you should all be reading, and the winner of the KEEP BOOKS DANGEROUS totebag giveaway. 

Now, if you're truly heartbroken over not winning, just know that you can get a totebag of your very own over at my Society6 page HERE.

You didn't know there was a giveaway going on? There's really only one explanation: you haven't joined my NOTIFY LIST...often the ONLY place to get word of things like this, plus advance warning for any limited print run/special editions of any new projects. If you wanna be one of the cool kids too, you can sign up HERE.

Now, as for the State of the Avocation: 2017 was a rough year here at Hosho McCreesh HQ. I invested a lot of time banging my head against the wall of a traditional publishing route (read as: searching for an agent) in hopes of finding an industry advocate for my first novel, Chinese Gucci. It didn't go well...which, when you've written exactly the book you set out to write, feels shocking. Of course, the book isn't for everyone -- something I have made my peace with. Still I thought it might be for someone...

In the hard, cold, and sober light of dawn (merits of the book aside) I begrudgingly admit it's not an easy sell...which, in my enthusiasm, I neglected to consider. Because traditional publishing is built around sales, around that fetid corpse of multi-quadrant pictures and cross-promotional whatever-the-hells. The business of this art isn't art, it's business...selling selling selling. In fact, André Schffrin wrote this all down following his ouster from Pantheon years ago. The business of publishing is, now more than ever, only concerned with bottom lines, and bean-counting. There aren't too many folks in New York (save THESE FOLKS, and surely a few others) publishing books for art's sake.

I get it. Times are tough. The competition for peoples' attention is ferocious -- with books (and the hours it takes to read them) going toe-to-toe with Network TV Shows, Cable TV shows, Superbowls, Binge Netflix-and-Chilling, Podcasts, movies in the theater, movies at home, or or or or or... Still part of me dies a little when I think of how important books have been for the civilization of mankind (present uncivilized version aside), and the fact that not everyone is invested in their future survival. 

So what am I on and on about here? Just the future of publishing. Not publishing publishing...but publishing for me. 

There are beautiful things out there to discover, made by people who still absolutely care.

Here's some. 
More.
More still.
Here's some more.
And more.
Mas.
One more.

These are, for me, the things that matter. These are the things I want to be involved in making. So the future of publishing (for me) is a lot more hands-on, a lot more limited in scope, and I truly believe it'll be a lot more rewarding. I will certainly keep publishing with folks like the aforementioned whenever opportunities arise, but I will also look to bring back out some of my out-of-print stuff, and doing so in a manner more befitting the tastes of small press connoisseurs like you all. After all, this is the thing that small presses can do far better than any big press -- and that's limited, artisan, hand-made projects with personal touches on each and every copy.

For me, it's the only thing that makes sense. I don't want to paint, or make collage that is concerned with margins and bottom lines, market appeal or strong genre indicators. I don't want to write books for everyone. I want to write books for all of you. And I want whatever mad vision I had for each book to be free from the compromise and uglier trappings of commerce. I want to make it, then make it available -- and never have to twist anyone's arm over it.

So, anyway, that's this year's State of a Avocation. No I just need to figure out how to do it all!

Papa's Got a Brand New Bagazine...

Bagazine #7

That's right folks...a new Bagazine is due out directly...and, for the first time ever, I managed to place a piece in it! For those who don't know, Bagazine is "Assemblage - Bagism - Happening"...so, a kick-ass conglomeration of all manner of "chapbooks, mini comics, broadsides, photographs, collage, drawings, interviews, printmaking, letterpress, xerox, gocco, stencil, woodcuts, etc." and they "strongly encourage emphasis on hand-made NOT machine-made" pieces. If this sounds even remotely cool to you, check out their gorgeous GALLERIES of past issues -- you won't regret it. Giselle and Johnny Brewton are the mad folks behind this truly unique approach to an art and lit mag, and I guarantee you'll recognize more than a few names in the ranks. Placing work with them has long been on my publishing dream list, and I couldn't be happier with the piece I made: a shrinky-dink of van Gogh's severed ear.

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"Suffer For Art Like van Gogh" for Bagazine #7

So if you're wondering what to do with that $50 Granny gave you, and just happen to love original, handmade ephemera from lots of interesting, creative personalities -- well, now you know!

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Three New Poems (Rusty Truck)

I know what you're thinking: "What, McCreesh...you still write poems?"

Okay, I deserved that. In all fairness, I write them...I just don't submit them anywhere...hence they rarely get out there (I know, I know -- shame on me).

Still, if you want to check out a few new ones, they're HERE at our old friends driving that Rusty Truck.

And don't forget -- POSTCARDS!

Okay, my battery is dying...

That's not a metaphor...I'm literally running out of juice. So I'll cut this short.