For the next few weeks, we have to do some major inventory building. We will be attending the AWP Conference (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) in DC in early February, as well as our usual stint at MoCCA (Museum of Comics and Cartoon Arts) in NY in April. So, we’re hopefully going to sell some books at these things. And then, of course, there’s the dribs and drabs of orders that come in online, and supplying our bookstores, etc etc etc. So Matthew made up a list of books that we need to make or have on hand.

Facial Features – 30
Henry – 20
Ten Thousand Stories – 100
Man Joe – 10
Unattractive and Inadequate – 20
Richard Nixon – 20
Traffic – 40
Dawn of the Fats – 30
Contented – 30
The Clearing – 0
George Washington – 10
Last Day – 30
Sisters – 30
Sahara – 20
Baby – 80
Let Me Count the Ways – 20
Animal House – 10
After Everafter – 100
Floating on the Ocean – 20
Jericho – 20
Farmers – 30
Tarpits – 20
Nasty Chipmunk – 40
New South – 20
From the Inside Out – 40
Makers Tile Game – 80
Francis Bacon – 100
Babies Ruin Everything – 50
My Henderson Robot – 40
St. Michaels – 40
For the Love of God – 20
A Bully Named Chuck – 20
Jericho letterpress – 10

Let it be known that it will take us 100 years to sell all these books. Matthew is an inveterate overestimator. He’s the glass-half-full guy. I am the one who will be smirking the whole way home at the fact that we brought so many frickin’ books. But, the trouble is, the books seem to run in packs: some shows we’ll sell a big stack of one book, so we’ll bring a big stack to the next show and not sell a single one. It’s a total crap shoot. And AWP is our first conference for writers (versus for comic book people) so we’re hoping that the pretty pictures will draw them in (no pun intended).

In the meantime, we’re printing.

Stapling and stacking.

Wrapping.

To be clear, when I say “we,” I obviously mean Matthew.

As you can see, in the background Alden is busy working on the creative aspects of this enterprise.

What I didn’t get a picture of was me, in my chaise longue, in my underwear, eating my bonbons. Some photos are just better left to the imagination. Really. And that’s one of them.